Health and safety is ruining school trips

A report published today by the Countryside Alliance Foundation says parents and teachers believe children should have more opportunities to experience outdoor learning, but that concerns about health and safety are still limiting access to the great outdoors.

The report "Outdoor education, the countryside as a classroom" which says that three quarters of teachers allege health and Safety is the main barrier to school visits, highlights the fact that only 364 legal claims were made against schools between 1988 and 2008 for injuries sustained by children, and only half of those resulted in compensation. It also states that, on average, only £293 was paid out in compensation by local authorities each year. Perhaps some common sense injected into a debate often distorted by irrational fears of litigation.