Does the duty extend beyond formal school hours?
The case of Kearn-Price v Kent County Council [2002] EWCA Civ 1539 demonstrates that the duty of care imposed on a school is not limited to formal school hours. The claimant was blinded in one eye after being struck by a leather football. Whilst the incident occurred on school grounds, formal learning hours had not yet started. The school had previously banned the use of full size leather balls but the rule was poorly enforced. The Court of Appeal held that the claimant could recover damages on the grounds that the school had a reasonable responsibility to enforce the ban on leather footballs and that this extended to providing staff supervision in the hour between the gates of the school opening and the school day formally beginning. By contrast the same court in Wilson v Governors of Sacred Heart Roman Catholic School [1998] ELR 637 held that the defendant school was not under any obligation to supervise the departure of pupils from the school building to the school gate. The claiman
