It has been reported that school staff were paid a huge £3.2million in compensation claims last year, for injuries ranging from stumbling down a hole, to being hit by a football.

The figures - which breakdown to around £15,000 for every school day - have astounded compensation-culture critics.

Frank Furedi, professor of sociology at Kent University warned that school employees need to learn that mishaps are a fact of life: 'Staff need to accept accidents are part of life rather than an opportunity for compensation. Schools should be teaching responsibility rather than rewarding blame culture'.

The National Union of Teachers hit back saying: 'The law only allows for compensation when the employer is found to have been at fault.'

Claims included a massive £35,000 for a teacher who tripped over a hole in a grassed area at a school in Redcar, North Yorks, £20,500 for a teacher who fell in the car park at a school in South Gloucestershire, and £2000 for a member of staff at a Kingston school who was hit on the head when a box fell on her when she opened a cupboard. Other handouts went to a pregnant teacher who caught an illness off a pupil, and a teacher hit by a football.