Introduction
This report aims to provide a better understanding of the Western Australian Department of Education (WA DoE) Duty of Care for Students Policy by discussing its rationale, the issues covered, its importance and who is subject to its requirements. It will also discuss the implications and applications of the policy in relation to three scenarios.
Discussion
1. The Policy
Rationale for writing the policy:
The rationale for writing the WA DoE Duty of Care for Students Policy is to provide clear guidelines for teaching staff to follow to ensure the duty of care for students has been met. Tronc (as cited in Newnham, 2000, p. 50) argues “Teachers have a legal responsibility for the safety of their students”. The WA DoE Duty of Care for Students Policy was designed to enable teachers to meet their legal obligations by protecting students from harm where the risk of injury is reasonably foreseeable. Furthermore, the policy provides a point of reference for teachers when using their professional judgement to make day-to-day decisions and assess risks associated with student activities.
What issues does the policy cover?
The leading issue of the WA DoE Duty of Care for Students Policy is stated in Section 1.A “Teaching staff owe a duty to take reasonable care for the safety and welfare of students whilst students are involved in school activities or are present for the purposes of a school activity” (WA DoE, 2007, p. 3). This means teachers are legally responsible to protect students from reasonably foreseeable risks of harm whenever a relationship exists between a teacher and a student. Some examples include in the playground, the classroom or during a school excursion.
The second important issue addressed in the...
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Western Australian Department of Education. (2007). Duty of care for students. WA: Department of Education. Retrieved from http://www.det.wa.edu.au/policies/detcms/portal/
Western Australian Department of Education. (2009). Protocols for working with WA police. WA: Department of Education. Retrieved from http://www.det.wa.edu.au/policies/detcms/policy-planning-and-accountability/policies-framework/guidelines/protocols-for-working-with-wa-police.en?oid=com.arsdigita.cms.contenttypes.guideline-id-3743688
Western Australian Department of Education. (2010). Occupational Safety and Health. WA: Department of Education. Retrieved from http://www.det.wa.edu.au/policies/detcms/policy-planning-and-accountability/policies-framework/policies/occupational-safety-and-health.en?bbp.s=9&bbp.e=select&bbp.v=4&bbp.i=d0.1&bbp.8.policyID=10918572&g11n.enc=UTF-8&bbp.9.pane=0
The minority countered this argument when the school board said, “it is our duty, our moral obligation, to protect the children in our school from this moral danger as surely as from physical and medical dangers” (qtd. in Board of
When working practitioners must not only protect the children they work with when in the school setting and off site, but also themselves. Whether in school or off-site the school safeguarding policy should be referred to, to give guidance and adhered to at all times.
There are three major laws that currently serve as the main protections for students with
The primary student in this critical incident scenario is fourteen years of age, is a
• The role of school and college staff is highlighted as being especially important in safeguarding children because of their position to identify concerns early on, provide early intervention and to
The Children Act took place in order to maintain the safety and protection of children. The local authorities have certain duties for children who go to schools as well as for children who are in outside away from their parents in order to make sure that they are safe. Also, the Children Act makes sure that every child are cared all the time in health and social care environments such as nurseries and schools because every children have the right to be protected from anything which can harm them. Also, children who are being looked after away from their parent must be getting the right and suitable amount of help and support in order to improve their quality of life. An example of this includes: in a health and social care environment such as a care home for children, there might be children who have a range of issues and this can often have an impact on them in many ways. Therefore, children may require personal care on a one to one basis. It is very important that every child is actually been treated equally and are given the same amount of
Ministerial Order 90. (2011). [e-book] Education and Care Services National Law,. http://www.education.vic.gov.au [Accessed: 19 Mar 2014].
All policies and procedures and local guidelines are put in place in day to day work with children and young people. Under the child protection Act staff are checked if they are suitable to work with children or not. In my setting if the manager is recruiting new staff members, they go through a DBS checks to make sure they have no criminal convictions. For example if I had any criminal convictions I would not be allowed to work with children or young people. I follow the health and safety policy by doing risk assessments in every room. We also do risk assessments throughout the day on a daily basis. We do a room risk assessment and a garden one. Risk assessments are very important in safeguarding children. If I notice any risks within the
Parents and carers have the responsibility of duty of care for their dependent to avoid risks or harm to the dependent. This duty of care can be shifted depending on the situation. For example, if a parent is constantly aware of their dependent’s actions and surroundings, it is indicated that the dependent’s need
National Dissemination Center For Children With Disabilities (2010). Applying Discipline Rules to Students with Disabilities. Retrieved from http://nichcy.org/SchoolsAndAdministrators/Pages/discipline.aspx
This duty involves to take reasonable measures to protect students from any risk or any harm which reasonably could have been expect or forecast in all learning environments; the school grounds the class rooms and the outside education institute i.e. excursions. The nature of the duty is different according to the circumstances
The Children’s Act 1989 and 2004: This act is all about ensuring that the children are kept safe from harm and are developing healthy. It’s important that settings support children and their families and work together with them to provide the best for the children. In 2004 the act was revisited because of the Victoria Climbie case and the every child matters came into place where five main aims were made: be healthy, stay safe, achieve through learning, achieve economic well-being and make a positive contribution to society.
Public safety covers a wide variety of people and organizations, but carries one common theme and that is, the public’s safety. This course has broadened my knowledge on the many roles that make the public safety sector go around and the role the public plays in it as well. My thoughts before the course were close minded and to the point. I quickly realized that policing is not as cut and dry as I once portrayed it to be. Society is always changing and adapting, and it is the job of the those in public safety to adapt and change with it. The mindset that I grew up with, in rural Saskatchewan, was the police are good people and you will only need to deal with them if you break the law or see someone break the law. My answers in the module 1 survey reflected my upbringing. My first thought for
Children should be ensured of a safe learning environment as school is the place where they spend most of their day. Well disciplined schools emphasize on the importance of learning and intolerance of conditions which ...
...feguarding ensures everyone working with students are responsible to respond to their needs, that includes children's ages 0 to 18 and vulnerable adults. All teachers are responsible for maintaining a safe learning environment, that not only evolves keeping learners safe form physical, emotional, sexual and neglect abuses but also covers Health and Safety and others policies and procedures. If a student discloses something inappropriate has happened '' You CANNOT promise to keep this information secret or confidential'' , you have a duty to respond (do not ask questions), record and report it to a student advisor team or your line-manager.