Nothing Ventured (William Warwick Novels, 1)

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It will take skill and tenacity for William to solve the crime, and along the way he will encounter many who will change his life, from Miles Faulkner, a crooked art collector, and his influential lawyer – who bends the law to the point of breaking – to research assistant Beth Rainsford, a woman with secrets who he falls hopelessly in love with . . . Wherever possible, rules that were inplace simply to regulate rather than toprotect were removed. The childrenand staff wrote the risk assessmentstogether – for the play equipment, theplayground and ultimately forsnowballing. The aim was to enablechildren and staff to enjoy takingacceptable risks, and to understandthe reasons for any safeguards thatwere in place. When Karen Surrall became headteacher of St James CE Primaryschool in West Malvern,Worcestershire in 2005, the childrencomplained that the curriculum was“boring” and parents complained thatthe kids did not spend enough timeoutside. So began a journey with boththe children and the staff.

ConclusionsEducation in its broadest sense is not just about delivering acurriculum. It is about giving children the chance to extendtheir life skills. It is about developing their confidence. It isabout fostering their resilience and sense of responsibility.And – let us not forget – it is about the enjoyment,engagement and excitement of venturing out into the realworld, with all its capacity for uncertainty, surprise,stimulation and delight. This does not let those who organiseand provide adventure activities off thehook. Previous tragedies have shownthat lives have sometimes been lostneedlessly because actions anddecisions fell well below the standardsany reasonable person would expect.

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While this Act did not change the legalbasis for liability claims, it has had theeffect of emphasising the existing needfor the courts to take into account thebenefits of activities when consideringthe duty of care. Recent cases haveprompted lawyers to suggest that thecourts, in the wake of the Act, acceptthat some activities carry with them aninherent level of risk. Paul Airey, Diana Airey, Roberto Amoroso, BobBurson, Andy Carden, John Garrett, OwenHayward, Martin Hore, Andy Lavin, Karl Midlane,Ian Park, Dave Scourfield, Derek Stansfield, AndyStubbs, Bob Telfer, Mark Williams, RandallWilliams, Simon Willis, Adventure ActivityLicensing Service, Blue Peris Mountain Centre,Conway Centre, Nant Bwlch yr Haearn OutdoorEducation Centre, National Association ofHeadteachers, Low Bank Ground & HinningHouse team, Girlguiding UK, Association ofHeads of Outdoor Education Centres, OutdoorEducation Advisers Panel, Luke Lane PrimarySchool, New Greenhall School, Dee PointPrimary School, Trinity School, The Lakes Schooland Sports College, Thurston Outdoor EducationCentre, Ysgol Y Bont, Ynys Môn, West Cheshireand Chester Residential and Outdoor Service,Field Studies Council. One challenge is that within organisationsit is rare to see a consistent, coherentapproach. So while face-to-face staffmay want to give children experiencesthat expose them to a degree ofmanaged risk, their managers, or theircolleagues in charge of health andsafety, may take a different view.

Enable Scotland is a charity thatcampaigns for a better life for childrenand adults with learning disabilities andsupports them and their families to live,work and take part in their communities.One service it offers is to provideactivities and visits for children andyoung people, including adventurousand outdoor activities. In response toworries that the activity planning wasbecoming too cautious and overlyinfluenced by the impetus to removerisk, the charity developed a risk-benefit assessment form that gatherskey information about the benefits forparticipants. The form asks about thebenefits to the person of taking part,and how would the person feel ifprevented from taking part. The formalso asks for information on whatcould go wrong – but the nextquestion is ‘what could be done to geta positive outcome?’ Even in the media, attitudes to schoolvisits and children’s safety are changing.While emotive reports of extremely raretragedies are still part of the picture,stories that allege over-the-topprotective measures and that bemoan awider culture of excessive safety arebecoming more common. Given themedia’s wish to grab our attention, weshould not perhaps be too surprised atthis contradictory take on the topic. Butit does show that the debate is movingon.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

When looking at what might go wrong, itis the risks to children and young peoplethat should be our primary focus. Yet inmany cases, agencies can becomefocused not on the risks to children, buton the risk to their own resources,reputation and good name. They fear aso-called ‘blame culture’ by which anyadverse outcome, even if it is relativelyminor, can become the focus foraccusations, recriminations andlitigation. Some myths have emerged that act as areal barrier to a balanced approach torisk. These myths, summarised in thebox below, are explored in more detailthroughout this publication.

