Posted By Eric PD BBC website today: Pupil banned over broken leg cast An 11-year-old who broke his leg has been barred from school over fears his plastered limb could be a danger to himself and other children. The mother of the youngster wrote anonymously to her local paper in Andover, Hampshire, complaining of the decision by Balksbury Junior School. School chiefs said they were worried the boy, who is in a wheelchair with his leg outstretched, might get hurt. He will be allowed to return to school once he has a walking plaster. The safety of all our pupils is of paramount importance to us and we have a duty to ensure that they are safe all times Headteacher Rosemary Clarke The boy broke his leg in two places during a football match on 16 June and has been off school since. In the letter, the boy's mother said: "It seems that another child could trip over his plaster. "Children need to learn that life has risks." In a statement released through the education authority, head teacher Rosemary Clarke said: "(The pupil) is currently in a wheelchair with his leg outstretched in a soft plaster and we have concerns that he could be injured further if he returns to school before a walking cast is put on. Discussions over return "The safety of all our pupils is of paramount importance to us and we have a duty to ensure that they are safe all times. "We have been in discussions with the boy's parents throughout, and have asked them to obtain a letter from his GP giving clear written confirmation that it is safe for him to return to school. "We have now received this letter, which states the boy can return to school once the walking cast has been put on. "This is expected to take place in the next few days and we are now discussing the practicalities of his return to school with his parents, and look forward to seeing him back in the classroom."

Posted By David P Johnson Not only is that reasoning one of the most pathetic excuses for excluding a pupil, on of the most ordacious risk assessments made, and makes a complete joke of the terms 'competent person', 'suitable and sufficient, focusing on significant risks' and 'reasonably practicable' - its also in my mind a clear breach of one piece of legislation for sure - the Disability Discrimination Act. Is it just me, or do all of these, for want of a better phrase, bloody stupid assessments of risk and judgements seem to be originating from schools these days? Never mind bring back the cane - how about bring back the teachers who had an ounce of common sense!

Posted By David P Johnson Better still, lets abolish school, and in fact the education system in it's entirety. We can close the stock exchange and cripple international trade and the economy. 24 hour curfews in place so nobody leaves their homes. All in the name of "safety." To think, I lost my granddad in 1941 fighting for our freedom, all for this.

Posted By Frank Hallett How about proposing a new Parallel Olympics that has two main events? The first will be to see which is the most ridiculous and counter-productive "risk assessment [sic]" and the second could be for the risk assessment that actually best defines the true meaning of "reasonably practicable" in the Robens tradition. It should not be judged by the HSE as they are catatonically schizophrenic with the conflict between the official view of "sensible risk management" and enforcing in a way that pushes reasonably practicable ever closer to practicable. I sometimes wonder why I bother! Happy paranoia to all Frank Hallett

Posted By George Wedgwood Quite right Jerry - what we need to do is help the process of good risk assessment for such bodies and I know schools safety guys are trying hard - but we need to help raise the school managers' awareness of a sensible approach to issues like these, which occur with regularity. Of course, despite what good or bad risks assessment may have been done in this case, the media still see it as a 'good story' and will exploit it any way they can to sell more copy. IOSH is getting better as responding publically and I offer the Education SG an opportunity here to comment positively from a practitioner's view, on ways that can be explored to help a school with a similar risk. It has to be done sensitively and with the cooperation of health care professionals, but if good advice had been sought before the child returned to school, this would not have become news! I will ask the ESG next week at our next SGMC Meeting, what their take is on this and what generic advice could be offered as to the 'rehabilitation' aspects of a pupil could be, before a return to school after an injury. Good Thread, George (Chair of SGMC)

Posted By Hilary Charlton I don't see the problem here - the boy has soft plaster - his foot is stuck out in front of him and he is in a wheelchair. If he did get knocked or banged then it could do irreparable damage to his leg. The doctor has suggested that he goes back to school once he has the walking plaster on. OK, maybe I'm being over cautious but I would not put my 10 year old son in a boisterous environment with a leg broken in two places and only supported in soft plaster -he could be crippled for life! The GP made a decision - if this decision was made in the workplace I would not let someone come back to work and, let's be honest, neither would you. I know you can't wrap your kids up in cotton wool and life is about risks - but didn't the boy take a risk playing football which led to this broken leg in the first place? Does he really need to be deformed for life so everyone can turn round and say "oh, there should have been a risk assessment on that and he shouldn't have been allowed back to school". Well, guess what? There was, and he wasn't - good decision! Hilary

Posted By MichaelM Well Martin I thought that perhaps I and some others had also done so but it is nice to know that we are all incompetent.

Posted By Danny Swygart On the information available, I have to agree with Hilary that this was a sensible decision. I also agree with Ron that this sort of thing should never even make the news, surely there are much more newsworthy events to report on. I could understand it making the local rag or radio, but the BBC website? Danny.