Guidance. SCHOOL HANDBOOK 2013-14 Part 2

Guidance SCHOOL HANDBOOK 2013-14 Part 2 1

Statement of commitment East Ayrshire Council: Department of Educational and Social Services is committed to: providing a choice maximising opportunity for all developing the potential of individuals meeting needs through inclusion Community Plan The Community Plan is recognised by all partners as the sovereign strategic planning document for the delivery of public services in East Ayrshire over the 12 years from 2003 to 2015. It sets out the overall vision for the local area: East Ayrshire will be a place with strong vibrant communities where everyone has a good quality of life and access to opportunities, choices and high quality services which are sustainable and meet people s needs. The main themes of the Community Plan are: promoting lifelong learning, delivering community regeneration, improving community safety improving health and wellbeing 2

Contents Legislation...page 4 Education(Scotland) Act 1980 Parental Involvement Act 2006 Education (Disability Strategies and Pupils Educational Records) (Scotland) Act 2002 Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill Public Services Reform ( Scotland) Act 2010 Educational (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and 2009 Standards in Scotland s Schools etc. Act 2000 Policy...page 7 Curriculum for Excellence: Learning and teaching, assessment and reporting Parental involvement Attendance and absence Class size policy (primary) Clothing and clothing grants/dress code Comments, suggestions and complaints Data protection Placing requests Deferred entry to primary school Early entry to primary school Early learning and childcare admissions policy Emergencies Equalities Establishment inspections Excursions Looked after and accommodated young people Medical and health care Parental involvement Personal belonging claims Recruitment of staff School meals service/free school meal entitlement Transition Transport Improving Health and Wellbeing...page 28 Spiritual, social, moral and cultural values Anti-bullying Oral health Promoting Lifelong Learning.page 30 Additional support for learning Early childhood networks Learning communities East Ayrshire psychological services East Ayrshire support team Getting it right for every child Outdoor education Pre-birth to three: positive outcomes for Scotland children and families Teacher access programme Improving Community Safety. page 37 Child protection Weblinks page 39 3

Legislation Education Scotland Act (1980) The duty of every education authority is to secure that there is made for their area adequate and efficient provision of school education and further education. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/44/contents Parental Involvement Act 2006 This Act means that, more than ever before, parents and schools working together will benefit from their shared knowledge and be able to support our children towards reaching their full potential. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/publications/2006/09/08094112/0 Education (Disability Strategies and Pupils Educational Records) (Scotland) Act 2002 This Act will help to promote a positive attitude towards disability in all Scottish schools and will help responsible bodies to ensure that they can meet their new duties under the amended Disability Discrimination Act 1995 - effective from September 2002. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/publications/2002/09/15494/11272 Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill Named person Health Boards will require to provide children with a named person from birth up to school age. Local authorities will provide children in public schools with a named person from school age to 18 or until they leave school, whichever is later. Lead professional All children and young people who require integrated support from more than one practitioner should experience a seamless and effective service. This is delivered most effectively when one practitioner a lead professional takes a primary role to ensure frontline services are co-ordinated, coherent and achieving intended outcomes. 4

Legislation The Lead professional will: act as a single point of contact for the child or family co-ordinate the delivery of the actions agreed by practitioners reduce overlap and inconsistency in services offered to families Child s plan Local authorities require to prepare a plan in relation to an individual child if it is considered that a child has a wellbeing need. This is required if it is considered that wellbeing cannot be met without targeted intervention. Early learning and childcare Local authorities require to provide a minimum of 600 hours of free early learning and childcare to three and four-year-olds, looked after two-year-olds and two-year-olds subject to a kinship care order. Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 Early Childhood The act has established a system of care regulation covering the registration and inspection of care services against a set of national care standards. The national care standards for early education and childcare standards will be used to monitor the quality of services and compliance with the act and the regulations. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2010/8/part/5/chapter/3 The Educational (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and 2009 The Educational (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 has replaced the law relating to special educational needs. This has now been updated by the 2009 Act which came into force on 17 November 2010. 5

Legislation Standards in Scotland s Schools etc. Act 2000 Every child of school age has the right to a school education provided by an education authority (Standards in Scotland s Schools etc. Act 2000.) It also states that education should be directed to the development of the personality, talents and mental and physical abilities of the child or young person to their fullest potential The Standards in Scotland s Schools etc. Act 2000 places prescribed duties on local authorities to: secure pre-school education for all pre-school and ante pre-school children, where a parent wishes one secure the right of every child to have a school education http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2000/6/contents 6

