Son - broke both his wrists first week in P1

[doolittle79]

Hello
My son broke both his wrists his first week at school falling from a climbing frame. I got nowhere with the school. Do I have a claim?

I assume you'd have to prove they were negligent. Were they? How did it happen?

Oh ffs accidents happen. Kids break bones all the time climbing on stuff. Have you identifies a possible opportunity to make some money?

Claim against who? For what?

Why do you want to sue the school? Have you had to pay for physio or other services?

My daughter broke her arm in similar circumstances. Open fracture. Two operations. It didn’t even occur to me to try claim anything from anyone - it was an accident. Hope your son is OK.

I don't think you have a claim, unless the frame was broken.
accidents happen, part of the learning to climb is learning to fall...
and climbing is very good for dc core strength and hand dexterity, which is important at school.

I hope dc wrists healed well.

Claim against who for what?

Kids fall and hurt themselves. Get a grip.

Thank you for your support!

First point is the play area was cornered off after the accident and I could not get a riddor report from the school.

Second point is that I would not want any more accidents to happen to other children as the play area is dangerous and there is a lack of supervision.

Third point is that as a single parent, I had to take time off work to care and support my son for 8 weeks so financial compensation is a consideration.

It was an accident presumably so of course not.

If a teacher deliberately pushed him off the climbing frame then possibly.

You would be best asking a solicitor or one of those claim compnies but I’d imagine, unfortunately, that you wouldn’t be compensated as it wasn’t you that had the accident. Very frustrating I know. How did you take 8 weeks off work, paid or unpaid leave? How old is your child? 8 weeks is a very long time for bones to heal so assuming he’s older.

How do you know there's a lack of supervision? Even if teachers are there,which yes they should be, they surely can't be expected to wait underneath every climbing kid waiting to catch them. If your ds was lying down screaming and broken for 10 minutes with nowhere there to attend to him, maybe.

Poor boy. My son did this so you have my sympathies. It happened in gym class when he jumped off the stage in the gym and fell funnily. He had both arms in plaster for several weeks but was able to do most things by himself after a week or two.

I understand your concerns about safety - are there spongy mats under the climbing frame or is it concrete? It would however be a shame if the climbing frames were taken away from the kids because of your son's accident.

Why did you have to take 8 weeks off work?

It was an accident! Who would you be suing? The county council/LEA/trust (whatever it's called now!)

There was always, always a kid with a broken limb and my dc’s school because they had various climbing frames and monkey bars.

My dd was devastated at age nine when we moved and she just had a rectangle of playground to lay in.

He had to have two operations on his arms, first attempt didn’t work. He was cast up to his armpits for 8 weeks - both arms - and struggled to go to the toilet, eat etc and the school were not able to support so I had to go to school with him most days to help him to the toilet, carry dinner tray etc. You were very lucky if your son was able to do normal things with both arms in casts after a few weeks! These were so heavy and he had to try and keep them in slings.
The play equipment is dangerous and it turns out there have been over 50 accidents in the past 12 months with his being the most serious. The wooden structure gets slippery if not cleaned and the surface is enadequate. I understand children fall etc but I really think this could have been avoided and the lack of supervision meant that a p7 had to get a first aider who took 15 minutes to come because they were having a break. It was a catalogue of failures.

Have you contacted ofsted?

P1 is age 4 and a half to 5 and a half. Assume that the OP is in Scotland so it wouldn't be OFSTED here.

Is it a 'not about the money!' claim?

That is a very high number of accidents in 12 months!
If the school knew that there was a risk of accidents, which they should have done given the previous accidents, and did not take adequate steps to prevent more accidents, then yes, you could have a good claim against them, as it would appear that they have been negligent.
If you are in a Union, contact them as you will have access to a solicitor through them, if not, contact a solicitor, not a claims management company.
If you succeed, any money will be held in trust for your son until he is 18. I hope he's on the mend poor chap.

Schools don’t have to report as a RIDDOR unless there was something which was wrong with the equipment or supervision level etc which then led to the accident. It’s likrly to be just that, an accident.

If you're serious about pursuing, don't be asking strangers on an internet forum, ask a frigging solicitor.

Hmm....having read your last post, I can see what you mean. I would consider speaking to a solicitor.

I wouldn’t be wanting money but I would be wanting assurances that this would never happen again to any child.
I would contact the local authority and ask to speak to someone in parks and recreation perhaps. Write to the head teacher and copy in the head of education as well.
And failing that, your local press or Facebook page?

I think you would need to prove there was negligence
so either not supervised properly, the equipment was broken, or something about their care made it worse

I don't think RIDDOR is relevant its a bit complicated with RIDDOR - but an accident report should have been completed and a review of the situation and you should be able to see this.