Unit_6_-_School_as_an_Organisation

Unit 6 – School as an Organisations By Reem Abraham The entitlement and provision for for early years education (1.1) Government provides funding for all three and four year old children, starting from the funding period after their third birthday until they start school (usually at statutory school age – the term following their fifth birthday), to attend an Ofsted registered early years and childcare setting. Such settings include pre-schools, nurseries, certain childminders, school nursery classes and nursery schools. Since 2004 all children in the UK can receive Early Years Education Entitlement (EYEE) starting from the funding period after their 3rd birthday until they either start in a local authority school reception class, or reach compulsory school age (which is the funding period after their 5th birthday).The free entitlement for all 3 and 4 year olds is 15 hours a week over a minimum of 38 weeks a year and is not compulsory. It provides universal access to early childhood education and care, ensuring that all children have the opportunity to benefit from early years education. The extended hours also supports parents who wish to go back to work or develop their careers through further education by providing affordable daycares. There are different types of childcare options available for 0-5 year olds, these include: • Sure Start Children’s Centre: Working with parent’s right from the birth of their child, providing early years education for children, full day care, short-term care, health and family support, parenting advice as well as training and employment advice. • Nursery schools: Provide early learning and childcare for children between three and five years old. They are often based at Sure Start Children’s Centres or linked to a primary school. • Preschools and playgroups: Usually run by voluntary groups providing part-time play and early learning for the under fives. Three and four year olds can get their 15 hours of weekly free early year’s education at these providers. • Day Nurseries: Often based in workplaces and run by businesses or voluntary groups providing care and learning activities for children from birth to five years old. • Childminders: Look after children under 12 in the childminder’s own home. They can look after up to six children under eight years old, although no more than three of them must be under the age of five. • Nannies and home-based carers: Provide care for children in your home and can look after children of any age. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the statutory framework that sets the standards that all Early Years providers must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. It promotes teaching and learning to ensure children are ready for school and gives children the broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress through school and life. Free full time education is compulsory for all children aged 5 to 16, this can be provided by state schools, independent schools, or homeschooling.. Children's education in England is normally divided into two separate stages. They begin with primary education at the age of five and this usually lasts until they are eleven. Then they move to secondary school, there they stay until they reach sixteen, seventeen or eighteen years of age. Some schools may include several education phases in one setting e.g pupils with special needs aged 0 -18yrs. Example of Primary education schools : (age 5-11yrs) Infant , primary and junior schools. Middle schools (age 8-11yrs) Example of Secondary education schools: (age 11-16yrs) Secondary schools, High schools, Grammar schools, Academies. Example of Further Education (FE 16 – 18yrs) School sixth forms, FE colleges, Specialist colleges. The main characteristics of the different types of schools in relation to educational stages(1.2) State and Independent schools - Community schools is a state funded school which is ran solely by the Local Education Authority (LEA), staff are employed by the Local Authority and the land and buildings of the school is also owned by the Local Authority although the schools governing body is responsible for the running of the school. The LEA also determines the admissions policy. Example: • If you live in the area of the school. • If the child has any siblings at the school. Pupils who attend a community school must follow the national curriculum. Community schools also help to develop strong links with the community by offering the use of their facilities and providing services i.e. childcare and adult learning programmes. I am currently working at a community school (Deans Oaks Primary School). Foundation and trust schools are mostly run by the school governing body, they determine the school admission policy with the local education authority.The school, buildings and the land will be owned by the governing body or may be a charitable foundation. A trust school is a type of foundation school which receives extra support from a charitable trust that is made up of partners (e.g. business or educational charities) who work together for the benefit of the school. It is up to the governing body and parents on whether the school becomes a trust school or not. Voluntary Schools there are 2 types of voluntary schools: • Voluntary Controlled. • Voluntary Aided. Voluntary aided schools are mainly religious schools but children of any religion can also attend them. These school are run in the same way as foundation schools, owned by a governing body but the land and buildings are usually owed by a religious organisation or charity. They are funded partly by the local education authority, partly by the charity and by the governing body who will also employ its own staff. Voluntary controlled are similar to voluntary aided school, the land and buildings are owned by a charity which is more often a religious organisation such as a church. The local education authority employs the staff and also provides support services for the school. The charity appoints some of the members of the governing body although the local education