THE mother of a six-year-old boy who was smashed in the face with a hammer during an outdoor lesson has slammed his school for ‘failing’ to take the wellbeing and safety of its pupils seriously.

Susan Morgan said her son Riley Meredith-Morgan lost his front teeth when the hammer was thrown at him, and Severnbanks Primary School in Lydney should have punished the pupil responsible with more than a one-day isolation, and taken action against supervising staff members for “gross professional negligence.”

But the governing board of the school, which was reawarded a ‘good’ rating by schools watchdog Ofsted last month, says external Health and Safety consultants had carried out an investigation into the Thursday, November 22 incident, and were satisfied that it was “an accident.”

Riley’s mother said she had to rush her son to the dentist for emergency treatment after the school phoned to say he had been injured at a Forest School lesson.

“When I got to the school my son was still in shock. Not only was my six-year-old boy hit in the mouth with a hammer at school, he had had his front adult teeth knocked out.

“I rushed him to the dentist where he was seen fairly quickly, and the dentist said the object was clearly thrown with force to do that kind of damage.”

Next day, she attended the school to be told the child involved had been excluded from school the previous afternoon and would spend that day in isolation – punishment she says was inadequate given her son’s injuries.

“The pupil was expelled that afternoon, but was allowed to remain on school premises, and then the day of their isolation they were allowed to leave early to go to a relative’s. So how is this punishment

acceptable?” she asked.

“But my concern is not the child who has done this to my son, but the teachers who claim the wellbeing and safety of the children at the school is at the heart of everything they do, as it clearly wasn’t.

“Had they have done their job and supervi- sed these children, then this ‘accident’ would have been avoided.

“The adults should be punished for gross professional negligence,” she said.

“My son had to have time off school as the discomfort he was go-ing through was severe.

“He couldn’t eat and couldn’t drink without a straw, and also couldn’t talk. Something more needs to be done.”

Responding to her claims, Severnbanks Primary chair of governors Rod Johnson, said: “The health and safety of all the children attending Severnbanks School has always been paramount and will continue to be so.

“The recent Ofsted report acknowledges that the school places pupils’ wellbeing and safety at the heart of all it does.”

He added: “The school has followed its normal policies and procedures.

“An investigation has been undertaken into the incident, including risk assessments and interviews with all parties involved.

“The incident referred to happened du- ring an outdoor Forest School session where children may use a variety of tools.

“When an incident like this occurs, the school refers the incident to external health and safety consultants.

“They have considered all the evidence and it is their view that this was an accident.

“As is standard for any accident such as this, the school has conducted a further review of its procedures and risk assessments.

“The school has taken action that it deems to be appropriate in the circumstances of this accident.”