Posts Tagged ‘schools’
Thursday, November 25th, 2010
The Government’s eagerly awaited Schools White Paper 2010 ‘The Importance of Teaching’ was published yesterday with an array of promises and policy decisions paving the way for a new education landscape which re-focuses power back into the hands of teachers.
The reduction of bureaucracy, modernisation and simplified and shortened guidance on duties (such as anti-bullying and the use of force) are key themes that run through almost every section of the paper.
The proposed changes include: improving training for teachers and leaders, introducing new powers and protections for teachers dealing with poor pupil behaviour, reforming curriculum assessment and qualifications, advancing a more autonomous school system, publicising how much money is spent on each pupil to ensure accountability, reforming school improvement processes and clarifying school funding arrangements.
The coalition’s pace of change for the education sector shows no sign of slowing.
Posted by Dai Durbridge, who specialises safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults in education, social care and health settings; defending claims against education, social care and health providers.
Dai Durbridge
0115 976 6578
ddurbridge@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 8.7/10 (3 votes cast)
Tags: coalition, coalition government, Education, education law, education lawyers, importance of teaching, schools, schools white paper
Posted in Education | No Comments »
Thursday, November 25th, 2010
The Government’s white paper has set out plans to pilot a new approach to permanent exclusions. Under the plans, schools will be free to exclude pupils but will then be responsible for finding and funding alternative provision themselves. The Government suggests that schools could collaborate with other schools to provide suitable places or buy them from the local authority, voluntary sector or local colleges.
If the responsibility for finding and funding alterative provision is not enough of a disincentive for schools to exclude pupils, schools will also be held accountable by retaining excluded pupils’ ongoing academic performance in their performance tables.
The government is keen to discourage schools from shifting problem pupils on to someone else’s turf and incentivise schools to ensure pupils get good alternative provision. Head teachers, local authorities and the government will begin working together soon to test the new approach.
Posted by Dai Durbridge, who specialises safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults in education, social care and health settings; defending claims against education, social care and health providers.
Dai Durbridge
0115 976 6578
ddurbridge@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 2.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Tags: Education, education law, education lawyers, exclusions, pupil exclusion, school exclusions, schools
Posted in Education | No Comments »
Thursday, November 18th, 2010
It’s been a busy week for the DfE. First, the government announced plans to force under performing schools to become academies. This was followed by promises of an extra £3 billion investment for the Leaders in Education programme to help recruit strong head teachers ‘to turn around weaker schools‘.
Yesterday, it was announced that all good schools with outstanding features will automatically be eligible for academy status and special schools will be able to apply to convert in January. The DfE have also stated that every school can apply to become an academy by working in partnership with highly-performing schools.
It is clear that Michael Gove is intent on making academies the rule rather than the exception for every school as soon as possible. Critics arguing against the programme say it will lead to weak coordination at Local Authority level and a fragmented education system. Nevertheless those that choose not to convert may find themselves in the minority before too long.
Posted by Mark Blois, who specialises in advice to schools, colleges, and local authorities on the full range of legal issues, both contentious and non-contentious including changes of category, reorganisations, governance, commercial arrangements, special educational needs, disability discrimination, admissions, exclusions and safeguarding.
Mark Blois
0115 976 6087
mblois@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: academies, Department for Education, Education, schools
Posted in Education | 1 Comment »
Friday, November 12th, 2010
A teacher who lost her voice from shouting over noise outside her classroom has been awarded a £156,000 out-of-court settlement by her employer, Hillingdon Council.
Mrs Walters’ classroom was next to a courtyard used by schoolchildren during playtime. She often had to shout and repeat herself which led to nodules forming on her vocal chords affecting her voice. Her formal grievance was rejected by her employers on the grounds that nodules were an “occupational hazard”.
The council stated that the settlement was “in the best interests of Mrs Walters, the council and taxpayers”. Their decision is counter to the government’s agenda to curb compensation culture and makes it clear that employers must follow-up formal grievances with care and diligence. As councils tighten their purse strings and as more schools become their own employers of staff this case will set an unwelcome precedent.
Posted by Katie Michelon, who specialises in education law advice to schools, colleges and LEAs, including commercial advice on education sector projects such as academies, trust schools and federations.
Katie Michelon
0115 976 6189
kmichelon@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 9.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Tags: compensation, employers liability, health and safety, insurance, occupational hazard, public liability, schools, teacher
Posted in Education, Public Sector | No Comments »
Monday, November 8th, 2010
A head teacher with a 42 year untarnished teaching career was convicted of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) after taking students on to the school roof to show them renovation works. One student fell suffering serious, permanent injury. The head teacher was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £22,708. He must pay both sums within six months or will face up to a year in prison.
