Outdoor Education Advisers' Panel

School trips must continue, say teaching unions, despite a pupil's death costing a Gloucester school £15,000 in court fines and costs.

School trips must continue, say teaching unions, despite a pupil's death costing a Gloucester school £15,000 in court fines and costs.

Yunus Moolla drowned during a sixth form trip to Gullet Quarry in the Malvern Hills in 2001. Central Technology College has to find the cash to pay the £5,000 fine and £10,000 costs after admitting breaching health and safety law.

Sentencing the school at Worcester Magistrates' Court on Monday, District Judge Bruce Morgan expressed deep concerns about the future of school trips.

"Prosecutions like this are slowly going to bring a death knell to school outings," said Judge Morgan.

"Schools must live in absolute fear of this taking place."

But Andy Johnson, Gloucestershire divisional secretary for the National Union of Teachers (NUT), said the guidance given by Gloucestershire County Council was "sound".

"Our advice to members is simply to make sure that guidance is taken on board," he said.

"Unfortunately, no matter how many risk assessments are carried out, accidents cannot be foreseen.

"I certainly don't think the majority of NUT members would say that a few most unfortunate, appalling accidents should put an end to school trips, full stop."

Chris Keates, general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters/ Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), said: "These tragedies are fortunately extremely rare, but they vindicate NASUWT's call for local authorities to undertake risk assessments on the most common sites of school trips so that risks are minimised."

Judge Morgan found Central Technology College's health and safety policy was "in tatters", but said no more could have been done to avoid Yunus' death.

Sixth formers on the business studies trip had been forbidden from swimming after another pupil had got into difficulties.

Yunus' grief-stricken parents have supported the school and even successfully begged the Health and Safety Executive not to prosecute sixth form head Andrew Barker.

Gloucestershire County Council spokeswoman Sarah Wood said the authority had reviewed its health and safety guidance following Yunus' death.

"In light of the findings and the Department for Education and Schools also producing further guidance supporting the Best Practice Guide, Health and Safety of Pupils on Educational Visits, the county's guidance was enhanced and the retraining of school educational visits co-ordinators was undertaken," she said.

"The county guidance is constantly reviewed in line with current best practice.

"No further changes are planned following yesterday's court case."