£20000 fine to headmaster question...?

Absolutley agree with you. It`s very easy to pin the blame on teachers these days, when there are far more people higher up the ladder who are to blame for a multitude of sins.

Is the teacher responsible for the child contracting MRSA?

An accident is an accident....negligence is something completely different.

EDIT;

This is so sad for the family, but as a teacher it just makes me want to keep all of the children sitting down at their desks without moving during the school day, accountability can go TOO far.

The boy in question did not actually die from the head injury he received in the fall at school. He died from MRSA contracted in the hospital to which he was admitted for treatment for his injury. I don't see how the headteacher can be held responsible for that but he has been. No mention has been made of any action being taken against the hospital concerned.

And now, no doubt, children will be given even less freedom to play at school for fear of further litigation should a child have a fall whilst jumping off a step, playing 'Batman', as this boy did.

A 3 year old died in an area that he wasn't allowed to be.

A 3 year old isn't known to take notice of 'No Entry' signs.

There was no barrier at the time so the child went there not knowing any better.

The head is responsible for seeing that areas out of bounds are blocked in some way.

Hospitals on the other hand, are controlled by medical and legal personnel who can run rings round any Court.

They will always cover for each other and get away with it successfully.

A handful of cases have come up that Hospitals have lost which makes them close ranks even tighter.

Just goes to show what a joke of a society we live in. How can you be held responsible for a kid jumping off steps is beyond belief. Because of this, do schools get rid of chairs and tables in case a kid jumps off one of those as well?

I'm sorry to say this, but the parents, local authority, jury and judge must all be complete pratts for this to have been pinned on the headmaster. What a complete and utter joke.

The headmaster was fined not in his role as headmaster, but in his role as owner of a private business, a nursery school.

He was responsible for the safety of the children at his school, but left 59 children in the care of a single member of staff. This boy was 3 years old, and children as young as 3 are supposed to be supervised (according to DoE guidelines) by one staff member for every 13 children.

The headmaster failed in his duty of care to this poor lad, a point with which a jury clearly agreed. I have a child who goes to a nursery school, and if I found out they were letting her jump from brick steps, I'd have her out of there in a heartbeat.

Good point! And it's sad because it was an accident, it's not like he pushed the kid or knew what would happen. I think the parents are just looking for someone to blame.

Unfortunately, it seems to be one way for some, and another way for doctors

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pressass/20070928/tuk-hea...

Dave

have you got a link to this story?