OVER the past three years, playground activities ranging from football and tag, to conkers and making daisy chains, have been banned in various schools across the UK.

Dan Kendrick takes a look at how county schools have tackled the nationwide trend towards wrapping pupils in cotton wool amid increasingly litigious parents.

THE Secondary Heads Association (SHA) last week backed a judge's decision to overturn £4,250 in damages awarded to a boy who broke his arm on school sports day.

The court case was an example of the compensation culture, which is sweeping the country and is forcing an increasing number of schools to ban traditional playtime activities.

Conkers, skipping, daisy chains, handstands, football and yo-yos have all been casualties as teachers have sought to 'sterilise' playgrounds.

NASUWT teachers' union defended accusations of over-caution, with deputy general secretary Chris Keates saying the concept of a genuine accident had virtually disappeared.

"It is easy for those who do not bear the onerous responsibilities schools have for children's safety to criticise them for responding in this way," said Ms Keates.

"Such criticisms might be better directed at the seemingly growing number of ambulance-chasing solicitors, operating on a no-win-no-fee basis, who encourage parents to make claims for even the most minor incident."

Ms Keates said the NASUWT rejected claims that the danger of schools being sued was exaggerated.

"Many heads, teachers and LEA officers now spend hours of valuable time investigating and responding to solicitors' letters," she said.

"This is regularly cited as one of the major contributory factors to the increasing bureaucratic burdens in schools."

However, critics, already angered by schools' "culture of caution", which sees non-competitive sports days, non-contact sports and now an 'n' for nearly rather than 'f' for fail in exams, claim playgrounds have become boring.

"Teachers have, in recent years, been subjected to citations from parents who turn more readily to litigation whenever anything goes wrong," said John Dunford, general secretary of the SHA.

"We need to take a sensible view of risks and accidents."

While the LEA passes on Government guidelines and directives when necessary, schools are generally left to their own devices when it comes to formulating playground policy.

And headteachers in Worcestershire seem to agree that playground supervision, rather than a ban on activities, is the key to health, safety and variety during breaks.

"It all comes down to making a sensible decision, because problems arise if you stop young children enjoying themselves in their playtime," said Jeremy Harwood, the headteacher of Cherry Orchard Primary School, in Timberdine Close, Worcester.

"We take every care to ensure children are safe, such as maintaining the playground and supervising their games, but we let them play with conkers, yo-yos and footballs left, right and centre.

"There has to be a point where children can run around with a big grin on their face and, if it happens, the occasional scraped knee."

Val Holland, head at Cranham Primary School, in Tetbury Drive, Warndon, agreed common sense was the key to children enjoying their break time.

"When I was at school there were seasonal games and phases in the playground, and I have seen similar things here," she said.

"So, for example, when we saw all the kids playing with yo-yos we didn't ban them, we introduced guidelines on where and when they could be used and it has been successful.

"We also have skipping ropes and boxes of toys for the children to play with, and as long as the playground supervisor knows the guidelines we have agreed it has always worked.

"We are encouraged to give children exercise and it is crucial for their health they can enjoy a variety of activities."

And Christopher Whitehead High School, in Bromwich Road, St John's, has combated the problem of keeping pupils safe by introducing more, rather then fewer, activities.

"With a secondary school the issues are slightly different, such as knowing where the students and ensuring they are back in class on time," said headteacher Neil Morris.

"We have increased facilities, such as putting in a basketball court, asking responsible Year 11 students to supervise Year 7 football games and encouraging cricket with tennis balls.

"I have only been here a month but we have games going on every break time and 1,200 students and we have not had one accident this term."

Today's children have the highest rates of obesity ever, leading to criticisms of fast food, over-use of computers and claims they now lack the imagination to entertain themselves.

However, teachers can hardly be blamed for failing to nurture pupils' adventurous and competitive spirits with a small minority of parents prepared to sue at the drop of a hat.

Thankfully, Worcestershire's schools have been brave enough not to wrap pupils in cotton wool, and parents have been balanced enough to let children enjoy their childhood.