AET- Homework

27/09/2021

 Research Legislation, regulatory requirements, codes of practice relevant to a teacher’s roles

and responsibilities (Tutor handout and additional handout on Moodle)

 At least two Acts of Parliament

Legislation refers to the laws that teachers and colleges must comply to ensure that staff and
students are protected from harm and receive equal protection under the law. There are a broad
range of Acts of parliament covering various areas from Child Protection and the Equality.

The Children’s Act 2004 brought in changes following the death of Victoria Climbie to ensure the
wellbeing and welfare of vulnerable children and place responsibilities and education
establishments, local authorities, and various agencies to with together in protecting children from
harm. A key underpinning of this new legislation was Every Child Matters covering five key
principles: be healthy; stay safe; enjoy and achieve; make a positive contribution; achieve economic
wellbeing;

Teachers have an important role in in ensuring their students thrive and reach their full potential
and ensuring the wellbeing of students is essential to achieving this goal.

The Data Protection Act 2018 legislates on how our personal data is used and stored by others
including organisations and the government. It is an important piece of information which
education establishments must regulate for to ensure they are not in breach of. The data obtained
and stored on student’s and staff must be in accordance with General Data Protection Regulation
(GDPR). For example, it must be information must be stored safely and for limited periods of times.
Individuals also have rights that allow them to request access to the information held on them and
how this is being used.

 One regulatory requirement

Regulatory requirements in the UK are overseen by independent bodies called regulators.

Regulators are independent of the government but do have role and responsibility to report to
parliament on various aspects of large organisations and industry. Regulation help to ensure the
safety and minimise risk within any organisations or industry and often work alongside laws to
ensure standards are maintained. OFQUAL and OFSTED regulated qualifications and standards in
education.

An example of this in the is The Health & Safety Executive. This body regulates the Health & Safety
at Work Act (1974) and ensure FE colleges are managing risk of injury, illness and incidents for staff,
students, and visitors. CCCG has a responsible Health & Safety Officer, however every individual has
a responsibility to report health and safety concerns. The Health and Safety (Display Screen
Equipment) Regulations (1992) give specific guidance about what Colleges must do around the use
of computers.

A breach of this regulations could lead to injury, illness or serious incidents at work affecting staff
students or visitors. In such cases the Health and Safety Executive would be required to carry out an
assessment to determine whether there is any liability or legal implications for individuals or the
organisation.

 One code of practice

Codes of Practice are developed by organisations to ensure they comply with legislation and
regulations. In further education they provide specific guidelines and professional codes of conduct
for staff, students and visors to follow. For example, teachers are expected be carry out their role in
a professional manner. The expectation being teachers should treat others with respect and
communicate in a polite manner. In addition, teachers should ensure that they maintain
professional boundaries colleagues and students. For example, ensuring that they maintain the
teacher student relationship. This is an essential part of the teacher’s roles and responsibilities as
breaking this code could lead to breakdown of professional relationships, disciplinary or
safeguarding concerns.

 Extension: watch the videos from Ann Gravells and identify additional roles and
responsibilities to the role of a teacher.

Reference

Gravells 2014 The Award in Education and Training

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06787/

https://www.ihasco.co.uk/blog/entry/2508/what-is-the-childrens-act-2004

https://www.gov.uk/data-protection

https://www.oneeducation.org.uk/what-is-regulatory-compliance/

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/awarding-organisations-understanding-our-regulatory-requirements

https://www.hse.gov.uk/legislation/index.htm

https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/hsc13.pdf