Pupil health and safety :Cross Stitch – Parents
Everyone in the education system must do what is sensible to keep pupils safe and healthy. This includes making the school environment as safe as possible. There are several sets of guidelines setting out the good practice that can help schools meet their responsibilities.
Safety at school
Schools can add to the health and safety policy to reflect their particular circumstances – so that it covers, for example, what their pupils do in science and P.E lessons.
Schools are also encouraged to use the curriculum to help pupils develop the skills and knowledge to keep themselves safe. You can help by making sure your child understands why it’s important to follow the rules and listen to the teacher.
School trips based around ‘adventure’ activities involve dealing with obvious, in-built natural hazards. Schools whose staff have the essential skills can organise this type of trip themselves, but many use commercial providers inspected on behalf of the government.
Most commercial providers offering trips for under 18s involving climbing, caving, trekking or non-powered watersports have to be licensed by the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority (AALA).
Organisations with a licence from the ALAA have their safety arrangements inspected regularly. You can get a list of licensed organisations from the ALAA website – follow the link below.
Schools need to be able to cope with emergencies, and local authorities have a responsibility to help pupils take advantage of any medical or dental inspections arranged by the Department of Health.
Most children with medical needs – whether they are the result of a physical illness, injury or mental health condition – are able to attend school regularly. With some support, they can usually take part in most school activities.
School security
Your local authority will have a general policy for security covering all the schools for which they are responsible.
Each school will also have a more detailed policy, drawn up by the governors and the head teacher. You can get a copy from your child’s school.
The government has recently given schools a new power to search a pupil without consent where they suspect the presence of a knife or other weapon. Schools have also been told that they can screen pupils at random using metal detectors in ‘wands’ or arches.
If you have a complaint about health, safety or security at your child’s school, contact the headteacher. If you’re still not happy, follow the school’s complaints procedure and write to the chairperson of the school’s governing body. If your child goes to a community or voluntary controlled school, you could also write to your local authority.