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DBS checks

Plymouth Governors’ Briefing No 21 in January 2013 offered this advice about Disclosure & Barring Service checks which have taken over from CRB Checks.

“Mark Grimley wrote to schools in June to confirm Plymouth City Council had taken the decision to cease its three year rolling programme of DBS checks. The issue of whether you decide to cease a rolling programme within your school is clearly a matter for both the head teacher and Governing Body.

If your school has decided to cease its rolling programme, an additional measure that can be used to promote safeguarding is the issue of an employee declaration to prompt the disclosure of any convictions, cautions, warnings or reprimands that may have arisen post appointment. Although this requirement is highlighted within ‘codes of conduct’ and in most school principal statements, a declaration provides an additional control measure which heightens the importance of disclosure. A draft declaration was attached to Mark’s letter which you may wish to adopt, and this can be issued (for example) on an annual or three yearly basis.

Where schools adopt self-declarations in place of a rolling renewals programme, the process will be managed directly by the school itself and the Council will not require details of when the self- declarations have been undertaken or the next date that they are due to be issued. We would advise that you add a further column to your Single Central Record to record the date that each self-declaration has been signed and completed. If you have any questions about this please contact Simon White, Safeguarding Manager on 307144.“

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Health & safety advice

The Department for Education published health & safety advice in December 2012. The document summarises the existing health and safety law relevant to schools and explains how it affects local authorities, governing bodies, headteachers and other school staff. It covers activities that take place on or off school premises, including school trips.
This advice document replaces a number of guidance documents on health, safety and security in schools, including Health and Safety: Responsibilities and Powers (2001) and Health and Safety of Pupils on Educational Visits (HASPEV 1998).

The following policy statement from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is also relevant: ‘School trips and outdoor learning activities: Tackling the health and safety myths’.

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Advice on school attendance

The Department for Education has published draft advice on school attendance for consultation. The document aims to help schools maintain a high level of attendance and plan the school day and year. It also provides information about the interventions available to address poor attendance and behaviour at school.

The document replaces previous advice on pupils’ registration, school day and year, guidance on Ensuring Children’s Right to Education and statutory guidance on Education-related parenting contracts, parenting orders and penalty notices published in September 2007. It outlines in one place the Government’s approach to school attendance and the use of parental responsibility measures. This advice is made up of:

  • Section one – pupil registers and attendance codes;
  • Section two – school day and year; and
  • Section three – statutory guidance on education-related parenting contracts, parenting orders and penalty notices.
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Regulations for school governance constitution

The DfE website explains that School Governance (Constitution) Regulations 2007 apply to maintained schools such as Mount Street Primary which were formed prior to 1 September 2012 and where there has been no change to the instrument of government after that date. Note that for the purpose of the regulations Mount Street is a foundation school but not a ‘qualifying foundation school’. The latter is defined to mean “a foundation or a foundation special school which has a foundation established otherwise than under SSFA 1998, and whose instrument of government provides for the majority of governors to be foundation governors appointed by the foundation“. Mount Street’s instrument of government limits foundation governors to a minority.

The explanatory note in these regulations is copied below.

Part 1 – Introduction

Part 2 – Categories of Governor
Regulation 5 deals with staff governors. This category includes both teaching and non-teaching staff and the head teacher of the school. The head teacher is a staff governor by virtue of his position but may resign his governorship (or withdraw his resignation) at any time. Schedule 2 deals with the election process for the other staff governors.
Regulation 6 deals with the appointment of LEA governors.
Regulation 7 sets out who is eligible for appointment as a community governor.
Regulation 8 deals with the appointment of foundation governors, including ex officio foundation governors and substitute governors.
Regulation 10 and Schedule 5 make provision for the appointment of an optional category of sponsor governor.
Regulation 11 provides for the appointment of persons who are not governors (known as associate members) to committees of the governing body.

Part 3 – Composition of Governing Bodies
Regulation 19 sets out the requirements to be observed by a person wishing to exercise the power of nominating or appointing a governor. Regulation 20 provides for surplus governors to serve out their term of office.

Part 4 – Qualifications and Tenure of Office
Regulation 22 provides that (with some exceptions) a governor’s term of office is a maximum of 4 years. In the event that an ex officio foundation governor is unable or unwilling to take up office, a substitute governor may be appointed. Regulation 23 sets out the procedure for resigning as a governor. Regulations 24 to 27 provide for the removal of governors who have been appointed (rather than elected) to office.

Part 5 – Instrument of Government