Legionella & School Holidays – What Should I Do?
If you are a Duty Holder or formally appointed Responsible Person (Water), e.g. Head Teacher, Business Manager Maintenance Manager or similar, you have a legal responsibility to ensure that the occupants within your premises are suitably protected from water safety risks including Legionella bacteria. When dealing with water safety issues in schools, frequent reviews and updates to your Legionella risk assessment are key to keeping water systems safe for use. Legionella Risk in Schools Whether assessing the risk from Legionella bacteria or devising control measures for your school, it’s of vital importance you have a clear understanding of both inherent and operational aspects of the water system’s management. The design and installation of your water system may well have incorporated best practice approaches ensuring inherent risks are relatively low, however at an operational level, a majority of areas within any school may not be used during holiday periods. To mitigate these risks, your planned preventative maintenance and monitoring schedule needs to include all foreseeable circumstances – particularly as little-used water outlets are those often most at risk from the development of Legionella contamination. Good water management can reasonably focus on, but not be limited by, two main considerations: Stagnant Water Whilst there are many other considerations for mitigating the growth of waterborne bacteria, such as Legionella, the presence of slow-moving or stagnant water at temperatures between 20-45°C can provide ideal growth conditions for such bacteria and must therefore be avoided. At this point, it’s noteworthy to identify that waterborne bacteria such as Legionella are ‘ubiquitous’ within water systems although are often flushed to drain in well-managed and maintained properties. Biofilm When water systems provide the ideal conditions for bacterial growth this often presents an issue that requires an expensive, multi-factorial and time-intensive response and which may have only limited success. It is often very difficult if not impossible to eradicate biofilm from affected systems with lasting success. HSG274 As previously mentioned, systems affected by waterborne bacteria often succumb to recurring issues and therefore prevention in this regard is very much better than cure. As such, when deciding upon a suitable risk mitigation strategy for buildings subject to ‘scheduled’ intermittent or low use, such as schools, universities etc, it may be prudent to review HSG274 Part 2, Paragraph 2.50; which offers practical guidance on how to manage buildings that have been temporarily taken out of use (known as mothballing). Whilst school and university estates increasingly have ‘dual use’ facilities that help to maintain the turnover of water by keeping buildings open to service users during holiday periods, this is not always the case, as such staff must be tasked with safely managing water during this time via a suitable flushing regime. Legionella Flushing Regime A suitable Legionella risk assessment will assist in determining the required control measures. It’s advised that any mothballing strategy or procedure should be a compromise between the prevention of stagnation by having a regular Legionella flushing regime, the avoidance of water wastage and the protection of the water system from degradation caused by any disinfectant added. During shorter periods of infrequent or intermittent use, microbial growth may be adequately controlled by identifying areas of infrequent use, i.e. those used less than once per week, and flushing them at least weekly (more frequently than weekly is expected in higher-risk premises). Each outlet should be flushed for long enough to ensure that the entire contents of the outlet and its associated supply pipework have been replenished with fresh water. For longer periods of disuse, it can be acceptable to leave a system filled with water without weekly flushing – if measures are in place to prevent unauthorised use. Draining down a system unnecessarily may leave residual moisture or pockets of water within the system, potentially created, or exacerbated by high humidity, and this may subsequently provide the potential for worsening conditions. Leaving the system filled with water and suitably maintained also helps to avoid issues associated with systems drying out, such as joint failure in sectional tanks and/or metal pipework corrosion. That said, these systems should be thoroughly flushed, cleaned, and disinfected before their return to use. In such situations, it’s indicated to recommission these systems as though they were new following British Standards; BS EN 806, BS 8558, and BS PD 855468. Written by the Water Hygiene Centre
How edtech can relieve exam stress for an entire school community
Karin Bjerde, Head of Strategic Growth at Kognity, comments on how edtech embraces a hands-on and personalised approach to education that eases stress, teacher workload and budget pressures. Students have studied hard over the year. They’ve memorised quotes from plays and poems, learned the tools of critical analysis, practised applying formulae and theories, and mastered the French tenses. However, by May, most become increasingly concerned about their exams and results, and if history is anything to go by, they are not the only ones to feel the stress. Teachers, department heads, senior leaders, support staff, parents, and governors often invest just as much in student outcomes as the students themselves. For years, they have taken students on a dedicated path of learning. They’ve given them the tools and strategies to help them get through the content, and hopefully developed autonomous learners. Year