Duty of care policy for students in Western Australian primary schools

¶ … Policy of Duty of Care for Students

Students' Policy

Head: Analysis of Policy of Duty of Care for Students

Analysis of Policy of Duty of Care for Students

Analysis of Policy of Duty of Care for Students

It cannot be denied that the duty of care for students whether in primary or secondary schools has significant importance in Western Australian schooling system. The duty of care policy for students is considered to be a document, which provides guidelines for teachers to take positive and cautionary steps to maintain the welfare and safety of the students. The aim of this paper is to analyze the significance of duty of care for students in West Australia primary school settings.

Duty of Care for Students in Primary School Settings

Overview

The question arises that why this duty is so important in primary school settings? According to the Western Australian Duty of Care for Students Policy, it is mandatory to protect and maintain the welfare and safety of the child against negative behaviour, negligence and carelessness of others and against an action that can hurt him or her when he or she is not under the protection of his or her parent, guardian or school authority (The Department of Education Website, 2011). The document clearly asserts that the individuals, who have been recruited by the school, must be aware of duty of care for students. Furthermore, it asserts that the duty of care includes providing protection to students from known risks and hazards as well as hazards that are foreseeable. It asserts that teachers need to show and demonstrate professional analysis in order to maintain the safety of the students in order to ensure that they are not exposed to an unexpected risk and furthermore, they have the duty to ensure that the teachers increase learning opportunities of the students. In terms of non-teaching staff, the duty of care revolves around to take care of primary school students in the case if the teacher is absent and to protect them from known and foreseeable risks.

Main Elements of the Duty of Care for Students

Caring

In terms of duty of care policy, caring is considered to be an important concept. In terms of duty of care for students, caring indicates protecting the students from physical harm (The Department of Education Website, 2011). Furthermore, it means that the teacher, school authority or the volunteer in charge must take the essential steps to protect the students from known dangers as well as probable risks

Foreseeable of Risk

Another important aspect of the duty of care of students in WA policy is the foreseeable risk. It is essential that teachers, school authorities and volunteers along with other professionals working in the school protect and maintain the welfare of students from both known and foreseeable risks.

Negligence

It should be noted that some of the injuries and damages that occur are accidental. In this case, the circumstances that gave rise to the accident cannot be predicted. On the other hand, negligent action can cause damage or harm, which may not be deliberate but the risks is foreseeable (The Department of Education Website, 2011). In other words, the damage caused by negligent behaviour can be predicted. Negligence indicates that the individual has violated the duty of care owed and thus, this has led to an injury and damage. The damage may have a negative impact on the child and may reduce the quality of life. Negligence indicates an action, which has failed to provide appropriate care to the student.

Rationale and Background for Writing the Policy

This section of the paper concentrates on discussing the rationale of composing the duty of care for students. As mentioned earlier, the duty of care has legal definition and it is found in the common law and thus, it is part of majority of the school policies and procedures. The rationale for composing this policy is to define the concept of duty of care, to ensure that teachers, school administrators and non-teaching staffs are aware of the duty of care towards students and to protect them for known and foreseeable risks (The Department of Education Website, 2011). For workers dealing with students with disabilities, the policy framework assists in making them understand how duty of care is applied on them and what needs to be done in order to fulfil responsibilities. In terms of dealing with students with disabilities, the policy can assist workers and staff to understand the condition of the student individually, the possibility of occurrence of the risk, the degree or magnitude of the hazard or risk, etc.

The duty of care for student's policy concentrates on providing duty of care to the students in wide ranging circumstances. In terms WA policy, the relevant policies in terms of duty of care with which the staff needs to be aware of include Departmental Insurance Covers, Child Protection, Outdoor Education and Recreational Activities, Management of Risks, Excursions and Field Trips, etc. The WA duty of care for students allows the staff and workers to be aware of School Education Act of 1999, School Education Regulations of 2000, Western Australian College of Teaching Act of 2004, etc. (The Department of Education Website, 2011).

Duty of Care Outside School Hours

Before and After School

As mentioned earlier, the duty of care is considered to be an important aspect of primary school setting and it may even arise before the school hours. In the case if children coming before school hours and they have been given the permission to play at the school playground as permitted by the school authority, then it is also essential that the school authority maintains the safety and security of the children. In this case, assume the example of a student engaged in playing softball with fellow students. Since the school authorities were unable to discourage the students from coming early, the opening of school grounds in early hours appeared to be a better alternative instead of playing on the streets. However, the student is accidentally struck on the head with bat and the incident occurred fifteen minutes before the school started. The school authority had instructed the students not to play games. They explicitly asserted that they should either talk, study or read together instead of playing games. In this regard, the student policy of duty of care demonstrates that a relationship exists between the students and the school authority. A factual circumstance had been created by the school authority and that they were responsible for providing sufficient supervision to the students before school hours.

Travelling of Students to and from School

The WA policy of duty of care ensures that school maintains duty of care when primary school students travel to and from school. (The Department of Education Website, 2011) In the case of girl who fell from the bus, which is not supervised, it is the duty of the school authority to maintain the safety and security of the students using the school bus. In the case of the girl who fell from unsupervised school bus, WA policy ensures that the school authorities provide sufficient supervision. In this case, it is the duty of the conductor to supervise the students and to ensure they reach their homes safely.

Field Trips and Excursions

According to WA policy, duty of care exists in the case when students are taken to field trips and excursions. In the case a student going to camping trip, the teachers are responsible for providing safety and security of the students. When performing a task, the teacher needs to instruct the students in order to ensure that they perform it safely. Failure to give instructions can lead to a risk of injury that is foreseeable. In the case of a teacher who privately recruits students to take part in community football team, even the parents consent cannot be used as an excuse to escape the negligent act. Parents consent is given in order to allow the child to take part in the activity but it is the duty of the teacher to supervise the child and to protect him or her from foreseeable and known risks and hazards.

Preventive Steps and Supervision

According to the Western Australian Duty of Care for Students Policy, it is mandatory to protect and maintain the welfare and safety of the child against negative behaviour, negligence and carelessness of others and against an action that can hurt him or her when he or she is not under the protection of his or her parent, guardian or school authority. The document clearly asserts that the individuals, who have been recruited by the school, must be aware of duty of care for students. Furthermore, it asserts that the duty of care includes providing protection to students from known risks and hazards as well as hazards that are foreseeable. It asserts that teachers need to show and demonstrate professional analysis in order to maintain the safety of the students in order to ensure that they are not exposed to an unexpected risk and furthermore, they have the duty to ensure that the teachers increase learning opportunities of the students. In terms of non-teaching staff, the duty of care revolves around to take care of primary school students in the case if the teacher is absent and to protect them from known and foreseeable risks. In terms of duty of care policy, caring is considered to be an important concept. In terms of duty of care for students, caring indicates protecting the students from physical harm. Furthermore, it means that the teacher, school authority or the volunteer in charge must take the essential steps to protect the students from known dangers as well as probable risks.

Conclusion

It is essential that teachers, school authorities and volunteers along with other professionals working in the school protect and maintain the welfare of students from both known and foreseeable risks. The rationale for composing this policy is to define the concept of duty of care, to ensure that teachers, school administrators and non-teaching staffs are aware of the duty of care towards students and to protect them for known and foreseeable risks.