Article Category: Education – Insight & Opinion

Disciplinary investigations in schools are the foundation of any disciplinary proceedings. The investigation needs to be both fair and reasonable, impartial, and the accused must have the opportunity to comment on relevant documents and evidence. The recent case of Mr M Whittaker v Governing Body of Sutton Oak Church of England Primary emphasised the importance of… Read more »

Smartphones in schools are a bug bear of many teachers and parents with pupils using their phones during class and becoming distracted from their lessons. Following, the recent news that France have banned mobiles from primary and middle schools, the question many are asking is: should the UK go as far as other countries and… Read more »

This issue of balancing childcare requirements with a teacher’s responsibilities seems to crop up more and more these days in schools, colleges and academies across the country. The recent case of Bradley v London School of English & Foreign Languages has highlighted the questions of what policies should be in place? Can these be challenged… Read more »

You’ll all be familiar with the DfE’s ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ and ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ documents. A recent update on, 3rd September 2018 has further strengthened the requirements for schools and academies and bought a new Keeping Children Safe in Education 2018 document into force. So what do these changes mean for… Read more »

Social media has now become part of everyday life with numerous apps and websites available for people of all ages to connect and interact. Since its inception social media has presented both opportunities but equally many challenges and in this regard the effects it has on schools has been no different. Not everything on social… Read more »

I’m sure most people, like me, are fed up with hearing about the new data protection law which has come into force, the General Data Protection Regulation. We’ve all received plenty of messages via email, company advertisements on LinkedIn and warnings on the radio, it’s a difficult subject to avoid. It’s not all doom and gloom… Read more »

The Court of Appeal has ruled that an English Teacher, P J Grosset, who was dismissed for showing a horror film to pupils was discriminated against because of his disability. Mr Grosset, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, has been awarded a reported £646,000* following his dismissal from Joseph Rowntree School in 2014. What happened in… Read more »

For the past five years, teacher recruitment targets have been missed. A number of reasons for this have been raised but one repeatedly identified problem is a teacher’s workload and the stress this causes. Why are targets being missed? You may have seen recent adverts promoting careers in teaching which aim to encourage more individuals… Read more »

In 2014 the Department for Education provided guidance stating that people working with children under the age of eight in a school environment can be disqualified from doing so if a person living or employed at their household is themselves disqualified. This was an extension of the provisions relating to the disqualification of childcare providers…. Read more »

Following the cases of Mezey and Gogay, we are all aware that suspension from duty of a qualified professional, such as a teacher, is not considered to be a neutral act. It shouldn’t be used as a ‘knee jerk’ reaction and could ultimately lead to unfair dismissal claims. Does the suspension of a teacher breach… Read more »