School bans handstands, cartwheels and somersaults

Playtime is over for some Australian schoolchildren daring to do cartwheels and handstands during their lunch hour. Drummoyne Public School in Sydney has banned handstands, cartwheels and somersaults in the playground during lunch and recess unless "under the supervision of a trained gymnastics teacher and with correct equipment."

The move has confounded parents such as Rebecca Chown, who has called for the rule to be overturned. "It's ridiculous, what's the world coming to when kids can't do handstands and cartwheels at lunch time," she said. Ms Chown said she understood school principal Gail Charlier felt she was "doing the right thing".



"So many principals are wary ... about children injuring themselves, due to the growing litigative culture we live in," she said. Ms Chown first heard about the ban when her daughter Estelle, 10, came home on August 17 and said children had been told they couldn't do anything that had them "upside-down".

Ms Chown said she understood the risks involved, but the children were playing, not training to be gymnasts. What frustrated Ms Chown was the school's P&C, which her husband has been active in, had spent four years raising about $200,000 for playground upgrades, which included soft fall surfaces so children could play in a safer environment. "It just feels like a slap in the face," she said.