A. INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this report is to analyse the Duty of Care for Students Policy provided by the Western Australian government’s Department of Education. It does this by firstly looking at the reasoning behind the creation of the policy, then determining who the policy is written for and finally stating why it is of importance.
The report examines the content within the policy and relates it to a local primary school. Three scenarios are discussed and the issues within them are analysed with reference to the policy. The steps that could be taken by a school or teachers to ensure that the policy requirements are met are explained and examples from other references cited. In the first scenario, students are arriving at school thirty minutes prior to any teaching staff. The second addresses students attending an after school sport session and the third is concerned with a parental volunteer being left in charge of students.
B. DISCUSSION
1. The Policy
A school and its teaching staff owe students a duty of care due to the teacher-pupil relationship. This was established in the case of Richards v The State of Victoria which stated that “duty of care…arose out of the special relationship…between the teacher and student” Crouch (1996). This policy is written to make teaching staff aware of how they can provide their duty of care to students and to help parents and students understand when and if a duty of care exists. It discusses instances when other persons, in a supervisory position towards students, must also provide a duty of care (Western Australia, Department of Education, 2007).
The profession of teaching is increasingly affected by the law as parents and students are becoming more aware of their rights and...
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...is the ultimate rationale of the policy.
Works Cited
The Association of Independent Schools of SA, (n.d.). Supervision by parents and instructors. Retrieved from http://www.ais.sa.edu.au/about-aissa/policy-advice#1214
Crouch, R.H.W. (1996). School sports and the law. The Practising Administrator 3-1996, 26-28. Retrieved from
Newnham, H. (2000). When is a teacher or school liable in negligence? Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 25(1), 45-51. Retrieved from http://ajte.education.ecu.edu.au/ISSUES/PDF/251/Newnham.pdf
Western Australian Department of Education. (2007). Duty of care for students. Perth: Western Australian Government. Retrieved on March 2nd 2011 from http://www.det.wa.edu.au/policies/detcms/policy-planning-and-accountability/policies-framework/policies/duty-of-care-for-students.en?oid=au.edu.wa.det.cms.contenttypes.Policy-id-3783072
A teacher’s most important duty is to protect the students they are in charge of. This duty includes both reasonably protecting students from harm and, when a student is harmed, reporting it to the proper authorities (Gooden, Eckes, Mead, McNeal, & Torres, 2013, pp. 103-109). There have been many court cases that reiterate this duty of school staff. One such case is Frugis v. Bracigliano (2003) where many staff at a school failed in their duty to protect students and allowed abuse to continue for years.
What ethical principles were impacted? What was the ethical duty of care to Lewis? How was it breached?
Groves, S. L., & Groves, D. L. (1981). Professional Discretion and Personal Liability of Teachers in Relation to Grades and Records. Education, 101(4), 335-340.
Health and social care professionals encounter a diverse amount of individuals who have different needs and preferences regarding their health. As professionals they must ensure that all services users, whether it is older people with dementia, an infant with physical disabilities or an adult with an eating disorder (National Minimum Data Set for Social Care, [no date]), are treated in a way that will successfully meet such needs. In fact, health and social care professionals have a ‘duty of care’ towards services users, as well as other workers, in which they must legally promote the wellbeing of individuals and protect them against harm, abuse and injury. (The Care Certificate Workbook Standard 3, [no date]) Duty of care is a legal requirement
Duty of care is legal obligation to ensure the well-being of a service user, safeguard service users from harm while they are in your care.
Till this present day legislation is spoken and examples are been taught. In this part the main laws are been showed to you so you can look out when working in the health and social care profession.