In addition to employers’ duties under the HSWA, employees are under a duty to take reasonable care of their own and others health and safety. This case is a stark reminder that one “grave and uncharacteristic judgement” which leads to a breach of health and safety at a school can cause serious repercussions that can attach to the individual employee responsible, and not necessarily the employer.
It is important that all school staff know and understand their legal obligations regarding health and safety to prevent circumstances such as these from occurring again.
Posted by Mark Blois, who specialises in advice to schools, colleges, and local authorities on the full range of legal issues, both contentious and non-contentious including changes of category, reorganisations, governance, commercial arrangements, special educational needs, disability discrimination, admissions, exclusions and safeguarding.
Mark Blois
0115 976 6087
mblois@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: Education, Health & Safety at Work Act 1974, schools
Posted in Education | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 27th, 2010
Overcrowded schools are causing a crisis for councils with big cities facing the worst problems. Statistics reveal that a fifth of all England’s primary schools are completely full or overstretched and councils are struggling to accommodate so many children; some pupils were waiting to start school weeks after the autumn term began. A lack of funding coupled with primary pupil numbers continuing to rise suggests the strain on councils won’t ease any time soon.
Following the Comprehensive Spending Review money for capital investments in school buildings will be in short supply. There are various solutions to this problem, none without their drawbacks, and it will be interesting to see what councils and communities choose to do. We could see more free schools set up; more parents may choose to home-school their children; schools may operate in shifts to share buildings and resources; schools may start to open in converted offices or shops following revisions to planning laws, and in the meantime we may see a rise in admissions appeals.
Posted by Mark Blois, who specialises in advice to schools, colleges, and local authorities on the full range of legal issues, both contentious and non-contentious including changes of category, reorganisations, governance, commercial arrangements, special educational needs, disability discrimination, admissions, exclusions and safeguarding.
Mark Blois
0115 976 6087
mblois@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: comprehensive spending review, Education, overcrowded schools, schools
Posted in Education | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, October 19th, 2010
Lord Young’s review of the operation of health and safety laws and the growth of the compensation culture contains recommendations that should cause schools to breathe a sigh of relief.
Lord Young notes there has been an overzealous approach towards health and safety decreasing the number of educational opportunities for children such as participating in competitive sports and school trip. The threat of legal action should an accident happen has rippled through schools.
Lord Young’s recommendations include a single consent form covering all activities a child undertakes while at school, simplified risk assessments for the classroom, a simplified process for children going on school trips and a shift from a system of risk-assessment to risk-benefit. The changes have been endorsed by the government and many are set to be implemented in January 2011. Finally, it seems common sense is making a comeback.
Posted by Mark Blois, who specialises in advice to schools, colleges, and local authorities on the full range of legal issues, both contentious and non-contentious including changes of category, reorganisations, governance, commercial arrangements, special educational needs, disability discrimination, admissions, exclusions and safeguarding.
Mark Blois
0115 976 6087
mblois@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: Education, health and safety, Lord Young's review, schools
Posted in Education, Manufacturing | No Comments »
Friday, October 15th, 2010
Education Secretary Michael Gove recently announced that he would be giving teachers a ‘new’ power to punish pupils who misbehave outside school premises.
However, the power already exists under the Education and Inspections Act 2006 s.89 which states that a school’s behaviour policy may, to such extent as is reasonable, include measures to regulate conduct of pupils when they are not on the premises of the school. Is Gove saying that he will extend the power by removing the caveat of reasonableness?
Chris Keates, General Secretary of NASUWT questions whether teachers are confident in using the existing power.
Gove also states that he wants to ensure that the balance of power in the classroom changes and put teachers back in charge. Teachers are already in charge, but perhaps lack the confidence to exercise their powers through fear of criticism and reproach which could result in a legal challenge. Teachers would benefit greatly from clear guidance on how best to exercise the power.
Posted by Mark Blois, who specialises in advice to schools, colleges, and local authorities on the full range of legal issues, both contentious and non-contentious including changes of category, reorganisations, governance, commercial arrangements, special educational needs, disability discrimination, admissions, exclusions and safeguarding.
Mark Blois
0115 976 6087
mblois@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: Education, education and inspections act 2006, School Behaviour Policy, schools
Posted in Education | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
Schools could soon be allowed to positively discriminate against children from wealthy backgrounds in return for extra funding if proposals to reform the admissions code are accepted by the Government.
Under the proposals schools would be paid a ‘pupil premium’ (PP) for every child they teach from a disadvantaged background. A consultation on the PP proposals is currently underway and will close on 18 October.
