Schools_as_Organisations

Schools as organisations UNIT 11 1.1 Compulsory education in England is for children aged 5-18 years. It became an entitlement for all 3-4 years olds' to receive 12.5 hours free childcare as part of the Childcare Act 2006. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) was introduced in 2008 to give high quality education and support in pre schools, it was revised in 2012 by Dame Clare Tickell to make it more focused on supporting children's early learning. The EYFS is for children from birth up to the age of 5, all schools and Ofsted registered early years providers in all sectors including voluntary, private and maintained follow a structure of learning and care for children. Children are now offered 15hrs a week free childcare, any additional hours are chargeable. They receive this entitlement after the term of the their 3rd birthday, this may be moving to 2 years old, this is for 38 weeks of the academic year until they reach the age of 5. The settings that the free entitlement can be used at are: Playgroups and Pre schools Day Nurseries Private Nurseries Sure Start Children's Centres Childminders - must be accredited Primary School There are many of these childcare providers in each borough and they are open at various times of the day and sometimes through the holidays. 1.2 There are many different types of schools in every borough for all ages and educational needs. Community schools which are Grammar and non selective are those funded by the state. The local education authority (LEA) are in charge of admissions, are members on the governing body for the school and employ staff. They are responsible for services like catering, special needs and mandatory duties like the budget. The governors are responsible for budgets and the quality of teaching. Foundation and Trust schools are also called Voluntary aided schools and Voluntary controlled. Voluntary Schools are run by their own governing body and are responsible for admissions and employing staff. A charitable foundation or the governing body own the building and are funded partly by the LEA, partly the governing body and partly the charity . They are mainly faith or religious schools but anyone can apply for a place. Voluntary controlled schools are similar to voluntary aided schools. Although they are run and funded by the LEA which also employs the staff and they are responsible for admissions. A charity, which is usually a religious organisation, own the land and the building. All Grammar, non selective, voluntary aided and voluntary controlled schools are funded by the LEA. Independent or Private schools receive no state funding as they charge a fee per child and also receive income from gifts, charitable donations and investments. These schools don't have to follow national curriculum and the governing body along with the head teacher make decisions on admissions. Academies are state funded but get extra money through private sponsors. They don't follow the national curriculum, they decide on school hours and term dates, they have more freedom than state schools. They have their own governing body and there is no LEA representation at all. Free schools are set up by parents who appoint their own staff that don't have to be qualified teachers. They also don't follow the national curriculum and are state funded. Independent, Free schools and Academies don't follow the National Curriculum. University Technical Colleges (UTCs) are funded by universities and employer sponsors. They combine practical and academic studies that are technically orientated. All have a specialism like engineering or health care and are taught alongside business skills and the use of ICT. UTCs are particularly for students who prefer the hands on practical aspect of learning rather than just the academic side, they can learn and train in something they are really interested in. UTCs like academies and free schools have more freedom in choosing the length of the school day and the curriculum. 1.3 Traditionally the options for young people and adults that are 16 and older are to either go into higher education such as a 6th form, college or straight into work or an apprenticeship. By staying in education they can gain more qualifications through doing a BTEC, NVQ or HNC course. The government has committed to increase the number of places in education & training for 16-18 year olds in preparation to raise the age of compulsory education or training to 18 in 2015. It doesn't mean staying in school until that age, there is a choice of how they continue in education or in a training post. It could be staying in full time study in a sixth form, college or training provider. At full time work or volunteering to be combined with part time education or training or an apprenticeship with a work placement. The September guarantee is to ensure all 16-17 year old are offered suitable places in education or training. The government found that too many school leavers were dropping off the system and employers were complaining that they didn't have either the right skills or any skills. They were NEET, not in education, employment or training. In 2003 the government commission Mike Tomlinson from the department of education. He introduced diplomas for 14-19 year olds to eventually replace GCSEs, A levels and other qualifications. He wanted to allow pupils to focus on academic studies as well as a vocation. The idea was that the 14-19 phase would be organised around diplomas at four levels these would be entry, foundation, intermediate & advanced. Intermediate would be the level equivalent to GCSE and advanced equivalent to A-levels. 2.1 The school governors are voluntary members of their schools governing body. They are from different parts of the community, they can be parents, staff, from the LA or community. This ensures the governing body has a range of different views. The governing body has a lot of duties and responsibility for the school like managing the finances, appointing staff, reviewing staff pay and performance. They also set the health and safety, safe guarding, anti bullying and equality policies and rules and keep them updated. The governing body has a chair and vice chair, the governing body may delegate certain responsibilities to certain governors or committees of governors. The senior management team may include the deputy head, SENCO and the head of year. Their role is to set the strategic direction of the school and manage that, lead any changes and generally make sure the school is doing the best it can for the children. They would normally meet once a week or on a regular basis to discuss issues that have come up and make decisions concerning the school. There are other roles in school which are legally required to be fulfilled, other than the head teacher and deputy the others are SENCOs and Foundation Stage Manager. SENCO stands for Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator they are responsible for the day to day operation of the school's SEN policy, all mainstream schools must appoint a teacher to be their SENCO. The SENCO co-ordinates additional support for pupils with special educational needs and liaises with their parents, teachers and any other professionals that are