on year, teachers provide feedback, host revision classes, apply interventions, encourage, empathise and support their students, but by the time pupils sit down to put pen to exam paper, staff and parents have to concede their part in the process. Occupying national headlines earlier this year, we heard teachers highlight the profound effect that students’ mental health can have on the entire school community. School staff have grown acutely aware of the ways in which exam pressure can affect their students’ mental health and will often take this pressure on themselves. Dedicated, hard-working teachers lie awake at night worrying whether they have sufficiently supported their students and what more than can possibly do. While teachers may absorb their students’ stress, thanks to digital innovations and education technology, we now have the tools that can make it all a little easier for teachers and students alike. If some of the stressors of exam preparation can be eliminated, or at least alleviated by edtech, the trend of schools investing in evidence-based resources should come as no surprise. Technology now exists to support learning in a way that is engaging and accessible for students, while taking away some of the considerable stress placed on school staff and students. Thankfully, in the contemporary education environment, edtech advances such as intelligent textbooks can be implemented in classrooms and at home to complement and supplement traditional teaching, learning and assessment. Incorporating video, 3D models and embedded formative assessment, these resources are designed to improve learning in a way that is valuable, student-friendly and highly personalised. Not all stress can be eliminated, but if technology can assist in maintaining a healthy, more manageable level, it seems akin to a duty-of-care to embrace the wave of edtech and digital resources. Afterall, it will only be through the adoption of innovative and contemporary approaches that shake up the systemic shortcomings, that significant progress will be made in transforming the mental wellbeing of the entire education community. How can edtech support students and teachers? Digital tracking of knowledge and progress to highlight knowledge gaps to help tailor more in-depth student support. Auto-correcting assignments reduces marking time and eases teachers’ workload. Digital textbooks ensure resources are up-to-date and curriculum aligned, reducing research time for teachers.. Increase student engagement through interactive and engaging tools such as videos and 3D models for a truly immersive learning experience. Cloud-based learning provides a central learning hub for students and teachers. See kognity.com for more options on how to ease exam stress using edtech solutions.
Parent-school communication: How much is too much?
ITV’s parenting expert and former Deputy Head Sue Atkins discussesthe best way to engage parents, and the dos and don’ts of parent-school communication… Making the transition from primary to secondary school is both exciting and challenging for both pupils and parents. New larger buildings, as well as new school routes and new friendships must be navigated which can be quite daunting. But it’s also an ideal time for schools to create a strong home to school bond. So, what processes can schools set up to send news and updates without consuming more time for precious office staff while securing parental support for the years to come? And how do schools know when they are overdoing it when it comes to parental engagement? Too many school systems A major culprit of ‘information overload’ can be the sheer number of communication systems a school operates, which can have an adverse effect on parental engagement. A recent survey by parent communication and online payment experts, ParentMailrevealed a disconnect between what schools believe and how they are operating in practice. 62% of schools felt using two or more systems to communicate with parents was detrimental to effective engagement. And yet, a significant 45% admitted they had fallen foul of this trap and were operating more than one parental communication system. Using separate systems for emails, texts, cashless paymentsand booking parent eveningappointments means multiple login details for parents to remember, which can add to confusion and leave parents feeling disengaged. Managing all your parental communication in one place not only creates staff and cost efficiencies but dramatically improves parental response rates too. Keep on track Targeted messaging that is easy to access and relevant will help establish the important bridge between home and school. My advice is to make sure you keep them onside, by being ‘on task’. Think interrogative pronouns! Who, when, why and what. Who do you need to target? When is the best time to reach them? Why do you need to message them? And what do you want to tell them and is there any action they need to take? Year 7 parents want to know how to access homework schedules, not information about GCSEs so ensure your communication is targeted. ‘Pupil post’ may have been replaced by ‘paperless post’ thanks to technology, giving schools greater control over getting the right information to parents at the right time. But there is still a risk important messages will be missed if parents receive too much information from too many sources. Keep it simple – you don’t have to ‘shout’ to get your voice heard. Parent-friendly communication engages and informs, it doesn’t overwhelm or confuse. Simplifying your technology and your messaging will support staff and keep parents onside from the outset. For more information on how to connect your school and parents efficiently and reliably visit ParentMail.
