Lessons hit nail on head

Natalie Steadman of Balloch, whose daughter Kimberley attends the nursery unit at Eastfield Primary School, said she was astonished when her daughter came home with a piece of wood that she had hammered nails into.

But this week North Lanarkshire Council stressed that the practice was undertaken under stringent safey conditions.

Natalie contacted the News and Chronicle after complaining to the council over the issue.

She said: “It doesn’t seem right to me that children that young are using hammers, nails and other tools such as screwdrivers and hacksaws. Young kids shouldn’t have access to that kind of stuff. Surely it’s dangerous?”

She added: “When I contacted the council they told me this was a common practice in nearly every nursery - that just seems crazy to me.”

A council spokesman defended the policy, explaining that the children were carefully supervised. “This is done in a safe and controlled, one to one environment. The children will put nails into a block of wood to form the first letter of their name, then the block is sanded down and given to the child at the end of the nursery session. This practice promotes literacy and hand-eye co-ordination and is fully risk assessed.”