More than £200,000 as personal injury compensation has been paid by the councils across the North East to pupils and teachers injured in the regions schools.
For slips, trips and falls pupils have received compensation amounts ranging from £50 up to £23,000 over the last two years, revealed a freedom of information request.
Over £6,000 was awarded to a Newcastle pupil after slipping on stairs and a student who was accidentally hit in the face with a bat was given just over £11,500. Furthermore, £6,200 was paid to a pupil who fell from a climbing frame and £11,500 was awarded after a fall on a slippery floor.
A pupil who cut his foot on a tile was awarded a compensation of £7,000 by a school in Northumberland, while £2,500 was awarded to a pupil injured when a rope swing snapped in North Tyneside.
Schools could never be ‘accident free zones’, claimed a spokesperson from Newcastle City Council adding that compensation was paid if the council was found to be liable but unfounded claims would always be defended.