Road safety highlighted by primary children’s march
Schoolchildren took to the streets today in a national day of action to raise awareness of road safety, as horrifying statistics surrounding traffic deaths and injuries were highlighted. More than 63,000 children of primary age took part in Brake’s Kids Walk with Shaun the Sheep, as 45 children are killed or injured every day on roads across the UK. The national project, in partnership with the Ocado Foundation, saw Shaun and his flock help youngsters learn key road safety messages and call on grown-ups to make roads safer, so more children can enjoy the health and CO2-saving benefits of walking. Shocking road safety figures Road safety charity Brake highlighted the true extent of child casualties on the nation’s roads. Latest official figures show that 16,566 children were killed or injured on roads in the UK in 2017. On average, that means 45 children die or suffer injuries as a result of road crashes every single day. Department for Transport (DfT) figures show that 14,226 children were killed or injured on roads in England in 2017, while Welsh Government statistics reveal there were 577 child road casualties during the same period. Transport Scotland says that 899 children were killed or injured on roads in Scotland in 2017, and numbers were similar for Northern Ireland, which reports 864 child road casualties in the same year. Nearly 400 schools and nurseries took part in Brake’s Kids Walk, calling for five measures to help keep children safe near roads: footpaths cycle paths safe places to cross slow traffic clean traffic Short, supervised walks are taking place today and all week at or around schools and nurseries. Children will walk in a crocodile formation and hold hands to highlight the importance of being able to walk without fear or threat from traffic. Some schools are teaming up with their local fire service or police. Schools were also urged to run special road safety-themed assemblies, lessons and activities, using free resources featuring Shaun the Sheep and his friends. Funds were also raised for Brake, which supports families who have lost loved ones in road crashes. Dave Nichols, community engagement manager for Brake, said: “Every child should be able to walk in their community without fear of traffic and pollution. Unfortunately, many kids are unable to do so because they don’t have access to simple measures such as footpaths, cycle paths and safe places to cross. “Many more must contend with fast traffic and pollution from vehicle emissions. If we want children and their families to walk, we need to make sure their journeys are safe. We’re delighted that so many schools and children across the UK agree with us on this and are taking part in Brake’s Kids Walk. Together we can raise awareness about the issues that matter to them and help make their roads safer.” Dorothy Pegg, assistant head at Seven Sisters Primary School in Tottenham, said: “Our school is delighted to take part in Brake’s Kids Walk with Shaun the Sheep and help raise awareness about how we can all make our roads safer. We’re passionate about encouraging our children to live healthy lifestyles, which includes walking in their local community. That’s why we support Brake’s call for footpaths, cycle paths, safe places to cross, slow traffic and clean traffic to help keep children safe near roads.” Stuart Reid, Interim Director of Vision Zero at TfL, said: “We completely agree with these children – death and serious injuries on our roads is unacceptable. Children should be able to walk to school, play, and enjoy London without worry. We are committed to making streets across London safer, as part of our Vision Zero ambition, by improving dangerous junctions, implementing our new bus safety programme and working with schools on Junior Roadwatch.” For more information on how your school can make getting to school safer, see brake.org.uk
What to expect in an inspection, from an Ofsted leader
An interview with Ofsted’s Deputy Director for Schools, Matthew Purves, has revealed that school leaders and teachers believe Ofsted has the right focus for the new Education Inspection Framework (EIF) which will be launched in September. The interview, conducted by primary school curriculum provider Cornerstones Education, is the third in a series with Ofsted, as part of their commitment to help schools understand what to expect from the new framework. Mr Purves has been a leading force in the creation of the framework and spoke with Caroline Pudner, Curriculum Developer, Cornerstones Education on ‘The Curriculum’ podcast to explain some of the outcomes of the EIF consultation, which received 15,000 responses, and the piloting of the new inspection model with a wide cross-section of 200 schools. In the conversation, Ofsted’s Deputy Director for Schools, Matthew Purves, explains: “The response from senior leaders and teachers to the question, ‘Do we have the focus right in this framework?’, was overwhelmingly positive. Of course, we have taken feedback from the consultation on board and as a result some significant