involved with them. The SEN has responsibility to involve or request to involve an educational psychologist and other external services if needed. The SENCO has the support of the head teacher and other teachers to make sure the child is effectively taught through assessing their needs and setting targets for improvement. SENCOs also work with curriculum co-ordinators to make sure learning requirements for children with SEN are given equal emphasis. The Foundation Stage Manager makes sure that the Early Years Foundation Stage, which is nursery and reception, are being run properly according to the statutory requirements. They liaise with prior schools and nurseries to ensure a smooth transition for the children to start in their new setting and also make sure that observations, any assessments and records are kept up to date. They monitor the quality of teaching learning, set and review targets and report back to the head teacher. All teachers are responsible for the planning and preparation of lessons to cover the national or early years curriculum and make sure every child is catered for to their own needs so they are included and get the best possible education. They assess and write reports on the development of each pupil. The health and safety of the pupils both inside the classroom or setting and outside as well is the responsibility of the teachers. The teachers try to make learning fun but also make sure pupils get exceptional quality of teaching. As well as having their own class teachers will often have another role in the school, this may be being a member of the senior management team or subject area. There are lots of support staff roles in schools and in recent years they have dramatically risen. These range from the caretaker who looks after the school grounds, opens and closes the gates and deals with general duties like deliveries, cleaners, lunchtime supervisors, lollypop person, office staff like receptionists, parents who help with school trips and reading and the teaching assistants who support the teacher in preparing the work and helping with activities. 2.2 There may be the need for external professionals to go into a school and work with particular children and liaise with their teacher(s). Speech and language therapists (SLTs) will come to work with individual children to help with their speech, language and communication problems. Every child is different so the activities and therapy needed will be specific to that child, some children may only need therapy for a short time and others for a few years. The therapist will discuss the child's needs with their parents/carers and teachers. Educational psychologist's would be allocated to a school through the Special Educational Needs department. They assess the learning and emotional needs of the individual by use of interviews, observations and test materials. The child is then support in the area they need help with, when assessed the educational psychologist will work individually with the child or young person or in groups and also with other professionals to make sure they are doing the best for the child. They support the SENCO by providing assessments, observations and also may lead meetings with parents. A School Attendance Officer has a legal responsibility to monitor schools attendance, this is on behalf of the local council and they can take court action against the parents whose children fail to attend school regularly. Parents can contact the Attendance Officer directly, the school would contact them if a child does not attend school regularly and police can also contact them. When a child is referred to the School Attendance Officer for non attendance their parents will be informed and a meeting arranged. The Attendance Officer will tell the parents it's their legal responsibility to make sure the child attends school regularly, if the child's attendance does not improve the parents may be prosecuted. They will work with the parents by offering support and advice to try to improve the child's attendance. Education Welfare Officers, also known as Education Social Workers, work for the local councils. They go into schools to work with the head teacher and try to improve attendance and behaviour of children who have not been attending school on a regular basis. They do this by working with children & parents, making sure the parents are meeting their responsibilities by sending their child to school and making sure they attend. It's mostly the school that will contact the EWO with details of the children not attending school regularly but parents can ask for support with them directly. 3.1 All school's have a mission statement tailored individually for their own school, it tells people what their aims and values are for the school. The ethos, mission, aims and values of a school would be reflected in the way the pupils behave and what the school looks like inside and out. If the statement says they value Respect, Responsibility, Happiness and Achievement you would expect to see the pupils being happy, smiling, being respectful to one another and themselves, wearing the correct uniform and looking smart. If the schools states that the pupils can achieve the best regardless of gender, educational needs or ethnic background and that learning is fun then you would want to see the children interacting with one another by working together and all children being included in the lessons. A way to show their work would be to display it in the corridor, classrooms and halls of the work that pupils had done together. TEAM Together Everyone Achieves More This is the motto of Fleetdown Junior School. I interpret that to mean Fleetdown wants its pupils and staff to be part of a team and help each other to achieve the best they can. Also that everyone is included in the school. It's a positive statement that is simple yet effective. They also have a behaviour code that sets out the way they want pupils to conduct themselves. Behaviour Code To ensure that everyone feels safe and happy Treat people in the way you want to be treated: with RESPECT Be KIND and HELPFUL Be POLITE and say PLEASE and THANK YOU Say SORRY and FORGIVE one another Be HONEST: tell the TRUTH SHARE fairly and TAKE TURNS LISTEN carefully and SPEAK clearly Work as a TEAM for shared GOALS WALK inside school and on the pathways Treat all property and buildings with RESPECT SET A GOOD EXAMPLE 3.2 There are many ways to communicate a school's ethos, mission, aims and values, some are more effective than others. If the mission statement is put it on the school's website then everyone can access it at anytime, it's immediately there and its colourful so people will want to read it. It's not so good if the site has not been updated and the information on there is no longer applicable. Letters, newsletters and e mails are good for communicating to parents, children and prospective parents, the school can write these themselves and can be sent out immediately. The same with text messages to the parents with children at the school. Although the e mails and texts may not go through or there may be a delay in receiving them and the child may not hand the letters or newsletter to their parents. At parents evening would be a good way to feedback to parents about what the school's mission and aims are. It would be informative with the correct honest information and parents can talk to teachers about it. A prospectus is a good way to advertise the mission statement to prospective parents, it's colourful and professional looking. Although to produce them is expensive as they'd need to produce a lot and once published it cannot be amended. It'd also be limited to those who ask for it, those being prospective parents. 