The Sand Trap That Wasn’t – School Not at Fault: Stanberg v State of New South Wales [2024] NSWDC 462

The background Facts

The Plaintiff, a Year 6 student, was injured while attempting to qualify for a school athletics carnival in a long jump competition held on the grounds of a school (the School).

The Plaintiff alleged that the School breached its duty of care by failing to take adequate precautions to prevent injuries during the activity. 

The main issue was whether there was sufficient sand in the long jump pit, either as a general measure or because the sand was not raked after each jump.

The School denied any breach of duty of care.

The evidence 

The long jump activity was supervised by two teachers.

The deputy principal provided evidence, which was accepted, that at the start of each athletics season, sand was ordered and delivered to the School to fill the sand pit. This occurred during the year of the incident. Additionally, the sand was raked “every few jumps on the day of the incident”.

The Plaintiff relied on expert evidence regarding the depth of sand in long jump pits, citing a standard applicable to competition, which reportedly applied to all long jump pits, including those at the Olympic Games. 

Determination 

The Court found the School was not negligent. 

It rejected the comparison between the standards expected of the School and those applicable to Olympic Games-level events. The Court also found that the sand depth likely met the expert standard in any case.

The Court concluded that the School had taken all reasonable precautions that a reasonable person in its position would have taken.

The Court acknowledged that injuries may still occur in schools or during play, even when reasonable precautions have been taken to prevent such outcomes.

Impact

This decision emphasises that every sport or physical activity carries a foreseeable risk of injury.

Games and activities such as long jump are standard components of the school curriculum, even though participation, regardless of careful organisation and supervision, may result in injuries, including severe ones.

Schools are not absolutely liable for injuries sustained by students when they are under teacher supervision.