changes to the original draft framework have been made. For example, before an inspection, inspectors will now have an educationally focused phone call with the senior leaders of a school to discuss the areas of focus for the inspection, rather than preparing for an inspection on site, which was not universally popular as part of the draft framework.” Senior leaders and teachers who have been involved with the piloting have commented that whilst some elements of the inspection, such as safeguarding are very similar, the core curricular conversation feels really different with inspectors talking to teachers and children a lot more as part of their in-depth review.” Further highlights from the Ofsted interview are as follows: Do what’s right for your children: Throughout the conversation, Mr Purves, aims to reassure leaders and teachers that they must continue to do what is right for their children, in their school. He advises teachers not to do things purely because they think they will please Ofsted. Instead, Ofsted is looking to see the choices that have been made, and that work being done is right for the children in that specific school. Clarity of vision for your curriculum: Inspectors will first be looking to take a top-level view of a school’s curriculum, through conversations with curriculum leaders, to find out whether leaders have a really clear vision of where they want their pupils to get to and what their ‘end points’ are. Then, how does this translate to the individual lessons, and the sequence of lessons that are being taught. The ‘deep dive’ approach: As part of a school’s inspection, inspectors will undertake an in-depth, intense look at four to six different subject areas within the school. This is something Ofsted is calling “deep dives”. The purpose of “deep dives” is for inspectors to be able to better understand the quality of education being offered throughout the school and whether curriculum intent is being achieved within the lessons and work that children are doing. Reducing teacher workload: Ofsted hopes that a reduced focus on schools’ internal data will have a positive impact on teachers’ and leaders’ workload and will take the pressure off producing or managing data for Ofsted, to allow them to focus on the right things. Inspectors will not look at schools’ internal attainment and progress data, however they will be interested in schools’ use of data and what is being done with the data findings. The importance of reading and vocabulary: Reading will continue to be a big part of the new framework and inspectors will always take a ‘deep dive’ in reading within primary schools as it is so fundamental to children being able to access a rich curriculum. Mr Purves also stressed the importance of vocabulary, the understanding of words and their meanings, at primary level. He said, a focus on strong reading and vocabulary teaching is how we’re going to close the gap between disadvantaged and advantaged children. Simon Hickton, Managing Director, Cornerstones Education said: “At Cornerstones, we believe that a broad, balanced and connected primary curriculum can have the power to unlock a child’s potential and love of learning, so we are delighted that Ofsted is putting the curriculum at the heart of its new framework. “It’s also reassuring to hear that Ofsted is extremely mindful of schools having a curriculum which is right for them, and their children, as well as recognising the importance of having a clear vision for what they want to achieve. This is something which we really encourage and enable our schools to do through the flexibility of the Cornerstones Curriculum and I hope that senior leaders and teachers will also take some reassurance from our conversation with Matthew.” The Cornerstones Curriculum is taught in over 2,000 schools to 500,000 children. It is written and developed by Simon Hickton and Melanie Moore, both of whom have over 20 years’ primary teaching and leadership experience. Following a study visit to northern Italy, where Melanie learnt about the innovative and inspiring Reggio Emilia approach to early years learning, she was inspired to create a primary school curriculum that would develop the skills and knowledge required by the national curriculum, as well as being creatively stimulating and allowing children to explore their own fascinations. Realising that writing a curriculum was going to be a full-time job, she left teaching and established Cornerstones Education with Simon in 2010. Started in 2017 ‘The Curriculum’ podcast series has had over 19,000 listens with listeners in the UK, USA, Australia, Japan, Dubai, Germany, France and China. Previous interviewees have included Amanda Spielman, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Sean Harford, Ofsted’s National Director of Education, Professor Sam Twiselton, Director of Education at Sheffield Hallam University and Hywel Roberts, an inspirational educational speaker, author and teaching adviser. Link to listen to the full Ofsted podcast: podcasts.apple.com
School finance – has your MAT considered GAG pooling?
