Schools As Organisations

Identify the main types of state and independent schools.

All children in England between the ages of 5 and 16 are entitled to a free place at a state school. Most state schools have to follow the national curriculum. The main types of schools are:

- Community schools
- Independent schools
- Foundation and trust schools
- Voluntary schools
- Specialist schools
- Academies

Describe the characteristics of the different types of schools in relation to educational stage(s) and school governance.

Educational stages can be an early years stage, primary, secondary, higher and further education. They are marked as stages in England where children progress through a reception year and then for assessment purposes key stages 1, 2, 3 and 4. After this college, university and training providers offer educational opportunities so that learning can continue.

Community schools – are state funded schools which are ran and owned by the Local Education Authority (LEA). Staff are employed by the Local Authority and the land and buildings of the school are also owned by the Local Authority. They are not influenced by business or religious groups. The LEA also decides which ‘admissions criteria’ to use if the school has more applicants than places.

Foundation and trust schools - are schools run by a governing body which employs the staff and sets the entrance criteria. Land and buildings are owned either by the governing body or by a charitable foundation. Trust schools are similar but are run together with an outside body – usually a business or charity – which has formed an educational trust. The school will have to buy in any support services they need and the decision to become a trust school will be made with consultation with parents and the governing body.

Voluntary schools - there are 2 types of voluntary schools:
- aided
- controlled

Voluntary aided schools – are mainly religious or faith schools but they can be attended by any religion. The land and buildings are usually owned by the religious organization or charity. They are run by their own governing body. They will be partly funded by the governing body, charity and LEA, who also provide support services. Voluntary controlled schools - are a cross between community and voluntary-aided schools. The local authority employs the staff and sets the entrance criteria like a community school, but the school land and buildings are owned by a charity, often a church, which also appoints some members of the governing body.

Specialist schools - often specialise, which means they have an extra emphasis in one or two subjects. Schools can specialise in the arts, maths and computing, business and enterprise, music, engineering, science, humanities, sports, languages, and technology. They will receive additional government funding. Children who have special educational needs (SEN) can and are usually educated in mainstream schools if the school has provisions that are suitable for that child. Children with SEN can also be educated in specialist schools if the school has applied for specialist school status.

Independent/private schools - these schools are not maintained by the local authority and are independent in their finances and governance. Independent schools are funded by a combination of tuition fees that are paid by parents and income from investments. Only half of independent schools are of ‘charitable status’ which means they can claim tax exemption. Independent schools do not have to follow the national curriculum and the admissions policy is determined and administered by the head teacher along with the governing body. All independent schools have to register with the DFE (department for education) and will be inspected by either Ofsted or the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI).

Academies - Academies are independently managed schools set up by sponsors from business, faith or voluntary groups in partnership with the local authority and the local government Department for Children, Schools and Families. Most are secondary schools and will have a curriculum specialism.
Describe the roles and responsibilities of:
- school governors
- senior management team
- other statutory roles e.g. SENCO
- teachers
- support staff

School Governors
The school governors can consist of up to 20 people and they are responsible for the running of the school. The mix of governors will be varied such as parent governors, staff governors, head teacher, support staff, LA governor, which all play a part in making schools successful. Governors will also work closely with the Head Teacher and Senior Management Team. The school governor’s responsibilities and main duties are to set aims and objectives for the school, to adopt new policies for achieving the aims and objectives and to set targets for achieving the aims and objectives.

Senior Management Team
The senior management team work closely with the headmaster. The team will consist of the more experienced staff who have management positions and all will share the responsibilities for all aspects of school leadership and management. The senior management team are responsible for planning and directing the work of groups of individuals, monitoring their work and taking corrective action when necessary. They will usually meet up once a week to discuss and then spread the information to teachers and support staff.

Other Statutory roles e.g. SENCO
They is a legal requirement that certain staff roles to be staffed. Apart from the Head Teacher and Deputy Head the other two roles are SENCO’s and in primary schools, the Foundation Stage Manager. A SENCO is involved with every school and mainly works with teachers and parents of a child who may have additional needs. This could be related to learning or a disability. They will assess children and if necessary develop an Individual Education Plan (IEP), that will give everyone targets to work to for the best outcome for the child. These targets are regularly reviewed and updated, to see that progress is achieved. They will support both children and parents, involving both to ensure that the child is supported in the best possible way.

The Foundation Stage Manager ensures that the Early Years Foundation Stage is running per the statutory requirements. They are responsible for keeping up to date records of observations and assessments and ensuring all staff are trained accordingly.

Teachers
All teachers have the responsibility of planning and preparation of the curriculum. In primary school this usually is for all subjects. They will usually have other responsible roles either in another subject or part of the Senior Management Team. They will be required to assess, record and report on the development, progress and attainment of pupils. They are required to teach each child accordingly to their needs and consult regularly with parents. They will need to keep up to date on any developments in the curriculum and to feed this back to other staff.

