A primary school in Plymouth has temporarily stopped its pupils from carrying out "gymnastic activities" such as cartwheels during break times after the children kept hurting themselves.
Pupils at the Old Priory Junior Academy are taught gymnastics during carefully supervised and controlled PE sessions, but the problem arose when children were attempting some gymnastic moves during break times, which cannot be so easily supervised. Following a number of minor injuries to wrists and backs, the school decided that such activities should not be carried out in the playground. The school has said that the ban is only in place until the staff can work out a way of allowing pupils to take part in gymnastic activities under staff supervision.
The interim head teacher, Emma Hermon-Wright said that they had seen a few injuries over the course of a few days due to children performing handstands and cartwheels. She explained that at break times "we've got a lot of children in one go and you can't be supporting every child for a backward roll, forward roll, cartwheel, handstand or whatever they're doing at play time." The school has said that: "Ultimately, the safety and wellbeing is our responsibility and it is paramount to everything we do here."