Mat Smith, chartered certified accountant and solutions architect at PS Financials, part of the IRIS Software Group, puts a spotlight on improving school finance through General Annual Grant (GAG) pooling. Lord Agnew, the under-secretary of state for the school system, suggested that GAG pooling – where a multi-academy trust (MAT) collects general annual grant funding centrally and allocates budgets to individual schools – is an effective way to improve best practice. Research has shown that more centralised trusts perform better financially too. However, only five per cent of MATs are considering taking this route, according to one survey. So, what three areas should MATs explore when considering GAG pooling? 1. Champion achievement for all One advantage of GAG pooling is the opportunity for MATs to even out the funding schools receive in different postcodes, which enables more targeted financial support for weaker schools. If managed well, this can raise standards across the group. What’s needed is a culture where MAT schools are encouraged to champion the achievement of all children in the group. A commitment to communication and transparency about how funding is allocated, and why, would be essential too. This would ensure headteachers’ agree allocated school budgets, which would then enable them to make collective informed decisions about where investment will bring the greatest improvement to the group as a whole. 2. Small changes in school finance management More centralised trusts have shown to perform better financially, but going for all or nothing can be a big step for trusts to take. One option is to centrally manage specific functions on a group-wide basis as a starting point. This would bring economies of scale to areas such as maintenance and utilities and reduce high administration or premises charges. Local purchases and more specific resources could then be managed through a school’s own individual bank account to coincide with the leadership team’s control. 3. Focus on developing your teachers Another way for MATs to take a step towards GAG pooling is with their greatest assets – their teachers. Some trusts employ newly qualified teachers (NQTs) who are given the opportunity to provide cover and support where it is needed across the group. This approach can help to cut high agency costs, provide students with a familiar face during teacher absence and enables NQTs to gain teaching experience beyond a single school, supporting their professional development. A successful move to GAG pooling requires vital synergy in the values, cultural fit and ethos of a trust and its schools. There can be strength in numbers and by getting centralisation right, trusts can ensure better resources are available to more schools, benefitting more children. For more information on school finance management solutions for MATs visit PS Financials.
Lessonvu from ONVU Learning – evidence-informed EdTech
From concept to operational in schools, action-based research and evidence-informed practice has been, and always will be, at the heart of the Lessonvu 360-degree video recording and sharing system, DNA and developments. It’s a cliché but Lessonvu in all aspects is truly, “from teachers, with teachers and for teachers”. But that headline is the only thing about Lessonvu that is a cliché, everything in the technology, workflow and use of the Lessonvu system for teacher professional development has been well considered using first hand insight from partner school teachers and other published experts. Andrew Goff, Founding Director of ONVU Learning explains more… EdTech built on teacher user experience The ONVU Learning team behind Lessonvu are constantly haunted by me bringing up the phrase PRISME which stands for Problem, Research, Ideas, Solution, Make and Evaluate: The design cycle. At the bedrock of any good product is this design cycle and we are constantly running through this with Lessonvu looking to enhance and refine all aspects built first hand on teacher user experience. When I was a Design and Technology teacher I used to drum PRISME into my DT students over their project portfolios, and especially the Evaluation section where they used to potentially lose the most marks, and this is how we are now at ONVU Learning; constantly evaluating and considering every aspect so that it supports teachers to achieve their objectives. We won’t get everything right but as our school customers will already witness, we listen, innovate, evaluate and improve Lessonvu to fit teacher and schools needs as fast as possible; exactly what our teacher users are trying to do with their own teaching, in using the Lessonvu system for lesson review, reflection and professional development. Also, we don’t just talk the walk and design and develop Lessonvu, we actually use it ourselves to coach real teachers in real classrooms remotely. Dr. Sean Warren is our own well experienced teacher coach and he uses the Lessonvu system on a daily basis to remotely coach teachers in the UK and now also in India. His work in coaching teachers is based on his and other published academic research and therefore the Lessonvu technology is always under review from him and developments feed back into the development cycle; from niggles that we smooth out to “how abouts” that we look at building into our development sprints. Applying EdTech at the right time Referring to Martin George’s recent article (tes.com) there is one thing about EdTech that I’d like to clear up from the off; “EdTech is not a golden bullet and is only as good as the teachers that apply it as a part of their teaching arsenal at the right time and aligned to students learning needs in front of them.” EdTech can get a bad name and reputation because of misplaced high expectations. I’m a big enthusiast for EdTech I know that over my career as a teacher and as a businessman leading EdTech businesses I’ve maybe got too enthusiastic at times and got carried away with what can be achieved with EdTech. But even with some of the