Curriculum for Excellence: learning and teaching, assessment and reporting Curriculum for Excellence is the education system in Scotland. It includes nurseries, schools, colleges and community learning from three to 18 and beyond. Since autumn 2010, learners from pre-school to S1 have been working to Curriculum for Excellence guidance and standards. The table below matches the five curriculum levels to stages of learning generally applicable, with flexibility (for example, for young people who are particularly able and/or have additional support needs). LEVEL early first second third and fourth senior phase STAGE the pre-school years and P1, or later for some to the end of P4, but earlier or later for some to the end of P7, but earlier or later for some S1 to S3, but earlier for some. The fourth level broadly equates to Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework level 4. The fourth level experiences and outcomes are intended to provide possibilities for choice and young people's programmes will not include all of the fourth level outcomes. S4 to S6, and college or other means of study. From pre-school to the end of S3 (3-15), young people will experience a broad general education which is designed to enable each child or young person to be a successful learner, a confident individual, a responsible citizen and an effective contributor. The broad general education will include all of the experiences and outcomes across all curriculum areas up to and including the third level. Throughout all learning, prime importance is given to literacy, numeracy and thinking skills; skills for learning, life and work; an understanding of society, the world and Scotland's place in it and an active and healthy lifestyle. 7

Learning across the curriculum helps young people make links between subjects, and learning outside classrooms in the outdoors and in the community, which gives opportunities for learners to deepen their learning in real-life contexts. Most learners will progress into the fourth level in many aspects of their learning before the end of S3, laying strong foundations for more specialised learning. Information about how the curriculum is structured and curriculum planning http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/thecurriculum/ Young people approaching the senior phase (15-18) will have a range of options that reflect their abilities and aspirations, including staying on at school, going to college or university, entering workbased or community-based learning, volunteering, or a combination of these. These options offer the opportunity to study for qualifications and enhance skills important to their success in learning, life and work. New qualifications have been developed by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) which support and reflect young people s learning in Curriculum for Excellence. These allow a more personalised approach to study. For example, with guidance from their teachers, young people will be able to take advantage of more flexible arrangements: options to take qualifications over one or two years; taking National 4 and 5 qualifications in S4, S5 and S6 or by-passing these and working towards Higher. www.youngscot.org (learners) www.parentzonescotland.gov.uk (parents and carers) www.sqa.org.uk (information on qualifications www.educationscotland.gov.uk (curriculum, learning, inspection) www.engageforeducation.org (share ideas and questions about education) www.scotland.gov.uk/cfeinaction (real-life examples) 8

Assessment and reporting Curriculum for Excellence emphasises that assessment is an integral part of day-to-day teaching and learning. Learners progress will be closely monitored by staff, who reflect with them on their strengths, learning needs and next steps, and take action based on this. Learners themselves will be increasingly involved in this process, as they develop the skills needed to be able to make effective judgments on their own learning; skills that will be important to them throughout life. Testing will continue to be part of the framework of assessment, providing additional evidence of what learners know, understand and are able to do, and helping teachers plan learning experiences which are motivating and challenging. Children who may have additional support needs, or who require a co-ordinated support plan will be assessed in a way suited to their individual requirements. Further information is available from the headteacher. Further information can be found on the following webpages: www.youngscot.org (learners) www.parentzonescotland.gov.uk (parents and carers) www.sqa.org.uk (information on qualifications) www.hmie.gov.uk (standards, inspections) www.ltscotland.org.uk (teaching practice and support) www.engageforeducation.org (share ideas and questions about education) www.scotland.gov.uk/cfeinaction (real-life examples) 9

