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Original poster

DD had accident at school - are they at fault?

52 replies

MABS · 29/09/2003 20:53

I'll keep this as brief as I can, but i'd really appreciate any opinions on this.

Last week my dd (8) bumped into another child at school at the corner of the playground. She 'bounced' off the other girl and hit her face on a metal railing. She then skidded, grazed her leg on the playground surface - finally ending up slicing her knee TO THE BONE on the steel baseplate (about 1cm high) of a large strut supporting an outside walkway on the first floor of the school.

She was rushed to hospital where she needed a lot of stitches to the leg, which will scar. The cut on her face is not large but is very prominent and caused 2 haemotoma (sp) which had to be drained. The whole thing has been very distressing for her and today we were told that she will, very prob, need surgeery on the facial scar when she's in her teens.

I'm now wondering if the school are at fault in any way. A friend said she thought those baseplates had to sunk below ground or 'sort of' tarmacced in. The school building is fairly old BTW. I suppose i'd just like to hear any thoughts on the matter and how you'd deal with it if it were your child.

The school have been very concerned about her ,particularly as she'd only been there 10 days! She is now getting rather down and i don't seem to be able to lift her up again. Thanks for listening.

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thirtysomething · 29/09/2003 21:01

How completely awful. I sooo feel for you, it's so hard seeing your child go throught that sort of thing, and must be so much harder seeing as she'd only just started school.

I'm no lawyer at all but it does sound like the school may be at fault - the best place to start for free advice would be the Citizen's advice bureau who may well refer you to someone for free legal advice. To begin with I should think it's a question of whether the school have accepted liability in any way either verbally or otherwise. What sort of school is it? Is it run by the local LEA? If so you could phone them and lodge a complaint but it might be better seeing the CAB first to make sure of the best procedure to follow. Sorry I can't be more helpful, I just wanted to sympathise really - hope your dd gets better really soon.

fio2 · 29/09/2003 21:15

ouch!! poor dd Do you think the school were to blame? They do sound like they may genuinely care about your dd....or do you think they are over-doing it??? Oh I don't know what I would do, well I do, I just fester and don't do anything...sorry not much help

It does sound like she had pretty severe injuries though from a playground incident. How traumatic for you

Ghosty · 29/09/2003 21:20

Your poor dd MABS ... really hope she gets better soon .
I don't know much about legal things but I would say that you might have a case.
I think the bump on her face won't be seen as a problem as children do unfortunately bump off other children and the fact that the railing was there was unfortunate.
However, the baseplate sounds seriously dodgy ... I think your should take photos of the spot where she cut her knee ...
I remember that if ever anyone fell over at the school that I worked the head and the bursar were immediately on the case to check that they were liable. The bursar at our school (a very old building and insurers nightmare) was excellent and one of his most important jobs was going around the school and checking safety ...
Another thing ... I fell down the stairs once at work (embarrassed more than hurt as it was in front of 35 children ) and the bursar told me that if I had hurt myself then he had no problem with my taking up a case as that was what insurance was for.
So go for it ... get legal advice ... take photos ... get a medical report from the hospital ... if the school in insured then there shouldn't be a problem.

Ghosty · 29/09/2003 21:26

Oh ... and just to clarify ... the school 'being at fault' doesn't mean that you will sue them for not watching the children and being negligent ... we all know that children fall over and it would be awful if we all started suing for children falling over. But in your case I think the baseplate is clearly a Health and Safety issue so it is that that is the problem ... not the child falling over in the playground IYSWIM!!!
I hope a legal brain starts posting soon before I tie myself up in knots ... Aloha????

ks · 29/09/2003 21:27

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Original poster
MABS · 29/09/2003 21:30

thanx Ghosty, just getting a bit too emotional about it i think. But on the other hand, every time i look at her little face i am very, very angry

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Original poster
MABS · 29/09/2003 21:30

thanks all for your thoughts and support. Interesting what you say about the bursar and head Ghosty, as that is exactly the pairing who showed us the accident site. I do think they are genuinely very concered but they were also, of course, a little defensive.

It is an independent school and they have insurance cover for all the pupils. I know really that i should get photos, but it's awkward as she'd only done one full week at this school when the accident happened. She'may' be able to go back later this week for a couple of hours .

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Original poster
MABS · 29/09/2003 21:31

thanx Ghosty, just getting a bit too emotional about it i think. But on the other hand, every time i look at her little face i am very, very angry.

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Original poster
MABS · 29/09/2003 21:32

thanx Ghosty - it's hard when it's your children eh? But every time i look at her face i am very, very angry.

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Ghosty · 29/09/2003 21:35

Like I say Mabs ... that is what insurance is for ... I don't think it is a reflection on the school or the teaching ... (my school was an independent one too) ... and if they know anything about insurance then they shouldn't have a problem with you looking into it.
Oh and really, it is their job to make sure that the play area is safe ... and if there is this metal thing sticking up then is clearly isn't.