more outlandish aspects that I’ve been involved in have had research layers. Referring back to when I lead PlayStation’s Education Strategy into schools we carried out projects with PlayStation 4s and a software title called Little Big Planet which involved ‘Sack Boy’ navigating gaming levels that the students themselves had created. Research was carried out by Don Passey from Lancaster University and his team and a research paper of the findings published for teachers to build upon. I can understand Sir Kevan Collins’s comments about “wonder and snake oil”. When I was a teacher striving to do the best for my students daily, it was easy to be taken in by marketing headlines that promised help in achieving your aspirations for them. But in defence of the EdTech sector I don’t think that there are many snake oil merchants left – and if there are then I would hope that now-discerning teachers would spot them and quickly rule them outas we would all want. Back to the crux of this debate about the evidence-informed development of EdTech: Lessonvu has been continuously developed with academic research in mind. For example, the Hawthorn Effect; in the context of schools this is when either other teachers or technology is noticeably present in the classroom and changes the environment. The students act differently as there are potentially two or three adults in the room and the teacher leading the lesson does a teaching performance on what they think that the observers want to see in order to “check their boxes,” as opposed to responding and interacting with their class and their learning needs as they normally would. “At the beginning of the Lessonvu journey I remember observing a young maths teacher in Wolverhampton. Normally he would have had some banter with the students about football results as they entered his classroom and through that engaged and checked the students in for learning. However, when being physically observed by senior leaders in the back of the classroom they acted as they thought a “model teacher should” and which resulted in the students quizzically looking at the teacher and wondering where their normal Maths teacher that they loved had gone. What a waste of everyone’s time! Out of the above experience and many others, Lessonvu is as discreet as possible. Students and teachers forget that the cameras are in the ceiling within a day or so and therefore normal teaching and interactions are recorded meaning that teachers can reflect on real teaching and be curious on real moments that if developed could have positive outcomes on teaching and learning. A powerful tool in more ways than one Recently it hit home to me very personally how powerful the Lessonvu system is for teachers and EdTech or other resource manufacturers when I was testing them out in one of our new school customers classrooms. I logged into an anonymous room numbered Lessonvu system to discover that it was a DT lab: To me a fond place with lots of great teaching memories. As a DT teacher you immediately remember the noises that mean one of the students is not holding a piece of material low enough in a vice, or the smells of plastic that has maybe been overheated before it is formed. But for me this was a very
DBS check mythbuster – avoid costly delays when applying
As most people working within education will know, all staff in schools and nurseries are subject to a DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) check. Schools can encounter staffing problems if DBS checks aren’t done quickly and efficiently. Here, QA Education editor Victoria Galligan busts some of the myths regarding DBS checks and explores what a DBS check actually is, who needs one and how to avoid costly delays when applying… There is only one level of DBS check for school staff Yes – for general employees in England and Wales there are three levels of DBS check – Basic, Standard and Enhanced. However, an Enhanced with DBS Barred List check is required for all staff who teach, supervise, instruct, train or care for children in schools and colleges. This is considered “regulated activity” with children. Even school employees who won’t engage in this regulated activity require a DBS check as there is the opportunity for regular contact with children. Staff such as cleaners don’t need a DBS check Any member of staff who is like to come into contact with children needs an Enhanced DBS check – even if not taking part in regulated activity. This includes cleaners, caretakers, and often contractors working within schools or even in the school grounds. DBS checking service CRBS states on its website: “The reason for this is due to ‘where’ they are working rather than the ‘job role’ in which they are doing. Schools, nurseries and other similar educational institutions fall into a category known as ‘limited range of establishments’. Legislation provides the scope to allow such establishments to request checks on any candidates working on those sites (as long as they meet the other criteria) to make sure the highest measures of safeguarding are put into place for children.” Volunteers don’t need a DBS check It depends – people working in schools at least four times in a 30-day period are eligible for a DBS check. As are people who will be left unsupervised with children. So weekly reading helpers, for example, would need one. If you’re taking children on a trip and have asked for volunteers to help out for a day, then they won’t need one as long as a staff member is with them at all times (including in a vehicle). The exception to this are trips with overnight stays as they are also regulated activity – even one overnight trip requires the volunteer to have a DBS check. If a parent is a regular school volunteer, then they will be eligible for a DBS check. A barred person cannot work in school The DBS decides whether or not a person should be on one or both of the two barred lists – one for working with children and one for working with vulnerable adults. When on the list, individuals are therefore