Parental involvement opportunities Some early childhood centres may have a parents committee. Further information about this can be found in part 1 of this handbook. As a parent of a child at school, you are automatically part of the parent forum of the school. The membership of the parent forum is made up of all parents who have a child at the school. The parent forum can decide to form a smaller body called the parent council. The parent council is a group of parents selected by members of the parent forum to represent them. Further information can be found at the following link: http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningteachingandassessment/partnerships/engagingparents/whygetpar entsinvolved/index.asp Parent helpers/volunteers regularly involved in educational establishments require to have a Disclosure Scotland PVG Scheme check before the parent helper/volunteer is allowed to assist in the establishment. Attendance and absence Section 30 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 lays a duty on every parent of a school-age child to "provide efficient education for him/her suitable to his/her age, ability and aptitude, either by causing him/her to attend a public (local authority) school, or by other means". Most parents choose to meet this duty by enrolling their children at local authority schools and therefore must ensure that their children attend school regularly. Attendance must be recorded by the school twice a day, morning and afternoon. If a parent chooses to educate his/her child by other means than sending that child to school, the parent is still under a duty to ensure that the child is being provided with efficient education. Under Section 37 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, the parent has a duty to ensure that a child educated outside school is provided with an education suited to age, ability and aptitude and at a satisfactory level. 10

Regulation 7 of the Education (School and Placing Information) (Scotland) Amendment, etc Regulations 1993 requires each child s absence from school to be recorded in the school register as authorised, that is approved by the authority, or unauthorised, that is unexplained by the parent (truancy) or temporarily excluded from school. Parents must contact the school by 9.15am on the first day of absence, explaining the reason for nonattendance. It is important that the school is notified, to prevent unnecessary procedures being followed. In extreme circumstances, there may be a need to involve social services or police. The parent should provide a written note on the child s return to school, confirming the reason for absence. Family holidays Due to the avoidable disruption to children's education caused by family holidays in term time, the Scottish Executive issued a circular on attendance and absence in 2003. This national circular makes it clear that, without the prior agreement of the school, family holidays will be classified as unauthorised absence. Schools will only give such agreement in exceptional circumstances related to the wellbeing of the family. Within the terms of the national circular, reasons which are not acceptable include: availability of cheap holidays or desired accommodation poor weather in school holidays holidays overlapping the end of term parental difficulty in obtaining leave (except in specific circumstances) We seek your fullest co-operation in communicating to all young people the value of their time at school, by ensuring that no learning and teaching is lost through unnecessary and avoidable absence. Parents may request their children be permitted absence from school to make an extended visit to relatives. Only written requests detailing the destination, the duration and the provision that will be made for their continuing education will be granted. The pupil will then be noted as an authorised absentee in the register. With no explanation from the parent, the absence is unauthorised. 11

Class size policy In law, the present maximum number of children in classes in P1 is 25; P2 & P3 is 30; P4-P7 is 33. The exception to this is a composite class, which has a maximum size of 25. The Council allocates its staffing to primary schools to ensure that the maximum class sizes outlined above can be adhered to at all times. Your child may be placed in a composite class during primary education. Primary schools have children at seven year stages, P1 to P7. Composite classes occur where children from two or more year stages are grouped together eg P2/3 or, in the case of some small schools, P1/2/3. An information leaflet on composite classes is available online at: http://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/resources/pdf/c/compositeclasses2012.pdf Early Childhood Centres are registered with the Care Inspectorate for a maximum number of children in specific age ranges. This will vary from centre to centre. Clothing Early Childhood Centres Children have the best fun when they are doing creative and activity-based work. We shall always try to make sure they wear aprons but accidents happen so please dress your child in suitable clothing. Please also make sure that your child has suitable outdoor clothing as outdoor learning takes place on a regular basis. Other Establishments Given that there is substantial parental and public approval of dress codes, schools in East Ayrshire are free to promote their own dress code. 12

In encouraging the dress code, account must be taken in any proposals to prevent any direct or indirect discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, religion or disability. Any proposals will be the subject of widespread consultation with parents and pupils. Against this background, it should be noted that it is the policy of the Council not to insist on pupils wearing uniform or having specialist items of clothing as a prerequisite to their attending and engaging in all of the activities of the curriculum. There are forms of dress which are unacceptable in school, such as items of clothing which: potentially, encourage rivalry (such as football colours) could cause offence as a result of wording or pictures could cause health and safety difficulties (such as loose-fitting clothing, dangling earrings) are made of flammable material (such as shell suits in practical classes) could cause damage to flooring carry advertising, particularly for drugs, alcohol or tobacco could be used to inflict damage on other pupils or be used by others to do so In addition, earrings or other body piercing jewellery should not be worn for any PE-related activity Under no circumstances will pupils be deprived of any educational benefit as a result of not conforming to the dress code. Parents receiving income support, family credit, income based Job Seekers Allowance, housing benefit or council tax rebates will normally be entitled to monetary grants for footwear and clothing for their children. Approval of any requests for such grants made by parents in different circumstances is at the discretion of the Executive Director of Educational and Social Services. Information and application forms may be obtained from schools, local offices and the Department of Educational and Social Services. 13

