Health and safety gone mad

One winter’s day the school was informed by a concerned local resident that some of our children were playing on an iced over pond, and they were concerned for their safety. A frozen over pond is very tempting for any youngster, but nevertheless, potentially dangerous, so, after thanking the local resident for expressing her concern, and feeling a bit like a spoil sport, I contacted the police and Fire Brigade to ask for their help to resolve the problem. Eventually, on finally hearing back from them, we were informed that neither the Police nor the Fire Brigade could break up the ice for “Health and Safety” reasons.  Perhaps I should just have asked the children to do it!