Ghosty · 29/09/2003 21:37

I mean, if you have an accident with your car then you don't worry about upsetting the other driver do you? You just get on with sorting out the insurance ...
Go for it Mabs ... don't worry about upsetting them.

janh · 29/09/2003 21:56

God, Mabs, it sounds awful, your poor DD and you too, seeing the damage to her and hearing what happened. (It's always been one of my horrors, whenever one child came hurtling in from playing out I would imagine one of the others prostrate and bleeding profusely.) FWIW I was bitten in the face by a dog at 4 and still have 2 scars, but they have never bothered me (I would send you photos but don't suppose pictures of a grey-haired 50+ year old would help cheer DD!)

Do hope they're wrong about her needing facial surgery later - hard to tell at this point how well something like this will heal, but if she can avoid plastic surgery it would be better than having it (IYSWIM). Don't know if there are any homeopathic remedies to help with healing cuts etc like hers - vitamin C might help if she can swallow tablets?

Do you want to sue or just to make sure another child doesn't go through the same thing? It does sound as if the baseplates should have been sunk into the tarmac but in an old school things tend to be done as and when...presumably nothing like this has happened before and it was just an incredibly unfortunate combination of circumstances. Near our house is a Social Services centre comprised of 2 or 3 Portakabins with steps up, and a car park, DDs 1 & 2 were playing in the vicinity when DD2 fell and cracked her head on the steps aged about 7 - she bled a lot and needed stitches but was not traumatised and we never pursued it (they probably shouldn't have been there, strictly speaking, which doesn't apply to your DD of course.)

V long rambling reply - sorry - anyway what I think I would do in your situation is certainly encourage the school to cover the baseplates in some way, but also to play down the scarring as much as poss with your DD - OK she may need surgery in future, but also may not, and it might help her feel more positive about going back to school etc? If you really feel she may need plastic surgery then a cash settlement would give you more choice over who does it when necessary. HTH!

Original poster
MABS · 29/09/2003 21:59

thanks girls, i'm swinging between upset and v angry at the mo. She, fortunately , doesn't know about the possible eventual surgery but doc told her about scar and she's upset about that.

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Original poster
MABS · 29/09/2003 22:00

thanks girls, i'm swinging between upset and v angry at the mo. She, fortunately , doesn't know about the possible eventual surgery but doc told her about scar and she's upset about that.

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Original poster
MABS · 29/09/2003 22:00

thanks girls, i'm swinging between upset and v angry at the mo. She, fortunately , doesn't know about the possible eventual surgery but doc told her about scar and she's upset about that.

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janh · 29/09/2003 22:00

Mabs, sorry, I mean you play down the scarring issue with your DD, not the school...never express myself well enough on here!

Original poster
MABS · 29/09/2003 22:00

sorry - got carried away..........

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SueW · 29/09/2003 22:09

Sorry to hear about your DD MABS - you must be feeling really shaken.

I don't know much about the Health and Safety aspect of it but I do think it's important for you to talk down the incident to your daughter and be very positive around her.

My DD had a fall in a local hotel's soft play area. She was knocked unconscious and an ambulance called. I had a call from the local council Environmental Health dept/Health and Safety within a couple of days as all accidents had to be reported to them. Apparently they were all over the hotel like a rash checking it out, even though I told them it was purely an accident and she had fallen onto a carpeted area. It might be worth checking with them.

sb34 · 29/09/2003 22:23

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maomao · 29/09/2003 22:48

MABS,

I'm sorry to hear about your daughter's accident. That's really awful and must be so hard on both of you! I'm from the States, where there are definite safety requirements for playgrounds and school yards. So I did a quick google search, and found this .

I must say I didn't read through it, but it seems like it may have some useful info for you?

Hugs to you and your daughter.

robinw · 30/09/2003 05:04

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robinw · 30/09/2003 05:13

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Original poster
MABS · 30/09/2003 07:17

thanks all , will certainly do all these google searches later today. Does anyone know whether independent schools are 'bound' by the same health and safety regs, lea regs, as state schools? FYI it is owned by one of the most prestigious and wealthy independent schools in this area. It is run as a separate concern , but they do own it.

BTW really don't want to appear money grabbing, that's not the point - don't really know what i feel thanks again all.

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Jimjams · 30/09/2003 08:24

MABS- it would be worth talking to a lawyer about this obviously, but I always thought that you couldn't get very much for this sort of thing as there is no financial penalty. if she had been a supermodel and scarred her face losing lots of jobs thn you wuld but otherwise....... I could be wrong though.

Just saying look into it carefully as it can be more hassle than its worth and unless you could get no win no fee would end up possibly costying lots (and even with no win no fee most mihgt go in costs).

I do think its worth taking further though, with the school and maybe Health and Safety if apporpriate.

Ghosty · 30/09/2003 08:57

I don't know, MABS, if Independent schools are bound by the 'same' laws as state schools but being a 'place of work' they should have Health and Safety policy just like any other place of work ...
Agree with Jimjams and robinw ... no harm in looking at it and finding out about no win no fee and legal aid. I don't think you should worry about being 'money grabbing' ... it will be a sure fire way of the school looking at their policy again!!