More than £200,000 has been paid out in compensation to pupils who have injured themselves in accidents at schools across the region, new figures have revealed.
According to a Freedom of Information request from the BBC, £213,709 has been dished out by the education authority in the three years since 2014.
Claims included £15.150 paid after a pupil in the county was injured by a whiteboard, and £11,500 after a pupil fell off some tables.
An accident which occurred in a Norfolk playground cost the council a total of £21,500.
The largest amount paid out by Norfolk County Council over the last five years amounted to £60,000.
The council has said claims are not always settled within the same academic year, and can be brought by pupils up to 21 years of age.
The largest amount paid out by a local authority in the three year period came from Essex, the numbers show, which bore a bill of £2,406,494.66.
The vast bulk of the compensation was paid in a single case, with a £1.9m payout after a child almost drowned in Basildon.
Des Hart, regional organiser for NUT Norfolk, told BBC Norfolk that 'accidents happen' and the figure was 'not very large' given the size of Norfolk.
'If there is a claim it goes against the owners of the school, be that the county council or, increasingly, academy trusts,' he said.
'Teachers haven't got the money to be worth going after - it is the school that is liable.
'Over 97pc of teachers are in teacher trade unions, and one of the protections they get as part of membership is legal protection if something happens.'
A spokesman for Norfolk County Council said they 'work closely' with schools to help them risk assess sites.
'This work goes a long way towards keeping children and staff as safe as possible, but of course, accidents do still occur from time to time,' they said. 'The fact that the council successfully defends many of the compensation claims that are sought for injuries that occur in schools shows that we, and the school, have often done as much as we can to have avoided that incident occurring. Where we have had to settle a claim, we will provide feedback and guidance on if and how they can improve procedures and policies.'
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