References andfurther informationBall, David, Gill, Tim and Spiegal,Bernard (2008) Managing Risk in PlayProvision Implementation Guide The next generation is tomorrow’s workforce. Helping young people to experience and handle risk is part of preparing them foradult life and the world of work. Young people can gain this experience from participating in challenging and exciting outdoorevents made possible by organisations prepared to adopt a common sense and proportionate approach that balancesbenefits and risk. I support this publication for the encouragement that it gives to everyone to adopt such an approach. It is widely believed that the teachingunion the NASUWT advises itsmembers not to lead or take part ineducational visits. In fact, NASUWTguidance does not state this (though itdoes advise members to think carefullybefore becoming involved). The unionhas given its formal support to theLearning Outside the ClassroomManifesto. Department for Education and Skills(2001) Health and Safety:Responsibilities and Powers (statutoryguidance note DfES/0803/2001) Published by the English Outdoor Council,an umbrella body of the principalrepresentative organisations in the field ofoutdoor education, in association with theOutdoor Education Advisers’ Panel, whichcomprises nominated representatives ofChief Officers of Local Authorities inEngland, Wales and Northern Ireland.The second, Poppleton v Trustees ofthe Portsmouth Youth ActivitiesCommittee, involved a man who fellfrom an indoor bouldering wall afterattempting to jump from one part of thestructure to another. The man sued theoperator and was awarded damages,but the case was overturned onappeal. The Court of Appeal took theview that there were inherent andobvious risks that did not need to bebrought to users’ attention and did notrequire special training or supervision. Nothing Ventured... is aimed ateducational and recreation practitionersand managers working with children andyoung people, including teachers, youthworkers, early years, play and out ofschool professionals and others workingin children’s services. It has a focus onadventurous activities, although much ofthe content is relevant to other learningcontexts. It is written with an Englishlegal and policy context in mind, but isalso relevant to those engaged inoutdoor activities in Wales, Scotland andNorthern Ireland, and – to a degree –beyond these shores. When tryouts for the team were announced, Tanya doubted that she could quality, but she thought : nothing ventured, nothing gained. Despite the rarity of cases againstschools, teachers or organisations,concern has grown about the impact ofthe fear of litigation. In response,Parliament introduced a new Act, theCompensation Act 2006. Part 1 of theAct makes it clear that, when consideringnegligence claims, the courts may takeinto account the danger of discouragingor deterring ‘desirable activities’ such asvisits.

Of course, the key question is ‘what isreasonable’? The answer, notsurprisingly, depends largely upon thecircumstances. But two important recentlegal cases, explored in Myth 5 below,show that the law provides a sensibleframework. They bring out two cruciallegal points. The first is that the courtstake the view that risks and benefitsneed to be balanced, and any proposedpreventative measures need to take thisbalancing act into account, and also tobe proportionate in cost terms. Thesecond is that where risks in an activityare inherent and obvious, and peoplechoose to take part, the law takes acommon-sense position about the dutyof care. Young people of all ages benefit fromreal life ‘hands on’ experiences; whenthey can see, hear, touch and explorethe world around them and haveopportunities to experience challengeand adventure.Professional awareness of risk-benefitassessment has grown considerablybecause of work on playground safety.However, it has long been implicit in theethos and goals of agencies such asthose providing adventurous andoutdoor activities, and has beenelaborated theoretically in the form of a‘triangle of risk’ (benefits, hazards andcontrol measures). The University ofCentral Lancashire, which providesdegree courses for outdoorprofessionals, recognises that studentshave to encounter risks if they areto become well-equipped to supportexperiential learning once they havequalified. Hence it plans to introducerisk-benefit assessment into its riskmanagement systems. The approach isalso being put into action elsewhere. What are the risks?Teachers can be forgiven for believing that childrenregularly come to serious harm on outings and activities.The media can sometimes appear to give that impression.Yet the reality is that visits and activities are by any measurecomparatively safe. Minor accidents and upsets are notuncommon – and should not be ignored – but again, there isnothing to suggest these are any more frequent than ineveryday life. The benefits of outdoor education arefar too important to forfeit, and by faroutweigh the risks of an accidentoccurring. If teachers follow recognizedsafety procedures and guidance theyhave nothing to fear from the law. Even when claims are made againstorganisations, they can often besuccessfully defended. A number oflocal authorities, includingWolverhampton Metropolitan BoroughCouncil, take a robust, principledapproach to liability claims. Where theCouncil believes it is at fault, claims aresettled. But where it does not, claims arecontested, if necessary in the courts.This approach benefits from closeliaison between the Council’s corporaterisk managers and children’s services (inparticular, the play section). To supportthis, a corporate policy framework hasbeen adopted that explicitly sets out abalanced approach to risks and benefits.In the same way the Scouts Association,which has its own in-house insurance,contests all claims where it believes it isnot at fault. Out of around 50 or 60 suchclaims a year, only around six end up incourt, and in most of these the claimsare turned down. While William follows the trail of the missing masterpiece, he comes up against suave art collector Miles Faulkner and his brilliant lawyer, Booth Watson QC, who are willing to bend the law to breaking point to stay one step ahead of William. Meanwhile, Miles Faulkner's wife, Christina, befriends William, but whose side is she really on?