I start the week learning the hard way that no matter how much you plan, lessons do sometimes go wrong. A pupil’s personal possession was accidentally damaged during a outdoor Computing lesson by another pupil and this has resulted in a claim against the school. This is the first time that something like this has happened to me or to my immediate colleagues so I feel a bit isolated and unsure of what to do next.
Any advice? I don’t want to retreat back inside my classroom and teach using booklets for the rest of my career even though that would be the easiest option!
Hi! Poor you – it feels awful when these things happen.
You need to go to your policies on pupils possesions – are they allowed to bring things in or is there a paragraph that mentions ‘school takes no responsibility’? How was the item damaged? Was it through bad behaviour / mucking around? In which case go to behaviour policies. Have you something specific about outdoor learning? This may help. Were there any witnesses? Make sure you get details from anyone who can help. Pass it onto someone on SLT. It will not be the frist time this sort of thing has happened & sadly won’t be the last.
Finally, try not to worry about it! Parents will always try this sort of thing!
(aka TheHeadsOffice
The school policy is items are brought to school at the pupils own risk therefore it was their choice to participate so I dont think they can claim
Yes, thanks. For obvious reasons I’ll not post any more details at the moment but thank you for the kind advice!