Legislation Affecting Work In Schools

4.1 Summarise the laws and codes of practice affecting work in schools

Schools are obliged to operate under current legislation which means that they have to work in a particular manner and draw upon particular policies, procedures and other documentation. Some essential pieces of legislation that affect work within schools and that mentioned within other units the:-

• Data Protection Act 1998

• UN Convention on Rights of the Child 1989

• Education Act 2002

• Children Act 2004

• Childcare Act 2006

• Freedom of Information Act 2000

• Human Rights Act 1998

• Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice 2001 and Disability Discrimination Act 1995/2005 4.2 Explain how legislation affects how schools work

Legislation affects how schools

Its aim is to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health in all workplaces across the UK.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the enforcement body for health and safety in schools. This means that its inspectors are entitled to offer schools information and advice, warn them that they are failing to comply with the law, serve prohibition or improvement notices and prosecute.

Schools are required to comply with the Health and Safety Act 1974. There are many ways in which they have to comply, and the employer is responsible for the health and safety procedures and these will vary depending of the type of school, but they are required to carry out risk assessments and suitable procedures for any new situation which may increase the risks for example when on a school trip, comply with, complete and allow access to any appropriate paperwork which could be requested during an inspection under the Act, provide a school health and safety policy and ensure that all staff are aware and understand it. It is vitally important that all areas of the school are safe for children. This includes in addition to those mentioned above ensuring that classroom furniture, PE equipment and other specialised equipment such as that used in chemistry etc. as well as playground furniture are in a satisfactory condition in order to avoid any accidents while learning or playing

Their goal is to achieve excellence in education and skills for learners of all ages. Ofsted report directly to Parliament and are independent and impartial. They have responsibility for inspecting maintained schools and academies, some independent schools, and many other educational institutions and programmes outside of higher education, inspecting childcare, adoption and fostering agencies and initial teacher training, publishing reports of their findings so they can be used to improve the overall quality of education and training, regulating a range of early years and children’s social care services, making sure they’re suitable for children and potentially vulnerable young people, reporting to policymakers on the effectiveness of these