Beaumont v Surrey CC, 66 LGR 580, 1968

Citation:Beaumont v Surrey CC, 66 LGR 580, 1968

Link to case on WorldLII (reference).

Rule of thumb:What is the standard of care legally which teachers must show to pupils? The foundation & purpose of the standard of care to be legally shown by a teacher to the pupils is similar to that standard expected of the reasonable parent to their child – there is an interchange between these subjects.

Judgment:

‘The duty of a headmaster towards his pupils is said to be to take such care of them as a reasonably careful and prudent father would take of his own children. That standard is a helpful one when considering, for example, individual instructions given to individual children in a school. It would be very unwise to allow a 6 year old child to carry a kettle of boiling water – that type of instruction. But that standard when applied to an incident of horseplay in a school of 900 pupils is somewhat unrealistic if not unhelpful. In the context of the present action it appears to me to be easier and preferable to use the ordinary language of the law of negligence. That is, it is a headmaster’s duty, bearing in mind the known propensities of boys and indeed girls between the ages of 11 and 17 or 18, to take all reasonable and proper steps to prevent any of the pupils under his care from suffering from inanimate objects, from the actions of their fellow pupils, or from a combination of the two. That is a high standard’.

Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.