authority is responsible for running the school. Specialist Schools are normally secondary schools who apply for specialist status to develop certain subjects. The schools that undertake this specialist status can get additional funding from the government. Examples of specialist school in my area are Bramhall High School (specialist in Science) and Wilmslow High School (specialist in Sports). Independent Schools are funded by a combination of tuition fees that are paid by parents and income from investments. Only half of independent schools are of ‘charitable status’ which allows them to claim tax exemption. Independent schools do not have to follow the national curriculum and the admissions policy is determined and administered by the head teacher along with the governing body. Example of this type of school around my area is 'The Ryleys School' for boys and girls at Alderly Edge. Academies are setup by business sponsors and are independently managed schools which jointly fund the land and the buildings. They are not maintained by the local education authority but do have close links with them. 16 options for young people and adults (1.3) Free full time education is compulsory for all children aged 5 to 16, This can be provided by state schools, independent schools, or homeschooling.. Children's education in England is normally divided into two separate stages. They begin with primary education at the age of five and this usually lasts until they are eleven. Then they move to secondary school, there they stay until they reach sixteen, seventeen or eighteen years of age. Some schools may include several education phases in one setting e.g. pupils with special needs aged 0 -18yrs. Example of Primary education : (age 5-11yrs) Infant , primary and junior schools. Middle schools (age 8-11yrs) Example of Secondary education : (age 11-16yrs) Secondary schools, high schools, grammar schools, academies. After Year 11 you can keep on learning by going to college or sixth form – called Further Education (FE) – or you can study part-time through work-based learning. Options have been drawn together for young people and adults after the age of 16. These include: Further education organisations – such as School six forms – tends to be in a schools where you have lower years with you where Sixth form centre/ colleges – is just aimed at sixth forms and sometimes other courses as well. I am currently learning my course at Cheadl Hulme Sixth Form. Apprenticeships - An apprenticeship is a recognised training programme that combines real work with training and learning while on and off the job. An apprentice may receive a wage while in training, but if they do not, the government provides an allowance. The programme is available to anyone who meets requirement set depending on location. Workplace Learning -Learning delivered by a university, college or other training provider in the workplace, normally under the supervision of a person from the same company as well as a professional teacher from outside the company. Tertiary based learning- Colleges, universities and polytechnics are the main institution that provides tertiary education. Special Needs Colleges – Student follows an individual programme tailored to their needs. They work closely with each young person to support their progress and make the most of their ability and talent. Roles and Responsibilities of School Governors (2.1 , 2.2) School governors School governors are members of the schools governing body and are normally a team of 10-20 people depending on the size of the school. They have the main responsibility of running the school. They are made up of a variety of different people such as parent governors, staff governors and there may even be support staff governors. The governors will have close links with the school and local community.In addition there will also be a local authority (LA)governor who will be appointed by the LA , and a local community governor who will either live or work in the area. Although the school governors will not be seen much around the school on a daily bases they will work closely with the head teacher. The main duties of school governors are as follows: To promote high educational standards Setting the core values of the institution monitoring and setting long terms plans for achievement ensuring that budgets are optimally allocated appointing senior staff such as head or deputy head teachers. Senior Management Team A senior management team is usually built up of individuals who are more experienced and have management positions. In a primary school this could be the deputy head or a year group leader or in a secondary school this could be a subject area leader. They meet on regular basis, usually once a week and discuss issues that may have arisen. They will then go on to talk about the school improvement plan and how they will then pass on the information to other members of staff. Other statutory rules. There are other staff roles in school which legally need to be fulfilled. Besides the head teacher and deputy head the next main roles are SENCOs and in primary schools the foundation stage manager. SENCOs. The role of SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) is managing and monitoring the provision for pupils with special needs. They will need to Communicate with parents and other professionals in respect of children with special educational needs. Managing learning support assistants. Overseeing the records of all children with special educational needs as well as recording and updating them. Liaising with external agencies including LEA's support and educational psychology services as well as health and social services and voluntary bodies. Foundation Stage Manager. They ensures that the Early Years Foundation Stage is being run in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage document. It is up to them to make sure that all observations, assessments and record keeping are up to date and making sure that all staff are up to standards. Teachers. In primary schools the teacher will be responsible for all subjects in the national