What is not clear from the consultation is how much freedom schools and academies may be given to target the poorest children. They might only be permitted to offer preferential access to poorer pupils within existing catchment areas or there may be a more radical policy implemented which would allow those on free schools meals who live outside a school’s catchment area to benefit. Whatever is decided it is important that sufficient checks and measures are put in place to ensure that any additional resources benefit those that need it most.
Posted by Dai Durbridge, who specialises in defence claims for social services,education and care providers; risk management presentations and workshops on child protection in education.
Dai Durbridge
0115 976 6578
ddurbridge@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: Education, Public Sector, pupil premium, schools
Posted in Education, Public Sector | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
The Education Secretary has promised that the rules which have spread a ‘no touch’ mentality amongst teachers are to be scrapped.
At present, physically restraining or comforting a child is a legal minefield for teachers, with hundreds of pages of rules and guidance to sift through to ensure that they do not act unlawfully.
Children’s Rights Groups describe the plans as dangerous and in potential breach of human rights and child protection laws. However, cutting red tape, clarifying and shrinking guidance in this area, and moving towards a common-sense approach is largely welcome. If the threshold at which teachers can be accused of inappropriate behaviour towards pupils is increased, fewer legitimate claims can be brought against them.
Gove has already dispensed with a duty on schools to record and report to parents instances where staff used force on pupils, and plans to grant anonymity for teachers accused of unprofessional conduct (until charges are pressed). It remains to be seen how much further he will go.
Posted by Mark Blois, who specialises in advice to schools, colleges, and local authorities on the full range of legal issues, both contentious and non-contentious including changes of category, reorganisations, governance, commercial arrangements, special educational needs, disability discrimination, admissions, exclusions and safeguarding.
Mark Blois
0115 976 6087
mblois@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: child protection, Education, schools
Posted in Education | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 28th, 2010
The majority of provisions under the Equality Act 2010 (EA) come into force on 1 October.
In time the EA should make it easier for schools to understand their obligations to ensure pupils and prospective pupils are not harassed or victimised.
Schools will be relieved to see that implementation of the provision that removes their current exemption from providing auxiliary aids and services for pupils with disabilities is on hold.
With government cuts looming, financial hardship coinciding with such an expanded obligation could result in schools being unable to provide the requisite aids and services and many disputes between schools and their local authority.
Courts have powers to award damages for breaches of the EA and failing to accommodate the needs of disabled pupils may invoke legal challenges.
Clarification prior to its enforcement on the precise extent of this duty is essential to ensure schools do not fall foul of the EA and expose themselves to liability.
Posted by Mark Blois, who specialises in advice to schools, colleges, and local authorities on the full range of legal issues, both contentious and non-contentious including changes of category, reorganisations, governance, commercial arrangements, special educational needs, disability discrimination, admissions, exclusions and safeguarding.
Mark Blois
0115 976 6087
mblois@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: Education, equality act 2010, schools
Posted in Education | No Comments »
Thursday, September 9th, 2010
Michael Gove has announced the first 16 free schools that will progress to the next stage of preparing business plans . The schools are a mix of secondary, primary and faith schools in a number of areas set up by various groups including parents, teachers, local interest groups and charities.
In his ministerial statement Gove acknowledges that opening in September 2011 represents a challenging timescale and sets out his anticipation that more applications will follow. He expects the free school’s programme will improve choice for parents and raise standards for all young people.
However, Chris Keates, General Secretary of NASUWT considers these initial modest numbers of approval to show there is meagre demand for free schools, which would fragment communities and be socially divisive.
Either way if the number of applications for free schools do not significantly increase in the future, the programme may become something of a damp squib.
Posted by Mark Blois, who specialises in advice to schools, colleges, and local authorities on the full range of legal issues, both contentious and non-contentious including changes of category, reorganisations, governance, commercial arrangements, special educational needs, disability discrimination, admissions, exclusions and safeguarding.
Mark Blois
0115 976 6087
mblois@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: Education, free schools, schools
Posted in Education | 1 Comment »
Friday, September 3rd, 2010
The Department for Education has revealed that a total of 142 schools are currently on track to convert to academy status this academic year. 32 of these conversions will take place this month.
The conversions form part of the Government’s much-publicised new academies programme, which encourages maintained schools to adopt academy freedoms. Based on the current number of schools due to convert, the NUT has deemed new academies “a failure”.
However, as relevant legislation only came into force last month and the option of conversion is only currently available to “outstanding” schools, surely many schools will be keen to see how the frontrunners fare before committing to a conversion? A slow start perhaps, but with a full school year now ahead, the pace of conversion could rise significantly.
Posted by Katie Michelon, who specialises in education law advice to schools, colleges and LEAs, including commercial advice on education sector projects such as academies, trust schools and federations.
