It was the tragic fatality of a child at Glenridding Beck in Cumbria in 2003 that brought the safety of outdoor school visits and activities into the spotlight. The death of ten-year-old Max Palmer resulted in the prosecution of a teacher, and opened up a debate among schools and the wider media about the dangers presented by school visits.

There is no doubt the incident was every teacher and parent’s worst nightmare, but it is also fair to say that some sensationalist media reporting contributed to what has arguably become an irrational fear of litigation.

A report published in March by the Countryside Alliance Foundation concludes that parents and teachers would like children to have more opportunities to take part in outdoor activities, but that concerns about health and safety are limiting their opportunities.

The report, Outdoor Education — The Countryside as a Classroom, claims three quarters of teachers consulted said health and safety concerns were the main barrier to organising school visits.

The foundation’s research discovered that of the local education authorities polled, 364 legal claims relating to physical injuries sustained by children were made against schools in the ten-year period between 1998-2008.

Of those only half resulted in payment of compensation.

A rate of fewer than 200 claims a decade — or 20 claims a year — in a period in which the ‘compensation culture’ is being blamed for spurious and excessive personal injury claims being made, would suggest current widely held fears about children’s health and safety outdoors are fairly groundless.

The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers has given its full support to the report, referring to it as ‘a welcome injection of common sense into a debate which is too often distorted by irrational fears of litigation.’ Most people would agree outdoor learning is good for children. It helps them to understand the world around them in a hands-on, practical way.

It is an important opportunity for them to explore their physical limitations, to build self-confidence and to understand how to take managed risks when confronted with situations arising outside their normal environment.

Clearly, every parent wants their child’s safety to be paramount, but the current reluctance to let them explore and test their limits in the countryside is reducing their exposure to the natural world and, potentially, producing a generation of children who are not fully learning how to assess and deal with physical risk.

According to the Countryside Alliance Foundation report only 47 per cent of children went on a school visit to the countryside in 2008.

The figures quoted regarding the number of legal claims made, and the very small number that were successful, surely help challenge the widely-held assumption that school trips are in some way inherently dangerous.

Obviously, the tragedies that have occurred when children are participating in outdoor sports — such as canoeing or sea kayaking —are terrible to contemplate but, in fact, occur rarely and should not be allowed to stop or limit children’s ability to explore the great outdoors.

So why is the perception of the risk arguably so much greater than the risk itself?

The media plays a part, but also guidance given to teachers is often open to misinterpretation and ‘over interpretation.’ The fortunately rare incidents which have occurred do seem to have had the unfortunate consequence of creating a climate of fear, meaning children are missing out on valuable experiences as a result.

The Countryside Alliance Foundation does not think it is right that our children are losing access to this important learning resource, and has produced a five-point plan which includes ensuring outdoor learning is part of every child’s education through the national curriculum; training teachers to allow them to safely deliver learning outside the classroom; prioritising funding allocated for outdoor learning and tackling the myths and fears surrounding the perceived risk.

The current climate of fear which has grown out of a handful of tragic incidents is wholly disproportionate when examined closely against the numbers of accidents which actually occur.

Obviously, teachers should continue to take the welfare of their pupils extremely seriously, but fears concerning health and safety should not be allowed to present a barrier to outdoor education.

The law protects from liability those who take reasonable care and the low risks of well managed outdoor education should be highlighted to allow our children to continue to benefit in a real way from all that the great outdoors has to offer.

o Contact: Julie Carlisle, Henmans, 01865 781000.

Web: www.henmansllp.co.uk/personalinjury