The Supreme Court’s ruling that a school’s duty of care to a pupil is non-delegable is a significant development in tort, says Catherine Leech
In Woodland v Essex County Council [2013] UKSC 66, [2013] All ER (D) 252 (Oct) , Lady Hale confirms that the Supreme Court is “accepting an invitation to develop the law beyond the point which it has currently reached in this jurisdiction”.
In 2000, Annie Woodland was a primary school pupil who went to school at Whitmore Junior School a healthy, happy 10-year-old. She was in a hospital bed with brain damage at the end of the school day. Annie had suffered a near-drowning incident during the course of a school swimming lesson held at the local swimming baths. The lesson was part of the national curriculum. The children were taught by swimming teachers from Direct Swimming Services (DSS), a firm run by Beryl Stopford. She engaged various people to be swimming teachers and life guards. It transpires that several of these teachers were not insured, and neither was DSS.
The claimant brought in the local education authority running the
