I did a slightly diff course but I believe some of what I wrote may be of help?! but be mindful my course is different so some things may not be relevant but that being said the laws and policys are the same!
The Children's Act 2004 came into being alongside Every Child Matters. It impacts the way schools address care, welfare and discipline. There are five basic outcomes that are key to a child's well-being. These are being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making positive contributions and achieving economic well-being. This act increases accountability and requires agencies involved with children to take on more responsibility for each child's welfare.
The UN Convention of Rights of the Child 1989
To protect basic human rights of children in meeting their basic needs and expanding their potential. In the course book, the articles of this convention that directly apply to schools are listed as:
- Article 2-children have a right to protection from any form of 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 that information is not damaging to 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 Human Rights Act 1998
The Human Rights Act 1998 is directly linked to the European Convention on Human Rights. A key provision of the Act is “It is unlawful for a public authority to act in a way which is incompatible with a Convention right.” The Human Rights Act makes the European Convention on Human Rights into a law in the UK, allowing violations of the Convention to be dealt with in the UK.
Education Act 2002
This act brought in changes to school regulations, staffing and governance and was amended in 2006 to include the promotion of community cohesion. According to
http://uk.ask.com/what-is/what_is_th...ation_act_2002 , “The Education Act 2002 refers to an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which amended legislation relating to academies, publicly-funded schools operating outside of local government control and with a significant degree of autonomy areas such as wages and digressing from the national curriculum.”
Data Protection Act 1998
An act of Parliament that was enacted to bring UK law into line with the European Directive of 1995 which required Member States to protect people's fundamental rights and freedoms and in particular their right to privacy with respect to the processing of personal data. The Key Principles as summarised by Wikipedia are: Data may only be used for the specific purposes for which it was collected.
Data must not be disclosed to other parties without the consent of the individual whom it is about, unless there is legislation or other overriding legitimate reason to share the information (for example, the prevention or detection of crime). It is an offence for Other Parties to obtain this personal data without authorisation. Individuals have a right of access to the information held about them, subject to certain exceptions (for example, information held for the prevention or detection of crime). Personal information may be kept for no longer than is necessary and must be kept up to date. Personal information may not be sent outside the European Economic Area unless the individual whom it is about has consented or adequate protection is in place, for example by the use of a prescribed form of contract to govern the transmission of the data. Subject to some exceptions for organisations that only do very simple processing, and for domestic use, all entities that process personal information must register with the Information Commissioner's Office. The departments of a company that are holding personal information are required to have adequate security measures in place. Those include technical measures (such as firewalls) and
Organisational measures (such as staff training). Subjects have the right to have factually incorrect information corrected (note: this does not extend to matters of opinion)
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations...on-principles/
Freedom of Information Act 2000
“This Act was introduced in January 2005 to promote transparency and accountability in the public sector.” Anyone may make a written request for information being held by a school. The schools have a duty to provide assistance. Some information may be protected due to confidentiality. Schools need to follow the guidance provided by the DCSF when handling requests for information.
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations...s-the-foi-act/
Special Educational Needs Code of Practice 2001
Under the SEN code of practice, children with special education needs have increased rights to mainstream education. It sets out the processes and procedures that schools should follow to meet the needs of SEN children. The code of practice “gives guidance to early education settings, state schools, local authorities and anybody else who helps to identify, assess and provide help for children with special educational needs.”[1]
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
All people have the right to be protected from work related risks. The Health and Safety Act “set the standards that must be met to ensure the health and safety of all employees and others who may be affected by any work activity.”[2]
Equality Act 2010
Taken from Wikipedia: “The primary purpose of the Act is to consolidate the complicated and numerous arrays of Acts and Regulations, which formed the basis of anti-discrimination law in Great Britain. This legislation has the same goals as the four major EU Equal Treatment Directives, whose provisions it mirrors and implements. It requires equal treatment in access to employment as well as private and public services, regardless of the protected characteristics of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. In the case of gender, there are special protections for pregnant women.”
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-act-2010-guidance
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
This legislation places a duty on employers for the health and safety of their employees and anyone else on the premises. In schools this includes responsibility for the Head Teacher, teachers, non-teaching staff, pupils, visitors and contractors. As my setting is a voluntary aided school the employer is the governing body. Under this Act they have a duty to ensure:
* The health, safety and welfare of teachers and other education staff
* The health and safety of children in settings and off-site on visits
* The health and safety of visitors to the setting and volunteers involved with school activities.
Under the Health and Safety Act 1974 as an employee I have rights and responsibilities for my own well-being and that of my colleagues. My rights as an employee to work in a safe and healthy environment are given to me by law and generally cannot be taken away or changed by my employer.
My most important rights are:
* To have any risks to my health and safety properly controlled as far as possible
* To be provided with any personal protective and safety equipment free of charge
* to have rest breaks during the working day, time off from work during the working week and to have an annual paid holiday
* To stop work and leave my work area, without being disciplined, if I have reasonable concerns about my safety
* To tell my employer about any health and safety concerns I may have
* If my employer will not listen to my concerns, to get in touch with the HSE or my local authority, without being disciplined
My most important responsibilities as an employee are:
* To take reasonable care of my own health and safety
* To take reasonable care not to put other people at risk by what I do or don’t do during the course of my work
* To make sure I understand the settings health and safety policies and follow them
* To report any injuries, strains or illnesses that I suffer as a result of doing my job
* Not to interfere with or misuse anything that has been provided for my own health, safety or welfare
* To tell my employer if something happens that might affect my ability to work
* To avoid wearing loose clothing or jewellery if operating machinery
* To have long hair covered or tucked away
* To notify my employer if any medication I may be taking makes me drowsy.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/legislation/hswa.htm
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
Health and safety in the workplace needs to be managed in order for continuous improvements to be made. The main requirement of the
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations is that employers must carry out risk assessments to eliminate or reduce risks. In addition employers also need to:
* make arrangements for implementing the health and safety measures identified by risk assessments
* monitor and review these arrangements
* appoint people with the sufficient knowledge, skills, experience and training to help them to implement these arrangements
* set up emergency procedures and provide information about them to employees
* provide clear information, supervision and training for employees and ensure that suitably competent people are appointed who are capable of carrying out tasks entrusted to them
* work together with any other employer operating from the same workplace, sharing information on the risks that other staff may be exposed to e.g. in my setting midwifes, maintenance contractors etc. who use the setting.
* take particular account of risks to new and expectant mothers
The Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999
For all school settings and preschool settings, the condition of the premises should provide sufficient assurance as to the health, safety and welfare of all of the people who use the building. Good standards of hygiene should be always be maintained and there should be sufficient space so over-crowding is avoided.
The Education (School Premises) Regulations stipulate:
* That there should be a certain amount of toilets for children, depending on age and needs.
* Staff toilets must be separate from those for pupils.
* Every school must have a staff room, separate from teaching accommodation for teachers and staff to use for work and social purposes.
* Every school has a room for medical or dental examinations and the care of sick and injured pupils.
* Each room in a school building must have acoustic conditions and insulation against disturbance by noise appropriate to its normal use.
* School buildings must be reasonably resistant to penetration by rain, snow, wind and rising damp.
* Buildings and equipment are adequately maintained, with dangerous defects being repaired promptly and records retained.
* That is must be possible for every part of a school building to be safely evacuated in case of fire.
* That the school building has adequate lighting, heating and ventilation.
Help Please - Support the health, wellbeing and physical care needs of children in early years settings
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