Katie Michelon
0115 976 6189
kmichelon@brownejacobson.com
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Rating: 5.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Tags: academies, Education, schools
Posted in Education | No Comments »
Friday, August 27th, 2010
Barnardo’s has reported that fair-banding and independent admission authorities are necessary to avoid social segregation in the school admissions process.
Fair-banding involves pupils taking a standard test, after which they are divided into 5 bands. Schools then admit pupils in equal proportions from each ability band. Barnardo’s also recommend that decisions on admissions should be made by a body independent of the school.
Michael Gove acknowledges that the schools admission system is unsatisfactory. However, a move towards independent admissions authorities may come as a blow to new academies who, as part of their promised autonomy, currently make their own admissions decisions.
Posted by Katie Michelon, who specialises in education law advice to schools, colleges and LEAs, including commercial advice on education sector projects such as academies, trust schools and federations.
Katie Michelon
0115 976 6189
kmichelon@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: barnardos, Charities, Education, school admissions, schools
Posted in Charities, Education | No Comments »
Friday, August 13th, 2010
The Government has made further announcements this week as part of its promised review of school behaviour policy.
A key development is the halting of mandatory local behaviour partnerships. Under legislation passed under the previous Government, the requirement that schools join a LBP was to take effect in September. The most talked-about element of these partnerships is the duty on schools to support pupils excluded from another school within their area.
The process of ‘managed moves’ enables pupils at risk of exclusion to have a fresh start at a new school and technically avoid exclusion. The Conservatives have always been convinced that it was unfair to force ‘good’ schools to take on pupils from ‘bad’ ones. But the result could be, as teaching unions have suggested, that without local support some schools will simply be left to ‘sink’ under the weight of their disciplinary problems.
Posted by Mark Blois
0115 976 6087
mblois@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: Education, Managed Moves, School Behaviour Policy, schools
Posted in Education | No Comments »
Friday, August 6th, 2010
Councillors from Sandwell met the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, this week to ask him not to scrap BSF in their area. Many local authorities are considering legal action against the Government after investing huge amounts of money in the scheme. The Government has said that funding will still be available for repairs and refurbishment of schools. However, teaching unions continue to oppose the cuts. Chris Keates, general secretary of NASUWT, has said the Government has “jeopardised the educational future” of many children. With the pressure mounting on Michael Gove, the momentum for legal challenges by local authorities appears to be increasing.
Posted by Mark Blois
0115 976 6087
mblois@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: Education, local authorities, schools
Posted in Education | 1 Comment »
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
The Academies Act passed into law earlier this week, paving the way for hundreds of schools to become academies. The government has been criticised for rushing the legislation through Parliament using procedures usually reserved for national emergencies. Christine Blower, general secretary of the NUT, has said, “Whatever people’s views on academies may be, by by-passing the usual democratic process, the legitimate and essential right to debate such an important issue is removed”. However, schools that want to become academies will welcome the swiftness of the legislation, which means that they can proceed quickly to become academies and obtain the freedoms associated with conversion.
Posted by Mark Blois
0115 976 6087
mblois@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: academies, Academies Act, Education, government, schools
Posted in Education | No Comments »
Sunday, July 25th, 2010
The government has announced that it will clarify the law on the use of force in the classroom. New guidance will explicitly say that teachers can use force to physically remove disruptive pupils from the class or prevent them from leaving the room to maintain discipline. Head teachers will also be given more powers to search pupils, not only for weapons, but also for drugs, alcohol and mobile phones. Teaching unions have broadly welcomed the proposals. However, teachers will only be able to use reasonable force so the decision on whether physical contact is legal will ultimately remain with the courts, potentially still leaving teachers vulnerable to allegations of assault.
Posted by Mark Blois
0115 976 6087
mblois@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: discipline, Education, schools, teachers, use of force
Posted in Education | 1 Comment »
Friday, July 16th, 2010
The Education Secretary, Michael Gove, recently announced that hundreds of school rebuilds which have not reached financial close will not go ahead under Building Schools for the Future (BSF).
The Coalition argues that in the current economic climate, whichever party is in government would have to cancel many BSF projects in order to help reduce the national deficit. However, teaching unions are up-in-arms at the decision. Christine Blower, General-Secretary of the NUT, has said “poor learning environments have a negative impact on the education of children and young people”.
Despite imminent cuts in public funding across the board, unions are likely to insist that new school buildings are money well-spent, even in a recession. It will also leave the government open to legal challenges from a raft of local authorities unhappy at the decision to cut BSF funding.
Posted by Mark Blois
0115 976 6087
mblois@brownejacobson.com
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Tags: Building Schools for the Future, Education, schools
Posted in Education | 1 Comment »
