St Mark's Orthodox Coptic College v Abraham

The case of *St Mark's Orthodox Coptic College v Abraham* concerned an appeal to the New South Wales Court of Appeal. The respondent, a teacher at the school, had brought his son to school earlier than usual on the day of the incident. The son was subsequently injured on school premises before formal supervision commenced. The dispute centred on whether the respondent owed his son a duty of care in these circumstances and, if so, whether he breached that duty.

The primary legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the respondent owed his son a duty to take reasonable care to avoid exposing him to a risk of harm when dropping him off at school earlier than usual, and whether his actions in leaving his son at school at a time of informal supervision were reasonable in all the circumstances. The court was required to consider whether the risk of harm the respondent should have foreseen differed from that which the school itself might have been expected to consider, and to assess the reasonableness of the respondent's decision in light of the practical realities of everyday life.

The Court of Appeal, in a unanimous decision, dismissed the appeal. The reasoning, as articulated by Ipp JA and agreed to by Basten JA and Young CJ in Eq, concluded that the respondent had acted reasonably and was not negligent. The court found that, after considering all relevant factors, the respondent's decision to leave his son at school at a time when only ad hoc supervision was available was reasonable, taking into account the practicalities of everyday living. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed with costs.