It also states that the main consideration of the child is paramount and that each child is entitled to express their views (child age taken in to consideration). In this Act, it is written that children have the right to freedom of religion and that they should be able to explore those beliefs. It states that all children have an equal right to education and that education should help them develop to their fullest potential. The Education Act 2002 This Act is updated each year bringing changes to schools procedures, staffing and governance.
In 2006 the Act was changed to ensure that schools worked more closely with community based organisations to grow stronger links and have a shared “sense of belonging” whilst at the same time taking into account different types of communities and individ
...uals. Children Act 2004 and 2006 This Act was already in existence but was subsequently amended in 2004 at the same time as the “every Child Matters” framework was set up and had a huge effect on the way schools dealt with issues of discipline, care and welfare.
After the Victoria Climbie inquiry it was found that the Social Services and Department of Education needed to take more responsibility in student’s welfare. From this five outcomes under the Every Child Matters came into being. Be healthy Stay safe Enjoy and achieve Make a positive contribution Achieve economic well-being. The Act was amended in 2006 to make Local authorities take on more responsibility by improving the well-being of young children and to provide more information to parents about childcaretrained. At this time the introduction of the Early Year
Foundation Stage for the under 5’s came into force.
The final thing that came out of this was the reform of the regulation system for childcare. Two new registers for childcare providers were put in place, run by Ofsted. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 In January 2005, five new Rights of information came into force. One of these rights allowed any person to request in writing information on that particular school from the past. It is that Schools duty to provide as much assistance and help as they can. However some information may be classed as confidential and cannot be given out. The Department of Education provide guidelines for schools and governing bodies in respect of this.
The Human Rights Act 1998 This Act brings the European Convention of Human Rights (which came in after the Second World War) into UK Law. The aim of this Act is to build a society in which people’s rights and responsibilities are properly balanced against those of others. In this Act, under Article 2 it states that children have a right to an education (but not necessary a particular school). It also states that restraint of pupils is allowed under the Act, to protect the rights of others or to prevent actual injury or a crime being carried out.
The Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice 2001 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995/2005 Under the SEN Code of Practice parents and the SEN children themselves have rights to be included in mainstream schools. This has had a vast effect on the numbers being accepted into mainstream schools and the increased number of individual
support teachers to help the SEN children. As a result the training needs have had to be addressed for schools, their support staff and class teachers in managing pupils with special needs.
Disability Discrimination Act 1995/2005 Since this Act came into place any Schools built since this time have had to make allowances to accept students with disabilities. For example, ramps, lifts and disabled toilets. Buildings built before this time, unless extensions or alterations were made did not need to make these allowances. This Act meant that pupils were not left out from certain school things like, school trips or outdoor activities. The Data Protection Act 1998 This Act was put in place to ensure that schools use and keep information only for the purpose for which it is intended .
All information should be kept either in locked cabinets or under password protected computers. If you need to update pupil information then this should be done on school grounds and not taken off the premises. Any information about pupils should be kept confidential and not discussed with others unless parental consent has been given. Care should be taken when discussion individual pupils and only divulge what is necessary with other Adults that are working with that particular child as they will need this information.
As Legislation and Law change all the time it is important that everyone involved in working with children in Schools should keep fully up-to-date with these changes and a system in place from Local authority level through Governing bodies, be cascaded down through the schools and then onto teaching staff. The Equality Act 2006 and 2010 This
Act changed on 1st October 2010 bringing together over 116 separate different pieces of legislation, merging them into one which strengthened the rights of individuals in the workplace and gave equal opportunity to all staff and pupils alike.
The nine main areas that merged together in 2010 are shown below: •The Equal Pay Act 1970 •the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 •the Race Relations Act 1976 •the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 •the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 •the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 •the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 •the Equality Act 2006, Part 2 •the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 [8]
