Health and Safety or madness?

Would it not be refreshing for a bout of common sense to break out regarding health and safety? Hopefully the Secretary of State for Education will read the Teachers TV survey that was published today which suggests that health and safety regulations are damaging children’s learning and development. I write this, as my granddaughter is about to go with her school on a weeks camping to the Peak District. Yes, I will worry all week and probably feel sick when I think of her rock climbing and canoeing but she is sensible, the teachers are well trained and risk assessments are in place. I have been through all this with my children and now with seven grandchildren it never gets easier but it is these visits they will remember, as they grow older along with the school sports day, the time spent in the playground and school sports matches. The difference is, when my children were at school we used good common sense, trusted our teachers and allowed children freedom to be children. The Teachers TV survey says that when questioned, ‘teachers complained about a five-page briefing on using glue sticks and being told to wear goggles to put up posters.’ Others said pupils were not allowed to enjoy the sun or snow without taking health and safety precautions. Whilst in some schools there is a ban on three legged races on sports day and pupils are not allowed to run in the playground. Other schools no longer have school trips following comments from at least one of the teaching unions last year advising teachers not to take them as it was too dangerous. The list of nonsense goes on, ‘A ban on children being sent out of the classroom to “cool off” because it is a fire hazard.’ The removal of climbing equipment because the amount of bark chippings beneath did not meet the required depth; wet grass stopping PE lessons; children told not to eat sweets for fear of choking. We need to keep our children safe but we do not need to ban them from all of those things that make a rounded education and a happy childhood. In my day, health and safety were never mentioned and guess what? We ran and we survived.