curriculum however in secondary schools they have a specialist subject. All subjects in school need to have a member of staff responsible for it, in small schools they can be responsible for more than one. Teachers role are: All teachers are responsible for planning and preparing their lessons suitable for pupils in their class. When planing their lessons they need to make sure they are following the nation curriculum. To keep up to date with any national curriculum changes. To assess, record and report on the development, progress and attendance of students and special need students. To communicate with student's parents. To communicate and cooperate with SENCOs. Support staff role. The number of support staff has significantly increased over the years, this is due to an increase in government funding which is based on the reduction of responsibilities on class teachers and also to improve students progress. There are many different types of support staff in school, all of which have different roles and responsibilities which could be as follows: Breakfast, after – school clubs. Midday supervisors and catering staff. Office or administration staff. Caretakers or site managers. Teaching assistants. Individual support assistants (for SEN children). Learning mentors and parent support workers. External professionals. There is a large amount of external professionals who will be working in the majority of schools. For example if you are a support staff working with an individual (SEN) pupil in cooperation with SENCO, you may come into contact with some different agencies of individuals. These professionals are not seen around school a lot, however they will more than likely still come into school and work with the head teacher and deputy teacher. Different types of external professionals : Education welfare officers. School improvement partner. Physiotherapist/ occupational therapists. Specialist teachers. Speech and language therapists. Educational psychologists. How the ethos, mission, aims and values of a school may be reflected in working places and how they are communicated (3.1,3.2) Aims A school aims are usually put in the prospectus and in other school literature where it will also state what the school sets out to achieve. The head teacher usually sets these aims in collaboration with parents, staff and the community. Values The values in a school are how the school try to make pupils understand other peoples feelings and have respect for every one in the school and for themselves. If the school is a church school these values may be linked to the faith and values of the church. Aims and values in a school need to be communicated as much as possible not only in the school but in the prospectus and in school literature. This is because these are where parents gain their first impressions of the school. The school could also develop links with the local community to encourage visitors to the school from businesses. Pupils could also work with local charities organising fundraising events. School fairs are another way involving the local community with the school as they encourage visitors to see how the school works. It is important in all schools that they get involved with the local community as it shows the pupils how important their learning is not only in school but also relevant to what goes on, on the outside. I have attached a copy of Dean Oaks Primary School (where I am currently working at) mission statement and motto. Laws and code of practise affecting work in schools. (4.1) and how these legislations affect school work (4.2) It is important that all organisations operate under laws and legislation, so for schools its no different. The majority of laws and codes or practice which are used in schools are linked mainly to the students of the school. Below are a list of laws and codes of practise which will be used in schools. The UN convention on the Rights of Child 1989. The Education Act 2002 Children Act 2004 and 2006 The Freedom of Information Act 2000 The Human Rights Act 1998 The Special Educational Needs Code of Practise 2001 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995/2005 The UN Convention on the Right of Child 1989. This act was drawn up in 1989 and made valid by the UK in 1991. There are 54 articles but only 7 which related directly to schools. These are as follows: Children have a right to protection from any form of discrimination. The best interest of the child are the primary consideration. Children are entitled to express their views, which should be given consideration in keeping with the child's age and maturity. Children have a right to receive and share information as long as that information is not damaging to others. Children have a right to freedom of religion although they should be also free to examine their beliefs. All children have an equal right to education. Children's education should develop each child's personality, talents and abilities to the fullest. They should also learn to live peacefully and to respect the environment and other people. The Education Act 2002. There have been a few educational acts and these will continue to be updated with each corresponding year. The 2002 act brought in a lot of different changes to school regulations, staffing and governance and was amended in 2006 to promote community cohesion in schools. Children Act 2004 and 2006. The 2004 act came in along side the Every Child Matters framework and had a massive impact in the way school addresses issues of care, welfare and discipline. Social services and the department of education work together to take on more responsibility for pupil welfare. There are five basic outcomes for children and young people under Every Child Matters which are: Be healthy Stay safe Enjoy and achieve Make a positive contribution Achieve economic well-being. The act was amended in 2006 to place more responsibility on local authorities to improve wellbeing for young children and reduce inequalities, provide sufficient childcare so parents can work, give information to parents about child care, make sure that local childcare providers are trained, introduced the Early Year Foundation Stage for the under fives and reform of the regulation system for childcare with two new registers of childcare providers to be run by Ofsted. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 This act was introduced in 2005 to promote transparency and accountability in the public sector. This means any person can get information from any time in the past but this must be done in writing. Schools have a duty to provide advice and assistance to anybody who request information, but their may be cases where information is confidential. The Human Rights Act 1998. This act is lined to the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. Under The Human Rights Act individuals in the Uk have rights and freedoms, but these must be balanced against the rights and freedom of others. The ones that have a link to schools provision are the right to education, although this does not include the right to go to a particular school. It also includes the right to respect for private and family life and also the right to freedom expressions. Restraining pupils is allowed under the rights of other or to prevent a crime or injury taking place. The Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice 2001 and the Disability Act 1995/2005. Under the SEN code of practise parents and SEN children have more of a right to a main stream education. This has had an impact on the number of children who have SEN been included in mainstream schools and also on the number of assistant teachers who support them. Schools will have to make significant changes to the training of staff and to the curriculum and to plan positively to include a wider range of pupils including children with all types of learning disability. The disability discrimination act means that all schools built from this date have had to make adequate provisions for pupils with disabilities. They have to be built with ramps, lifts and disabled toilets. Data Protection Act 1998 The act means schools need to keep and use information only for the purpose of which it was intended. This information has to be kept in a safe and secure place at school. If you have to update any students information, this must only be done at school premises and not to be taken home. You should not discuss any information about pupils with anybody else without the parents approval. The Roles of regulatory bodies relevant to the education sector (including general bodies and school specific regulatory bodies) (4.3). Office for standards in education OFSTED. School specific regulatory bodies – OFSTED are responsible for carrying out inspection of colleges, children's home and school to ensure that the quality of service provided is adequate for every individual child and young person. They report directly to Parliament and all school inspectors are obtainable through their website. During an inspection OFSTED will gather evidence based on the practise they are observing as well as what they learn from the people using the service. They then use this evidence and other information which is gathered to make a professional judgement on the service offered and it will then be published in an OFSTED report. The report will contain the quality of provision the national curriculum subjects and aspects of child care, social care, education as well as learning and skills. OFSTED will act as a regulator in checking that the people, premises and the services that are provided are suitable to care and educate and potentially at no risk to young people. If child care or a child's social care does not meet the adequate or required standard then OFSTED will need them to take the necessary actions to improve their facilities. OFSTED priorities are: Better outcomes. Better inspection and regulation. Better public involvement. Better ways of working. OFSTED values are: putting children and learners first. Achieving excellenc . Behaving with integrity. Valuing people's differences. General bodies such as health and safety executive (HSE) is a UK government body that is responsible for enforcing health and safety at work legislation. The HSE plays an additional role in producing advise on health and safety issues and guidance on relevant legislations. The HSE mission is to prevent ill health injuries and to ensure that professionals within education or else where are managing any significant risks arising from school activities and off the school premises.The HSE will check a number of things with a school e.g toilet facilities for both staff and pupils, the condition of the schools premises, medical rooms, water supplies, weather protection, lighting, heating and ventilation. Properly maintained flooring, make sure that the appropriate measures are in place to prevent slips on wet surfaces. In the playground, the equipment that children play and use is not faulty or rusted and that the playground surfaces are adequate. On school trips and off site visits HSE will be carried out on: Any special educational or medical needs of the student. The age, competence, and fitness of the pupils along with the usual standards of behaviour. Adult to student ratio. The proficiency and experience of the accompanying adults. Modes of transport. Journey routes. Location visits. Any emergency procedures. General Teaching Council for England (GTC) the GTC is the professional body for teaching in England. All registered teachers in England are required to be members of the General Teaching Council (GTC). GTC is not a government body but provides advice to the government and prepares annual report for the secretary of state. Its functions are that of a regulatory roles of the teaching profession. There is a Code of Conduct and Practice to which teachers are required to adhere. The Independent Schools Council (representing independent schools in the UK) exists to provide information on independent schools, and also to inspect and regulate them. There is a separate Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) for each UK country. The GTC investigates and may take action against registered teachers who are