Support Staff
There are many types of support staff in schools. These could include, breakfast/after school staff, catering staff, office and admin staff, caretakers, teaching assistants and HLTAs, support staff for SEN and parent support workers. Their roles are vital to the smooth running of the school and will be part of the Value statement of the school. Each role with have different responsibilities but all will support the care of the child.

Describe the roles of external professionals who may work with a school e.g. educational psychologist.

There are a large range of professionals who work with the school on a regular basis. They will come in and work with the head, SENCO and other staff when needed. There are many children in schools today with learning, physical and behavioural difficulties who need extra support from external professionals and they can be any of the following.

Educational psychologist
The educational psychologists provide advice and support for schools/parents of children with special educational needs and they will work closely with the SENCO. Spending time with any individual child and trying to establish the reasons for their learning or behaviour problems. Once they have established the reasons they will then present their findings to both school and parents and how best to support them.

Speech and language therapist
The speech and language therapist will work with children who have difficulties with understanding, expressing themselves and using communication to socialise. The speech and language therapist works in close partnership with the child, their family, school and any other healthcare professionals. Together they share the Child’s needs but it will be speech and language therapist who will decide how the child can be helped to reach their full communication potential.

Specialist teachers
Specialist teachers are teachers who’s training is in a specific area and the role of a specialist is very important, as it is to ensure that children receive the best level of education. They provide direction and practical support for teachers around their specialist area. Their role often finds them working closely with children with behavioural support needs, social and communication needs and English as an Additional Language need.

Education welfare officer
The educational welfare officer (EWO) will usually be based within LA and works with schools, pupils and families to resolve any issues. Their responsibilities would include meeting with the school, pupils and parents to identify problems and possible solutions to absenteeism. They will also offer support to parents for pupils that have been excluded from school and on their return.

School improvement Partner (SIP)
They work alongside the LEA and support the Head Teacher in looking at ways to improve the school through school self-evaluation and pupil progress and achievement. They will also liase with parents on any extended school provisions, eg. breakfast and after school clubs.

Physiotherapists/occupational therapists
These are healthcare professionals who work with pupils outside of school but may also be requested to come into school to support pupil progress.

Define the meaning of:
- aims
- values

Aims – ‘Noun’ “a purpose or intention, a desired outcome”

Aims are general statements concerning the overall goals, long term vision, expectations and achievements. Aims are mainly used in an educational context for curriculum lesson and activity planning. The school’s aims are set out in their prospectus and other school literature. They are decided by the head teacher, along with parents, staff and the community.

Values – ‘Noun’ “principles or standards of behaviour”

A value is something you can strive to achieve to make a school/society a better place to grow in. In short values in a school are directions the head, the teachers and the majority of the parents wish to see their children achieve and strive towards. Values can also be detailed in prospectus. These will be the schools core values based on the moral code the school follows. It will be in relation to Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE). If the school is a church school then these will be closely linked into its values.

Describe with examples how schools may demonstrate and uphold their aims.

At St Anthony’s they communicate their aims through their website http://www.stanthonyscollege.com/aim.html detailing what they are about and what they expect from their staff and pupils. A school can demonstrate and uphold their aims by:

- after school activities e.g. football, science club, homework club and fitness classes to name a few.
- encourage visitors from the community - police, ambulance and fire, local wildlife, local science museums.
- inviting parents to support in the classroom – reading time.
- to participate in a healthy lifestyle – balanced nutritious lunches.
- Day visits to support the national curriculum.

Describe with examples how schools may demonstrate and uphold their values.

Things St Anthony’s school do to demonstrate and uphold their values could are:

- sports days – for both pupils and parents.
- fun days - to raise money for school.
- xmas fairs to raise money for the community
- congratulations assembly - for the children to show what their have been learning.
- Open door policy - so parents can let teacher know any thing about the child.
- regular parents evenings – to involve and update parents.
- participation in area schools sports competitions.

Identify the laws and codes of practice affecting work in schools.

Schools are required to operate under current laws and legislation. Most of the laws and codes of practice are directly linked to the well being and achievement of pupils.

The UN Convention on the rights of the Child 1989. Article 2, 3, 12, 13,14, 28 and 29.
The Education Act 2002
Children Act 2004 and 2006
The Equality Act 2010
The Freedom of Information Act 2000
The Human Rights Act 1998
The Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice 2001 and Disability Disrcrimination Act 1995/2005
The Data Protection Act 1998

Describe how laws and codes of practice promote pupil well being and achievement.

All these laws influence the rights of individuals. Every early years, childcare and educational organisation are required to have policies and practices that put these laws into action.

Codes of practice provide guidance and rules on ways of implementing legislation and good behaviour. The purpose of the code should be to promote positive behaviour, so rules should be expressed in positive terms. The code should outline the schools expectations for pupil behaviour in the classroom and around the school. A system of rewards and sanctions should be used to support the code of conduct.

