Primary school bans cartwheels, handstands

A North Queensland primary school has banned cartwheels and handstands in the playground.

Belgian Gardens State School in Townsville has banned all gymnastics activities during lunch breaks, declaring it dangerous because it has the potential to cause back and neck injuries.

Cali Buschgens, 10, has been reprimanded for cartwheeling on school grounds and her grandmother Val Bryce says the ban is a sad reflection on modern society.

"Sadly I think this is probably linked with the current society where litigation is rife and I feel that schools are probably trying to avoid a child being hurt and an irresponsible mother then trying to sue them for it," she said.

Education Queensland has defended the ban on unsupervised gymnastic activities.

Regional executive director Vicki Baylis says fear of litigation was never a factor in the decision and it was made purely for the students safety.

"The issue around the gymnastics is around the safety of the kids and it was not motivated by any concept of litigation, but certainly [by] that safety and well-being component of those kids when we're talking heads and necks and potentially backs if there were an injury."

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh says she is surprised by the decision, and says the school is obviously taking student safety very seriously.

"I'd be interested to hear from this school what prompted them to take this action, because school communities by and large try to meet the standards that parents have in that community," she said.

Hundreds leave school very early

Tasmania has the second highest rate of children leaving school before year eight.

Figures show that Tasmania's problem with school retention starts much younger than many realise.

A new program is being trialed in the state's midlands to try to stop children leaving school before year 8.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that six per cent of Tasmanian children leave school before year 8, which equates to about 25 children per high school.

That is higher than the national average of three per cent and better only than the Northern Territory.

The not-for-profit organisation Beacon Foundation is trialing a program at Campbell Town District High School.

The program encourages children in year 6 to have the confidence to continue on to high school.

If it is successful, Beacon plans to roll out the program to other states.