News & Events

Child protection to be relaxed in schools

08/09/2010

The Government has quietly dropped a duty on schools to record when staff use force on children and to report the incident to the child’s parents, doing so just days before Parliament went into recess.

The Government has quietly dropped a duty on schools to record when staff use force on children and to report the incident to the child’s parents, doing so just days before Parliament went into recess.



The duty on schools, established in the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, was set to come into force on 1 September with the new school term. However, the Government has introduced secondary legislation to prevent the duty coming into force. This follows the recent announcement by Schools Minister Nick Gibb to revise guidelines governing the use of force in schools, and to give anonymity to teachers facing accusations from students.



Carolyne Willow, national co-ordinator at the Children’s Rights Alliance for England, said:



‘That the Government has removed this basic safeguard for children without any explanation or public announcement is simply unacceptable. Parents will undoubtedly be shocked to hear that they have no right to be notified if a member of staff uses force on their child. The implications could be extremely serious, especially for very young children and some young disabled people who rely on teachers to share information with parents.



Bob Reitemeier, Chief Executive of the Children’s Society, which was also involved in campaigning for the duty on schools, said:



‘Schools should be a safe haven where children can thrive and learn, where they feel safe and secure. By removing this duty, it will break down the trust between pupils, parents and teachers, which is not conducive to an effective learning environment. Parents have a right to know what is happening to their children in schools and this information empowers them to take responsibility for their children's well-being. This is particularly important for the most vulnerable children, especially those with speech, language and communication difficulties that may not be able to communicate their views as effectively.’



Carolyne Willow continues: ‘It was bad enough that former Ministers gave every school in the country restraint powers that were prohibited in privately-run child prisons by the Court of Appeal as an abuse of children’s human rights. This new development further exposes Ministers to legal challenge. There is still no central collection of data about the use of force on children at school. Transparency helps to protect children from unlawful restraint, as we’ve found out in child custody. Without such monitoring, there is no way to assess whether force is being used disproportionately on certain groups of children, such as those with special educational needs or children from Black and minority ethnic communities.’








The information in this e-mail is confidential to the intended recipient to whom it has been addressed and may be covered by legal professional privilege and protected by law.

Reading Borough Council does not accept responsibility for any unauthorised amendment made to the contents of this e-mail following its dispatch.



Reading Borough Council has scanned for viruses. However, it is your responsibility to scan the e-mail and attachments (if any) for viruses.



If received in error, you must not retain the message or disclose its contents to anyone.

Please contact the sender of the email or mailto:customerservices@reading.gov.uk or call Customer Services

on 0800 626540 or if international (+44) 118 939 0900, quoting the name of the sender and the addressee and then delete the e-mail

Child protection to be relaxed in schools

The Government has quietly dropped a duty on schools to record when staff use force on children and to report the incident to the child’s parents, doing so just days before Parliament went into recess.

The Government has quietly dropped a duty on schools to record when staff use force on children and to report the incident to the child’s parents, doing so just days before Parliament went into recess.



The duty on schools, established in the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, was set to come into force on 1 September with the new school term. However, the Government has introduced secondary legislation to prevent the duty coming into force. This follows the recent announcement by Schools Minister Nick Gibb to revise guidelines governing the use of force in schools, and to give anonymity to teachers facing accusations from students.



Carolyne Willow, national co-ordinator at the Children’s Rights Alliance for England, said:



‘That the Government has removed this basic safeguard for children without any explanation or public announcement is simply unacceptable. Parents will undoubtedly be shocked to hear that they have no right to be notified if a member of staff uses force on their child. The implications could be extremely serious, especially for very young children and some young disabled people who rely on teachers to share information with parents.



Bob Reitemeier, Chief Executive of the Children’s Society, which was also involved in campaigning for the duty on schools, said:



‘Schools should be a safe haven where children can thrive and learn, where they feel safe and secure. By removing this duty, it will break down the trust between pupils, parents and teachers, which is not conducive to an effective learning environment. Parents have a right to know what is happening to their children in schools and this information empowers them to take responsibility for their children's well-being. This is particularly important for the most vulnerable children, especially those with speech, language and communication difficulties that may not be able to communicate their views as effectively.’



Carolyne Willow continues: ‘It was bad enough that former Ministers gave every school in the country restraint powers that were prohibited in privately-run child prisons by the Court of Appeal as an abuse of children’s human rights. This new development further exposes Ministers to legal challenge. There is still no central collection of data about the use of force on children at school. Transparency helps to protect children from unlawful restraint, as we’ve found out in child custody. Without such monitoring, there is no way to assess whether force is being used disproportionately on certain groups of children, such as those with special educational needs or children from Black and minority ethnic communities.’








The information in this e-mail is confidential to the intended recipient to whom it has been addressed and may be covered by legal professional privilege and protected by law.

Reading Borough Council does not accept responsibility for any unauthorised amendment made to the contents of this e-mail following its dispatch.



Reading Borough Council has scanned for viruses. However, it is your responsibility to scan the e-mail and attachments (if any) for viruses.



If received in error, you must not retain the message or disclose its contents to anyone.

Please contact the sender of the email or mailto:customerservices@reading.gov.uk or call Customer Services

on 0800 626540 or if international (+44) 118 939 0900, quoting the name of the sender and the addressee and then delete the e-mail