Parents of boy crushed by school whiteboard warns it may happen to more children | UK News

The family of a child who was crushed by an interactive whiteboard at school say more may be in danger after it was found to be installed incorrectly.

Elias was ‘flattened’ when a digital whiteboard became detached from a wall and fell on him at St Gabriel’s Catholic Primary School in Tamworth in May 2023.

The seven-year-old in a ‘tremendous amount of pain’ and was off school for eight weeks as he recovered.

Elias’s family were told by doctors if the board had hit him on the head he could have been killed’.

‘It flattened him,’ dad Matthew Batchelor said. ‘They had to get two members of staff to pick the board up so they could get him out from underneath – he was seriously hurt.

‘We took him down to Good Hope Hospital who suspected he had fractured his pelvis. Luckily there was no fracture, but he was still in a tremendous amount of pain.

‘He was off school for eight weeks in total – he couldn’t walk for three weeks and was crying out in pain every time he turned over in bed. One of the consultants said to us that if it had hit him on the head it would have killed him – it could have been much worse.’

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the initial installation of the whiteboard fell below industry standards and became detached with minimal force.

It was installed by Capita Entrust who offer services to local-authority run schools.

Mr Batchelor said he and his partner Nikki feared other children were at risk from faulty smart boards and urged all headteachers to carry out adequate safety checks.

‘These whiteboards are used everywhere,’ he said.

‘We want them all checked. We’re concerned about children in schools across the country – as well as those at academies who fall outside the remit of Staffordshire Council.

‘We’re calling on headmasters to get in touch with whoever installed their boards to make sure they’re carrying out the proper checks to ensure that they’re safe.

‘This has been a horrible situation for us as a family, and we wouldn’t want it happening to anyone else. We know that accidents happen, but we need to learn lessons from it.’

A spokesperson for St Gabriel’s Catholic Primary School said: ‘The HSE has informed the school of this outcome and has been clear that there is no fault on the part of the school.

‘The Governing Board of St Gabriel’s Catholic Primary School also conducted its own investigation of the circumstances.

‘Our thoughts remain with the child and his family and we hope that his recovery will be as speedy as possible.’

Staffordshire County Council Cabinet Member for Education Jonathan Price said: ‘We have been working with our partners Entrust to ensure the necessary improvements are made.

‘Our sympathies remain with Elias and his family, and we are working hard with Entrust to ensure an incident like this doesn’t happen again.’

An Entrust spokesperson said: ‘We accept the findings from the HSE. While the risk of this happening again is very low, we are taking steps to ensure it does not recur.’

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