dismissed by their employers for incompetence or misconduct, or who resign in situations where dismissal is a possibility. It examines, for example, allegations of serious professional misconduct and does so enforcing the teaching Code of Practice. Why schools have policies and procedures (5.1)(5.2) All schools have policies and procedures in place to support staff in their management of situations, these may involve violence, threatening behaviour or abuse amongst other policies which are all legal requirements within the setting of a school. All members of staff must adhere to these policies and familiarise themselves on where these policies can be found within the school surroundings. At Dean Oaks Primary school, (where i'm currently employed) all policies can be found in Mrs Ciaputa (the headmistress’s) office within a contained cupboard all labelled up with titles on the folders. We also have another copy kept at the morning/after school club office. There are different policies for different people. Below I have put in a table to show which policy suits what area. Area Policies Staff Pay policy Performance management policy Grievance Policy Pupil Welfare Child protection policy Health and safety policy Drugs awareness policy Behaviour management policy Personal, social and health educational policy Anti bullying policy Attendance policy Teaching and Learning Curriculum policy Early years policy Teaching and learning policy Special educational needs policy Planning and assessment policy Homework policy Marketing policy Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Race Relations policy Disability Discrimination policy Special Educational Needs policy SEN Code of Practice policy Learning for All – Standards for Racial Equality in School policy Parental Engagement Parents own learning Parents & children learning together Support for parents of children designated with SEN Support for minority ethnic parents Evaluate how school policies are developed and communicated(5.3) Schools need to ensure that policies are in place and regularly revised and updated. Each policy will be dated and have a date for its revision. There are model policies available on the internet through local education authorities to assist the schools in drawing them up as this can be time consuming process. Depending on the policy the person responsible for a curriculum area (for e.g. the numeracy coordinator) may produce a draft policy and then have it checked by other staff members during a meeting. It will then need to be agreed or ratified by the governing body before it takes effect. Although staff will not be required to know the contents of every school policy, they should have read and know their responsibilities, in particular with regards to the safeguarding, health and safety policy and the behaviour management policy. Roles and Responsibilities of National and Local Government for education policy & practice.(6.1) National Government. The department of Education is responsible for education and children's services. Basically this means they are responsible for setting the National Curriculum and Early Years Foundation Stage which the school and nurseries operates on. They also look into new ways to develop the quality of service available to children under the five outcomes of Every Child Matters. Other roles and responsibilities of the Department of Education are: Funding research into education based projects concerning children and young people. Developing workforce reform such as the 2020 children's workforce strategy. Promoting integrated working for those who work with children and young people. Develop the role of the third sector, which is non government organisations, such as voluntary, community organisations and charities that work with children and young people. Local government Responsibility is to provide service to all the schools in the community. The Local Education Authority is responsible for providing: Staff training and development. Special educational needs. The curriculum, including early years or sixth form. Promoting community cohesion. School management issues. Behaviour management. Development of school policies. Explain the role of schools in national policies relating to children, young people and families.(6.2) It is the responsibilities of all the schools to make sure they are up to date with all the current policies which are put in place for children, young people and their families. One of this being the Every Child Matters frameworks which is one of the largest provisions which has been put in place for developing their roles in the community. Schools should have their own policies in place that will meet the expected national requirements and also follow the LEA guidelines. There will be some schools which could be chosen to trial new ideas to develop the national policies and the curriculum, if this is successful then these will be put in place. Explain the roles of other organisations working with children and young people and how these may impact on the work of the school.(6.3) There are an extensive range of organisations that will work with children and young people. All these organisations will communicate with each other as a team and share their knowledge and experiences to achieve the best interest of children and young people. Social services - will work with schools if certain information comes to light about pupils or if they need to gather information for courts. Children's services – they are linked with the five outcomes of Every Child Matters. These are basically based in different areas of professionals including: Education. Health. Early years. Child care. Social services. Youth services – these will work with secondary schools, but will be more involved with the training and provision of young people from the age of 14 and beyond. National health services – there are many different services which will work with and within the schools setting, these may be employed by the national health services and the primary care cost. This will include: Speech therapists. Occupational therapists. Physiotherapist.