Document Analysis: Duty of Care Policy for Students (Western Australia)

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Introduction

The Duty of Care for Students Policy Western Australia (The Policy) is an important document which outlines the responsibilities of everyone who has contact with children in schools and their level of care. It outlines the various situations in which the policy applies and who is governed by the policy. It gives clear guidelines for actions to be taken under specific circumstances and covers the liabilities should a student come to harm.

This document analysis will outline the rationale behind the writing of the Policy, the issues covered, its importance and who is subject to its requirements. The Policy will be applied to three scenarios showing implications of behaviour, measures needed to ensure policy requirements are met, and impacts on teachers, students, professionals and parents.

Discussion

The Policy

A duty of care applies “whenever the teacher is a representative of the school in control of students and their actions” (Whitton et al. 2010). The obligations of teaching and non-teaching staff to ensure that a standard of care is provided to a student which is in line with legislation and parental expectations are specified in the Policy. It was developed to ensure that all staff work within the same guidelines, are professional, have support and are accountable for their actions. The Policy has been established to explain what ‘duty of care’ means, how teaching staff may discharge their duty of care, and circumstances in which non-teaching staff, external providers and volunteers may owe students a duty of care (Department of Education and Training Western Australia, [DETWA], 2007).

The Policy covers what is reasonable care, assessing the risks involved in a school activity, when a duty of care ...

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...r own bullying and risk management policies to support it.

Reference List

Crouch, R.W. (1996). School sport and the law. The Practising Administrator 3-1996 pp. 26-28

Department of Education and Training Western Australia. 2007. Duty of Care Policy for Students. Perth. Western Australian Government. Retrieved March 8, 2011, from www.det.wa.edu.au

Department of Education Western Australia. 2004. Staff Conduct. Perth. Western Australian Government. Retrieved March 8, 2011, from www.det.wa.edu.au

Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R., Le Cornu, R. (2007) Teaching challenges and dilemmas. South Melbourne: Cengage Learning

Tronc, K (2004) Schools and the law. The Practising Administrator 1-2004 pp.22-24

Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, Sinclair, C., Nanlohy, P. (2010). Learning for teaching: Teaching for learning. South Melbourne: Cengage Learning

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