Child head injury following accident at school

A child has received compensation after suffering head injuries in an accident at school.

The injury happened in November 2006 whilst the child was attending nursery at a school in Sheffield.

As she was playing outside with the rest of the nursery class, she rode a tricycle through a coned off area of the playground and down five concrete steps which were used as a means of access to and from the nursery class onto the playground.

As a result of the accident, the child suffered a head injury consisting of bruising and swelling to her forehead and both eyes. She has also been left with a blemish to her forehead since the injury.

The school admitted liability for the accident resulting from their negligence as they should have known that the concrete steps within the play area constituted a hazard and a danger to young children.

Settlement was approved during an infant approval settlement hearing with help from Katrina Elsey of Irwin Mitchell’s Public Liability Unit in Sheffield, she said;

“Schools are trusted with the wellbeing of children. Every effort should be made to ensure that accidents are avoided and that the safety of children in their care is of the utmost of important.

“In this case, the school’s duty of care towards the child fell well below what was expected and, as such she suffered these painful injuries.

“Simple precautions would have been made to prevent the accident happening at all.”

More about making a child accident/injury claim here.