prohibited from seeking or taking up regulated activity with children (or vulnerable adults). A barred person cannot work for a school at all, or a number of other “specified places”. The government document Regulated Activity in Relation to Children: Scope clarifies that people who “provide occasional or temporary services (not teaching, training or supervision of children)” can work with children as long as they are supervised. The document explains what is considered regulated activity which a barred person must not do. This is important to check, as regulated activity does not cover activity which is supervised by another adult. An example would be a trainee tradesperson working with a professional. School governors don’t need a DBS check Wrong! All governors in all schools – maintained, free, academy, or independent – are required to have a current enhanced DBS check: this regulation came into force on 8th March 2016. This is not simply due to the possibility of contact with children but the fact that governors play a key role in the decision-making process in schools, particularly of recruitment. I can’t check qualifications through a DBS check True – they only show an applicant’s criminal record history (with some restrictions). However, Teacher Services is a free government service which will allow you to check qualifications, QTS, completion of induction and any prohibitions, sanctions or restrictions that may stop a teacher from working in certain roles. This can be done by signing into the school’s Gov.uk portal and if you’re waiting for login details to be confirmed and have an immediate need to check the status of a teacher you can email employer.access@education.gov.uk – just type ‘urgent query’ in the subject line. Schools have to pay for staff members’ DBS checks Not necessarily – it’s up to the employer whether or not to foot the bill. One DBS advisory service, clearcheck.co.uk. states: “There is no law which states that employers should be the ones who cover the cost of having a DBS check done, it’s just good practice for the employer to shoulder the cost. Not all employers take this approach though, and some may ask employees to stump up the cash themselves. For people who move jobs regularly of have more than one employer might then find themselves quite out of pocket, so if applying for a job which requires DBS checks it is worth enquiring about the process at the interview stage.” The answer to this is to take out an Enhanced with DBS Barred List check, which costs £44, and pay the extra £13 to be added to the Update Service. This £13 is a yearly fee which will allow the applicant to make changes, and for the employer to make a status check of the certificate to see if changes have been made. Teachers can transfer their DBS check from school to school Possibly. If teachers opt to be added to the Update Service, a new DBS check is not necessarily required for each school they teach in – it’s up to the new school. Supply teachers register for a DBS check through their agency. The Update Service website says teachers will only need a new DBS check if: an
Girls’ progression in science studied by Institute of Physics
Schools from across England are being invited to sign up for free to the Institute of Physics’ Improving Gender Balance national research trial. Across England, the trial, funded by the Department for Education (DfE) will work with teachers on whole-school approaches to tackling gender stereotyping and the resulting limits on both boys and girls’ choices. In doing so it seeks to redress the fact that for more than 30 years only a fifth of those taking A-level physics in England have been girls. The randomised control trial, will see half of participating schools receiving a wide-ranging programme of valuable evidence-based support including: · Training and continuous professional development for teachers · The development of a whole-school strategy to combat gender stereotyping · Options evenings, careers guidance, and student-led projects · A dedicated, Institute of Physics coach A previous smaller scale pilot project run across six schools in 2014-2016 saw the number of girls taking A-level physics more than treble over two years. Participating schools reported that a non-gendered whole school approach and head-on tackling of gender stereotypes had equipped teachers to ensure that all students were able to explore the possibility of studying subjects across the board, irrespective of gender. Fifty-five per cent of A-levels were awarded to girls in 2018. However, girls just 43% of A levels awarded in STEM subjects and only 22% of A-levels awarded in physics, with only 13% of girls who achieved grade A or A* in GCSE physics going on to study the subject at A-level. This compares to 39% of boys who go on to study physics at A-level having achieved grade A or A* in the subject at GCSE (Institute of Fiscal Studies, August 2018). The Institute of Physics’ ground-breaking Improving Gender Balance trial is open to all state-funded co-ed secondary schools where a gap currently exists between the proportion of girls and boys taking physics A-level and all girls schools with a relatively low number of girls progressing to A-level in physics. Beth Bramley, Gender Balance Programme Manager at the Institute of Physics commented: “Physics is hugely rewarding subject to study at A-level and a gateway subject to so many exciting career roles and higher education options. We want to ensure that as many young people as possible, irrespective of gender have the chance to benefit from the opportunities it can open up. “This ground-breaking research study represents a unique opportunity to make a real difference. It will tell us what really ‘works’, embed whole-school approaches to tackling gender stereotyping and help set the future agenda for best practice in gender balance improvement in schools.” All interested schools can sign up to participate in the Institute of Physics trial at beta.iop.org, with applications open until 31st May 2019.