May 2012

The know zone

  • Anti-Social Media
    With the use of social network sites becoming a daily ritual for the vast majority of us, Richard Bird explains why personal photographs, inappropriate comments and hackers are still causing problems for staff in schools and colleges. More
  • Tough love
    Jo Shuter CBE is headteacher of Quintin Kynaston School, a community academy in London. She co-founded QK House, a charity for homeless sixth formers at the school. More
  • Great rewards
    The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) offers grants to help schools support the most disadvantaged children. More
  • A partnership to support school improvement
    Capita SIMS has renewed its partnership with ASCL for the next three years, meaning that members will continue to have access to great deals on SIMS support. More
  • Same difference?
    Now that the DfE has published the final list of vocational equivalencies, is it a step backwards, a step too far or just right? More importantly, what effect will it have on curriculum pathways or options in schools and colleges? ASCL members share their views. More
  • Leaders' surgery
    Advice on careers advisers and School behaviour policies More
  • Decisive deliberations
    As the March Council meeting took place a few weeks before ASCL Annual Conference 2012, government messages about the education system, as well as recently announced proposals to change school inspection, were high on the agenda. More
  • A brighter forecast?
    In his speech to delegates at ASCL’s Annual Conference in March, Brian Lightman challenged members not to be sucked into the splenetic tornado of negativity coming from some corners of government and the media. In this excerpt from his speech, he lays down the challenge. More
  • You can’t win...
    Leading a school is nothing compared to coaching an under 8s football team, although the similarities are striking. More
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Leaders’ surgery

The antidote to common leadership conundrums…

Advice on careers advisers

Q
We are an 11-18 school. Two years ago we employed a qualified careers adviser to work primarily with our sixth formers and year 11s. She is excellent. With the government making schools responsible for careers guidance, I have heard that we will now have to use external staff to meet the requirement to provide ‘independent and impartial guidance’. Is this true?

A
With the Education Act 2011, the government put a statutory duty on schools to “secure independent careers guidance” for young people in years 9 to 11. The contentious aspect is that it goes on to define independent as advice “provided other than by a teacher, or other person, employed at the school”.

However, the statutory guidance from the DfE which followed in April says that it is for schools to decide what careers guidance to make available, depending on the needs of the pupils, as long as it is impartial.

The DfE has said: “We recognise that some schools already have excellent in-house arrangements in place and employ a qualified careers adviser to provide careers advice and wider support to pupils. There is no reason why those arrangements cannot continue.

“The statutory guidance simply says that where pupils require face-to-face support, they should have access to an external and independent perspective.”

Where schools decided that pupils require it, “independent advice should be sought and that could be employers, mentors, FE or HE”.

ASCL has worked with SecEd on a guide to the statutory regulations which can be found at www.ascl.org.uk/seced In addition, ASCL and the Association of Colleges (AoC) have agreed a joint set of principles for schools and colleges working in an area to provide careers advice and guidance. See www.ascl.org.uk/puttingyoungpeoplefirst

School behaviour policies


Q
I’ve been tasked with updating our school behaviour policy to make sure it complies with changes to regulations. What do I need to be aware of?

A
The DfE has recently published a short guidance document for heads and school staff which includes the latest statutory changes regarding behaviour and discipline at www.education.gov.uk/schools/pupilsupport/behaviour/behaviourpolicies which may help you.

Some of the more significant changes which have been introduced in the last year include:

  • Schools no longer need to give parents 24 hours’ notice of detentions.
  • The list of items that staff can search for has been expanded. Staff can now search pupils’ mobile phones if there is good reason to do so; data and files may be erased.
  • Staff may use reasonable force to prevent pupils committing an offence, injuring themselves or others or damaging property, and to maintain discipline in the classroom.

A more subtle but possibly significant shift is the language used by government, which emphasises schools’ right not to tolerate poor behaviour and the expectation that parents will encourage their children to show respect and support the school’s authority to discipline its pupils.

There is another document at the same web address Ensuring Good Behaviour in Schools, which may be useful to refer to when dealing with reluctant parents.

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