THE devastated mother of Kyle Rees, who died after being hit by a practice hockey ball, has hit out at the school’s “failure” to look after her child.

Tanya Cooper said she felt let down by staff at Portchester School, where 16-year-old Kyle was fatally injured on February 27, and said they had failed in their duty of care to him.

Read all our live coverage of the inquest

Speaking after a three-day inquest that concluded Kyle’s death was a tragic accident, she said: “I sent my son to school and he should have come home, it’s as simple as that.”

The inquest had heard that moments before Kyle was struck by the ball, dozens of students had been throwing tennis balls, water bottles, shoes and even a chair to each other in the playground.

The incident, which lasted around 10 minutes, happened during a gap between afternoon registration and lessons, when pupils were unsupervised.

The inquest jury at Bournemouth Town Hall made no criticism of Portchester School, now known as Harewood College, for this, stating there had not been any previous incidents of concern to warrant supervision during this time.

But Mrs Cooper said that if teachers had been quicker to disperse the pupils, Kyle might still be around today.

“We all have a duty to love and care and protect our children,” she said.

“I sent my son to school, as is the law, to be cared for but he never came home to us.

“As a parent I feel I have failed and been failed and, from what I’ve heard during this inquest, clearly I feel the school has failed.”

When asked whether she was expecting the jury to be more critical of the school, she said: “Yes, definitely. I feel it was not one individual’s fault but there were lots of things that could’ve been done to improve the care of Kyle and everybody’s children.

“They’re saying basically they don’t have to provide care for our children in that 10-minute break, I feel that’s completely wrong. If we have to by law send our children to school then the school has to by law look after our children as we would.”

She added: “It was apparent to me from the CCTV that this was a bigger issue than has been shown, with the amount of balls and the amount of children in the playground.

“Something should have been done, instead of litter being picked up, the balls should have been removed from the playground. It would never have re-started and my son would still be here.”

In a moving tribute to Kyle, she described him as their “sunshine” and said he was desperately missed and loved by his family and friends.

“We’re lucky that he had such a huge personality and he has given his family and friends so many wonderful memories to keep him with us always.”

Statement of the executive headteacher

Debbie Godfrey-Phaure, the executive headteacher of Avonbourne Trust, refused to answer our question as to whether she felt pupils’ behaviour had been out of control at Portchester School when Kyle was injured.
Instead, she read from a pre-prepared statement and said: “Everyone at the school was devastated when Kyle died.
“And we want to assure his family that he will not be forgotten and we will always be here for them.
“The school takes its duty of care towards all our children very seriously and always will.
“Kyle’s memory will live on at the school; we have installed a memorial bench and an annual award for ‘promise in sport’ has been renamed the Kyle Rees Award.”
She described Kyle as a “very popular young man with an infectious personality” and said his death was an “awful, tragic event.
“When something like this happens in any community you become acutely aware of how precious life is.
“But the unique preciousness of a young life is something that will never be forgotten by any of us who have been touched by Kyle’s tragic passing."