4.1 and 4.2 There are many laws and codes that all schools must follow to make sure it is safe for children and adults and that no one is discriminated against. Schools and other organisations are obliged to work under current legislation. The Data Protection Act 1998 was set up so that everyone has a right of privacy to their own personal information and that it is kept confidential, only those that need to know about it have the right to access the data. The information held must be stored safely and securely for e.g. either by being password protected and backed up on a computer or kept in a locked filing cabinet. The information must only be use for the purpose it is intended and not to be shared around and used inappropriately. In 1991 the UK signed up to The UN Convention on Rights of the Child 1989. There are many articles from the act that relate to schools these are: Article 2 - Children have a right to protection from any form or discrimination. Article 3 - the best interests of the child are the primary consideration. Article 12 - children are entitled to express their views, which should be given consideration in keeping with the child's age and maturity. Article 13 - children have a right to receive and share information as long as the information is not damaging others. Article 14 - children have a right to freedom of religion, although they should also be free to examine their beliefs. Article 28 - all children have an equal right to education. Article 29 - children's education should develop each child's personality, talents and abilities to the fullest. They should also learn to live peacefully and respect the environment and other people. These were sourced from the Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools book by Louise Burnham and Brenda Baker. All children have their own rights, to be happy and express their views in a variety of ways like through play, talking to teachers . This legislation is so that every child is treated fairly and equally there is no discrimination. The government brought in Every Child Matters and also the Children Act 2004 alongside it. This had a huge impact on the way schools conducted issues of care, welfare and discipline. In 2000 in London Victoria Climbie was tortured and beaten to death by her guardians, she was only 8 years old. Up until her death the police, social services, four local authorities, the National Health Service and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children all had contact with her and they had noted signs of abuse. Her death was mainly responsible for Every Child Matters and of the Children Act 2004. Agencies like social services and education have more responsibility to work together on student welfare. There are 5 outcomes for Every Child Matters these are: Be healthy Stay Safe Enjoy and Achieve Make a positive contribution Achieve economic well-being The Childcare Act 2006 has put more responsibility on local authorities to improve young children's well being, introduce the Early Years Foundation Stage, make sure there is enough childcare suitable so that parents can work and make sure the childcare providers are fully trained. Since the Acts one of the main outcomes for schools has been the introduction to extended schools. These provide a range of services and activities outside normal school hours, there are now more breakfast and after-school clubs to help parents with childcare. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is an act that gives the public a right of access to information held by public authorities. The full provisions of the act came into force in 2005. Anyone can request information held by a school but it must be done so in writing. There are times when the school will protect information that might be confidential. The Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice 2001 SEN children should be included in getting an education in mainstream schools, under the SEN Code of Practice children have had an increased right to do so. This has therefore had an impact in schools on the number of SEN children attending, individual support assistants and teachers and the diverse range of needs for those pupils. Schools need to be pro active and have resources available and in place for SEN and disabled children. Disability Discrimination Act 1995/2005 This act sets out to promote people's rights for education, employment and access to services if they have a disability and to make sure they don't get discriminated against. This and subsequent legislation has meant that schools built after this date will have to make provisions for pupils and staff with disabilities, they would need to have ramps, lifts and disabled toilets. Although schools built before the Act do not need to make those changes unless they have had extensions or new blocks built. Pupils should not be excluded from any activities such as school trips due to their disability. Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 The Health and Safety Executive along with local authorities are responsible for enforcing the Act. Schools are required to comply with this Act by carrying out risk assessments at school and for any outside trips, having an up to date health and safety policy that all staff are aware of and complete appropriate paperwork like accident forms and keep it them all filed. This is Act is so all children and staff are safe at school. 4.3 All schools are subject to Ofsted. They regulate and inspect each provider and the education of children, they then report their findings directly to parliament. All the reports are available to view on the Ofsted website and some schools include it in their own website. It is a requirement that all registered teachers are members of the General Teaching Council (GTC), the functions are of a regulatory role of the teaching profession. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has the power to close a school down if needed, they have operational inspectors and visiting staff. They have a variety of inspection methods including on-site visits that could be announced or unannounced, investigating accidents and complaints, giving guidance at visits or by phone. HSE work with Education Stakeholders to ensure the duty holders are managing risks that have come about from school trips or activities on the schools premises. They look for hygiene, health and safety and advise and guide schools. They would come into a school after a major incident to look into the procedures and make sure the setting is safe. Schools are required to comply with the Health and Safety Act 1974, as referred to in 4.1 and 4.2, the employer is responsible for Health and Safety in the school. . www.education.gov.uk www.theguardian.com www.specialeducationalneeds.co.uk www.hse.gov.uk