NANNY STATE

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Headmistress Susan Tuck has banned the traditional game of tag from the playground, along with all other games which involve physical contact, as "inappropriate behaviour". Youngsters aged 5 to 11 at Bracebridge Heath Primary School near Lincoln have been told there will be no kiss-chase, and even linking arms with each other will not be allowed. The only time any of the 400 pupils can touch each other is if they need to help a classmate who has fallen over. Mrs Tuck became concerned that playground games were becoming too rough after a number of instances of bumped heads and said the next move would be slowly to reintroduce "supervised and appropriate physical contact between pupils".

She said, "A minority of pupils persistently offended on the playground. That needed to be dealt with. I told the children we should start by having no physical contact to start this on a level playing field. I couldn't say to the boys that they couldn't play certain games and then allow the girls to go around linking arms. I think on the first day the children thought 'how is this going to work?' Now I have spoken to some of them and they think the playground has become a lot calmer. Pupils are more creative, playing games like shadow tig to replace the real thing. Rather than shoving each other roughly on the back you try to jump on their shadow." (Source: Mail on Sunday, Feb/07)

Firefighters have been ordered not to use ladders to fit smoke alarms in homes in case they fall. The officers had been borrowing householders’ steps as they do not get official ones but Humberside Fire and Rescue Service bosses say this breaks new health and safety laws. Fire Brigade Union officials have told their members not to use any equipment that householders suggest they borrow.

Trouble began when firemen started fitting alarms at homes in East Yorks and officials realised household ladders were not cleared under Work At Height rules brought in two years ago. They aim to give firemen special platforms. Brigade spokesman Glenn Ramsden said, “We are not exempt from the legislation.” (Source: The Sun, Jan/07)

Pupils at Howard Community Primary School in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, have been banned from taking in suncream in case friends get hold of it and suffer an allergic reaction. Parents have instead been told to cover their children with a high-factor lotion in the mornings and give them "suitable" clothing to wear when outside, such as hats. The school took action over concerns staff could face disciplinary action or even prosection if pupils have an adverse reaction to protective creams and sprays.

Headteacher Rose Parkin defended the policy, saying, "We have to protect children but we also have to protect staff. We have over 200 children and some might have allergies to nut oils and other allergens. They'd go into each other's drawers, share it and might even eat it." The case is another example of over-zealous health and safety rules over-running Britain's schools. Conker fights, paper planes and even oranges have also been banned from some schools in case children injure themselves. (Source: Mail on Sunday, Jul/06)

Infant school pupils have been banned from taking off their sweatshirts in the heatwave sunshine unless their parents sign a consent form first. They even have to wear their long-sleeved jumpers during PE unless they have written permission that they can peel off. The move is to prevent pupils from suffering sunburn and sunstroke yet has been blasted as "the nanny-state gone mad". (Source: Daily Mirror, Jun/06)

Retired nurse Elaine Richards was banned from giving her friend a homemade birthday cake, because of health and safety rules. Ms Richards, who has been baking for 60 years, made the cake for a former patient’s 96th birthday celebration but when she took it to her friends Age Concern day centre she was told it broke hygiene regulations. She was told the centre’s old folk are only allowed to have cakes bought from shops. Andrea Scott of Age Concern, which runs the centre in Barnstaple, Devon, apologised but said they had to follow their food guidelines. She said, “We have many frail and elderly come here and some are diabetic. If we let one person do this, the floodgates are open. We don’t know where these cakes come from. If something went wrong, we could be sued.” Elaine and her friend ate the cake at home instead. (Source: The Sun, Jun/06)

Bristol City Council has removed up to 100 yew trees planted near a playground following complaints from parents that children could be poisoned if they ate the leaves or berries. The trees were planted last year at a cost of about £1,000 at the area on the Blaise Castle estate in Bristol, which is managed by the city council. The council said that following a "risk assessment" it was decided that the "safest option" was to remove them. In hindsight it added that it should have been aware that parents would be concerned. Trevor Beer, a naturalist, said it would take "handfuls" of the plant to present a danger. He said, "That is no excuse to uproot them. If that happened to all Britain's poisonous plants, there would be no countryside left." (Source: Daily Telegraph, Mar/06)

A school has banned children from taking pencil cases into class in case they are used to hide sharp weapons. St Anne's Primary School in Denton, Greater Manchester, acted after a boy was cut with a letter opener by a pupil who had hidden it in a pencil case. Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said, "Most parents will think it is ridiculous to ban pencil cases just because one child carries a letter opener in his. It seems a bit extreme. Serious action should be taken against the particular individual, but to ban pencil cases universally is silly."

Pupils have been stopped from putting their hands up to answer questions because their school believes it leads to feelings of victimisation. "No hands up" notices have been posted in every room at the Jo Richardson comprehensive in Dagenham, east London, as a reminder that the teachers will decide who should answer. The head, Andrew Buck, says it is always the same children who wave their arms in the air, while the rest of the class sits back. When teachers try to involve less adventurous pupils by choosing them instead, that leads to feelings of victimisation.

Mr Buck believes that it can also cause panic in children who are picked but do not know the answer while others around them are straining to give it. To spare the embarrassment of those who do not know the answer, the school uses a "phone a friend" system, allowing one child to nominate another to take the question instead. Mr Buck says the ban on putting hands up has improved attention levels because pupils never know when they will be called on. But of all the changes to teaching methods decided when the school opened four years ago, that policy had proved the most difficult to implement. (Source: Daily Telegraph, Jan/06)