Schools terrified of being sued are in danger of creating a generation of bland and anodyne children, an independent school head gave warning yesterday.

Jonathan Hughes-D’Aeth, head of Milton Abbey School in Dorset, said teachers needed to encourage risk, rather than worry unduly about health and safety.

He told the Independent Schools Council conference in central London: “Coping with failure is inherent to success. As long as no one has died, lost a limb or suffered serious psychological damage then normally the only thing to be hurt is their pride.

“Without uncertainty and a fear of failure we will merely produce a bland and anodyne set of children.

“Health and safety legislation is designed to protect life, not stifle and control it. We’re in danger of using it to replace thought and personal responsibility. We need, as adults, to minimise damage that can occur rather than take away the risk altogether.” The seminar, called “Compensation culture: letting children take risks”, was told by Dominic Clayden, the director of claims for Norwich Union, that schools faced an increased threat of being sued.

He said: “We do have a rising compensation culture, but the vast majority are small claims and a lot of frivolous claims are successfully defended.

“There is a reduced tolerance of minor injuries, such as bruises, which are no longer seen as ’part of the job’. The trend has been falling numbers of catastrophic injuries but a rise in small claims.” Mr Clayden said fear of children suffering accidents had closed playgrounds. He added that the latest figures available, for 2004, showed compensation litigation cost the state sector £200 million a year, the equivalent of 8,000 teachers’ salaries, and said claims were an inevitable part of life for schools.

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