Duty Of Care In Australia

INTRODUCTION
On the, 26th of June 2007, the Department Of Education made effective Western Australia’s current ‘Duty of care for students’ policy. This policy was deemed necessary, as it strives to protect the immediate and on-going safety of students and teachers. The aim of the policy is to create the safest possible learning environment for all students, and for to serve as a guideline for education professionals. All teachers, school authorities, some non-teaching staff and external providers are subject to this policy and must adhere to it. By constantly reflecting on the policy, it can evolve into an essential everyday tool when upholding ethical and legal responsibilities.

Students must have individual responsibility for their own
The policy explains: who owes this duty of care to students, qualification requirements when working with children, and who may be liable if that duty of care is neglected. The policy also addresses a range of issues that may occur in the school environment such as, child protection, excursions, students arriving early and departing late from school, etc. It covers the roles that teaching staff, school authorities, non-teaching staff, volunteers and external providers need to play in order to provide reasonable care for students.
To ensure that students encounter minimal safety risks, maximise learning opportunities and also encourage student independence, teaching staff must use their professional judgement when discharging these responsibilities. The duty of care that needs to be exercised will no doubt often vary depending on numerous factors, which may include the student’s age, experience, capabilities, physical and intellectual impairment, medical conditions and behavioural
“Where it is known that students arrive at school at a certain time the responsibility of the school to provide adequate supervision for the students commences at that time.” (DETWA, 2007 P.11) The teacher’s actions in this scenario are a perfect example of providing reasonable care for the immediate and on-going safety of these students. The reminder of the student’s responsibility given by the teacher aims not to lecture, however to prevent future incidents from reoccurring. By having a designated area and supervising teacher the school already has put into place appropriate measures to provide care for students who arrive at school before the desired time. Sending students to the designated area, Mrs Witmer insures that they will be supervised and in turn decreases any possible risks from occurring. Noting students’ name allows the teaching staff to document how often certain students arrive early to school and take appropriate actions if the same issue keeps resurfacing, for example, call parents and arrange a meeting to discuss.

Conclusion

This report has discussed briefly the following issues, duty of care and medical conditions, duty of care and child protection, duty of care and early arrival to school. You have read how these situations can impact on a local primary school and how it did impact on Mrs Witmer. I conclude that Mrs Witmer implemented as many aspects