The Children Act (2004) and (2006)- The children’s act ensures the needs of the child is paramount when making any decision that affect a child's welfare. Local authorities are required to provide services that meet the needs of children who are identified as being at risk. The 2004 act also requires care services to work together so that they form a protective team around the child. In 2006 the act was amended to place more responsibility on local authorities. Every Child Matters 5 outcomes was also introduced to help promote well being and achievement.

The articles in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 promote the right to protection, the best interests of the child are the primary consideration, children have a voice and can express their view, they have a right to receive and share information, they have a right to freedom of religion, they have an equal right to education and promote peaceful living with respect.

The Education Act 2002, was amended in 2006 to include that schools should promote themselves to the community and involving them within school life and welcoming their contributions.

The Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice 2001 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995/2005 ensures and promotes that children with SEN have a right to mainstream education which has a positive affect on all pupils.

The Equality Act 2010 ensures that no child is discriminated against by gender, race or disability and are required to encourage the inclusion of children with disabilities into mainstream schools.

Describe why schools have policies and procedures.

All schools follow certain policies and procedures for the smooth and day to day running of school matters and to make sure that pupils receive quality education. Policies help define rules, regulations, procedures and protocols for schools. It is also a legal requirement enabling all parties to work from a clear set of guidelines and to review and update them as required.

Schools policies are there for several reasons. A few are;

- To establish rules and regulations for acceptable behaviour
- To ensure that the school environment is safe for pupil
- To create a productive learning environment
- To make sure that the school environment is also safe for the teachers and other staff.

To create a safe learning environment such policies are created which establish a safe physical and mental environment for the staff and students of the school. To achieve these, policies such as anti bullying policy, equal opportunity, fire drills and mental health guidelines etc are created.

Identify the policies and procedures schools may have relating to:
- staff
- pupil welfare
- teaching and learning

Schools may have policies and procedures relating to:

Staff policies are put in place to protect the staffs’ welfare and their rights within a school setting and to support staff in their management of situations they may be involved in. Every policy should outline its aims, purpose and responsibilities the staff will have. These policies may relate to pay, performance management and grievance.

Pupil welfare policies will include;
Child protection policy will consist of key elements in protecting children and young people, health and safety, to ensure the safe care, drugs awareness, anti-bullying, attendance, behaviour management and personal, social and health education. All policies and procedures are there for the safe welfare of children.

Teaching and learning will include curriculum policies, an early years policy, special educational needs policy, teaching and learning policy, planning and assessment policy and homework and marking policy. The aims and missions of these policies is to provide safe, stimulating learning environments for pupils and teachers.

Identify the roles and responsibilities of national and local government for education policy and practice.

National Government
The DFE (Department of Education) leads the whole network of people who are responsible for drawing up education policy i.e. National Curriculum and children’s services. The DFE is always looking into new ways of developing the quality of services available to children under the five outcomes of Every Child Matters. The National government also plays a role in funding education based projects, developing reforms within the workplace and promoting integration. They will also be involved in developing a workforce reform such as the 2020 Children and Young Peoples Workforce Strategy, promote integrated working for everyone who works with children and also they have setup and administer the schools league tables.

Local Government
The local governments departments for education provide a key service to schools within the local area, the offer a role of support and advice. Some of the responsibilities are to ensure that certain services are accessible such as;
- staff training and development
- special educational needs
- the curriculum, including Early Years
- promoting community ties
- school management issues
- behaviour management
- the development of school policies

As well as the above, local authorities will need to a provide paperwork outlining any visions and plans for any government based initiatives, they can demonstrate this through many ways including their local Children and Young Peoples Partnership (CYPP) plan. These plans focus on integration and improvement within the local area. They will have specifically trained staff who provide support for pupils with special learning needs, e.g. dyslexia. The LEA will usually employ specialist advisors to deal with different subjects of the curriculum, if there is any changes to education policy then LEA is expected to pass this information to the schools and offer any additional training necessary through either their local education development centre or INSET (In-Service education and Training) .

Describe the role of schools in national policies relating to children, young people and families.

The school plays an important role in national policies relating to children, young people and families. Schools need to know the policies and be seen to be working to them. They also need to develop their own policies in line with the national requirements following local government guidelines. Schools could also be involved in trialling and developing new ideas which then could be rolled out nationally.

Describe the roles of other organisations working with children and young people and how these may impact on the work of schools.

There are a wide range of organisations that work with children and young people and they should all work together and share information and knowledge bearing in mind they all work in different ways. They will develop links with each other for pupil support and community unity. The impact of all different organisations working together can only be positive to all concerned and especially in the best interests of the child.

Some of the organisations working with children are,
Social Services will liase with schools where it is necessary for them to share information for court proceedings. They will also speak with teachers and the schools family worker.

Children’s Services are linked to the five outcomes of Every Child Matters but may be from a range of providers including education, health, social services, early years and childcare.

Youth Services will have more impact on secondary schools but will but will be concerned with training and provision post-14, the Youth Matters programme and Targeted Youth Support.

National Health Services may include speech therapists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists.