Duty of Care For Students

A. Introduction

Children are at risk of injuring themselves at any time. Parents have different expectations of teachers as a professional than that of themselves when caring for their own children. When forcing parents to put their children in school by law at the age of six years and six months (Department of Education Western Australia, 2011), the Department must implement a Duty of Care to help protect Teachers and the children that are in their care. These expectations or breaches of; can result in injuries or legal proceedings. Teachers as professionals must act at all times, using ‘reasonable care’(WADOC) to prevent ‘an injury that was reasonably foreseeable’(WADOC).

Following the Duty of Care for Students(D.O.C.WA, 2007), it is essential to uphold the safety of the children, making sure that the schools protect them from reasonable harm and provide a safe learning environment.

B. Discussion

1. The Policy

Rationale:

The Department of Education Western Australia issued the Duty of Care for Students(2007) policy in order to protect students welfare and safety from foreseeable risks whilst in the supervision of teachers and schools within the state of Western Australia.

Parents and teachers agree that schools must advocate having the right to learn in a caring and safe learning environment. This involves the school, teachers, non-staff members, students, parents and all aspects of the learning environment within the school.

Children’s safety has the upmost importance where there are any risks; teachers as professionals must attempt to establish and remove any risks involved in their classroom, in learning areas and in areas where children have any access in which they are at risk of injury.

Issues:

The Duty...

... middle of paper ...

...ring the safety of children. The guidelines ensure the provisions of ‘safe and suitable school premises and equipment, and to provide adequate supervision’(Kenna,2009) from reasonable harm whilst providing a safe learning environment.

D. References:

Department of Education Western Australia. (2011). Retrieved April 1st, 2011, from Department of Education: http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/ece/enrolments.html#attendance

Department of Education, Western Australia. (2007). Duty of Care for Students. Western Australia: Department of Education.

Newnham, H. (2000). WHEN IS A TEACHER OR SCHOOL LIABLE IN NEGLIGENCE? Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 25 (1), 45-51.

Richmond Public School, Richmond NSW (2011) Newsletter

Kenna Teasdale Lawyers “Back to School Safety”, 2009, retrieved from http://www.kennateasdale.com.au/back-to-school-safely/w1/i1001327/