I agree that teachers must think before they act and process the best consequence to the action that he or she will or will not do in class. The book makes a point on talking about how teachers must thoughtfully decide if what they are doing every single day. I believe that that is a crucial quality every teacher must have in order to avoid major issues in the classroom. It is amazing how much can change when a teacher, or anyone, thinks about what they are doing before they do it and what are the possible consequences are based on their action. Better than thinking about it, if they talk to one another, as teachers, on how they should act, this would help them even more to make the right decision. I also agree teachers deserve the right to due process, just like everyone else in their profession. Being a teacher is very difficult, and it is very important that teachers are not constantly scared to lose their job with one bad choice. There are so many parents out there who will immediately try to get the teacher fired in any way they can in order for their child to be happy which is very threatening to teachers everywhere. The fact that due process is given to teachers is extremely important for the sanity of teacher’s minds and their performance as teachers. Lastly, I agree with tort liability because teachers must be on high alert at all times with their classroom. Any possibilities of injury in the classroom must be thought about by the teacher and prevented in anyway. Teachers are one hundred percent liable to what goes on in their classroom and they need to pay attention to all kinds of behavior that could lead to danger. Teachers never should be able to say that it was the student’s fault that they were injured in their classroom with their
In relation to the 5 aims of Every Child Matters, it is well known that their intents were good, however, the methodology has its hitches. The first remark on the aims of Every Child Matters is that it is too out of reach as the objectives are practically unachievable for any of the services that have a relation to child protection. From this, it can be identified that the policy-makers have overlooked that social services and parents can only do so much. Taking the position of being Head Teacher, for instance, having a fulltime job to make sure that the educational average is continually progressing while also having to uphold a nonviolent surrounding within the school compound and attempting to certify the gratification of the students is already a challenging task one could uptake.
The development of a national curriculum for Australia is not a new endeavour (Marsh, 2010). The ideal is that national curriculum across Australia would mean that students are provided with a quality education that helps to shape the lives of the nations citizens and continue developing the productivity and quality of life within Australia. The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] have the task of developing and implementing a nationwide curriculum. ACARA (n.d.-c) claims have addressed needs of young Australians while considering that changing ways in learning and challenges will continue to shape students education in the future. A look at what the Australian Curriculum is, its purpose, structure and scope, learning theories and teaching processes and whether the curriculum has the capacity to meet the needs of 21st century learners will show that the initial construction of a national curriculum appears to be successful. However, the effectiveness of the Australian Curriculum will only be able to be evaluated in the future after implementation across the country.
An analysis of how national and local guidelines, policies and procedures for safeguarding affect day to day work with children and young people including, but not limited to:
As a society it is our duty to protect others from harm, especially children and young people, and as aduls who work with children we need to be doubly aware of this responsibility. No-one, whether child, young person or adult deserves to suffer from abuse; whether physical, sexual or emotional; or be subject to neglect. If we safeguard our children and young people they are more likely to grow into confident members of society. As practitioners we have a duty to ensure that the children and young people who are in our care are protected, and that as practitioners we recognise the signs and symptoms of harm and abuse. “School policies and procedures need to be such that parents and governors are aware of them and that staff are fully trained with regard to safeguarding.” School policies will need to cover:
By respecting their individuality and uniqueness, I will be able to maintain good relationships with the students and be able to understand their individual strengths and weaknesses. Subsequently, I will be responsible for my actions and techniques used while teaching and at the same time hold each student responsible for their actions and statements. In encouraging a respectful environment for each student, learners will be held responsible for actions that seem to violate the accepted norms and learning culture within the
When working with children and young people, a huge responsibility for us is our duty of care towards them as we also take on what’s called ‘loco parentis’. This means that when a child or young person is left in our care, we take on the responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being as their own parents. This also includes the responsibility to see that children’s rights are promoted and their individual needs are met. Under the Children Act 1989, children have the right to be protected from harm, to discuss their concerns, and be listened to. They also have the right to be told what their rights are, and have their wishes considered when decisions are being discusses, when they affect them. Children and young people are vulnerable because
Fischer, L., Schimmel, D., & Stellman, L. (2007). Teachers and the law (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
"Do Sports Keep Teenagers out of Trouble?" The Premier Online Debate Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.