Clothing Grants The Government provides assistance to families on low income to access school clothing grants. The criteria for clothing grants are as follows: Council Tax rebate Child Tax Credit and/or Working Tax Credit with income <= 15,276 Child Tax Credit only with income <= 15,891 Income based employment and support allowance Housing Benefit Income based Jobseekers Allowance Income Support The clothing grant is 50 per eligible child. Please be aware that if your child is starting in 5 th year of the schoo,l the grant will not be paid until your child starts in that year. It is the parent or carer s responsibility to apply for school clothing grants. Application forms can be obtained from your child s school or by contacting Area Registration Office, Department of Neighbourhood Services, Burns Monument Centre, Kay Park, Kilmarnock or online at: http://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/educationandlearning/schools/schools- GrantsAndBenefits/Clothinggrantsandfreeschoolmeals.aspx This information may be subject to change as part of current Welfare Reform. Information on this will be updated on East Ayrshire Council s webpages in due course. Comments, suggestions and complaints Our aim is to provide high quality services to the people we serve. However, we recognise that sometimes things can go wrong. If they do, we want you to tell us so that we can put things right. We will listen and learn from your comments, suggestions or complaints so that we can continually improve our service to you. We will deal with your complaint as follows. If you have experienced a problem with a service or have a complaint to make, the quickest way to get it resolved is to talk to the staff responsible for that particular service. 14

Stage 1: If we cannot resolve your complaint straight away you can ask the appropriate manager to review your complaint. The manager will aim to provide a response within five working days. Stage 2: If you are not satisfied with the response, you can ask for a further review of your complaint by senior management and we will aim to respond within 20 working days. If you have completed the Council s complaints process and you are still unhappy, you can ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman to look at your complaint. Further information is provided in the leaflet: A guide to making comments, suggestions and complaints or on the Council website www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk The Care Inspectorate is the national organisation which regulates and inspects Scottish care services. The Care Inspectorate has a complaints procedure for dealing with any complaint about regulated services. You have the right to contact the Care Inspectorate with any complaint that you have about an early years establishment. Regional Office South West Region Local Office Care Inspectorate Care Inspectorate Suite 3 Princes Gate Castle Street Hamilton ML3 6BU Sovereign House Academy Road Irvine KA12 8RL Tel: 01698 208150 Tel: 01294 323920 All establishment inspection reports can be accessed on the Care Inspectorate website: www.careinspectorate.com 15

Data Protection Personal Information - Data Protection Act 1998 For the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998, the Data Controller for the personal information we process about children is East Ayrshire Council. East Ayrshire Council collects, creates and processes personal information about children. This information is needed for a number of reasons. We use it to: support teaching and learning; monitor and report on children s progress; provide appropriate pastoral care assess how well your child s establishment is doing This information includes children s contact details, assessment results, attendance information, characteristics such as ethnic group, additional support needs and any relevant medical information. We collect information from children, their parents and guardians and we may also receive information from other sources, such as previous establishments. We may disclose information to other organisations, for example to other establishments if you move to another authority, to the Scottish Qualifications Authority for examination entries and to the Scottish Government and its agencies. We store personal information securely and we do not disclose it apart from the circumstances described above or where the law requires us to disclose it. If you wish to see a copy of the personal information we hold about you, then you can make a Subject Access Request for this information. To do this you should contact the Council s Freedom of Information Officer (01563 576094) or email FreedomOfInformation@east-ayrshire.gov.uk. A fee may be charged for this service. A parent or guardian may make a request on behalf of children under the age of 12. 16

Education Records - Pupils Educational Records (Scotland) Regulations 2003 In addition to the rights provided by the Data Protection Act 1998, parents also have the right to examine their child s education record. These records are available to inspect, free of charge, at the school. If you wish to view these records you should contact the school to arrange an appointment. The records must be made available to you within 15 school days. A copy of the records can also be provided for a fee. Sharing information As noted above, in some circumstances the Council may share your data with other organisations. The Scottish Government collects information about children and young people. We now work together to transfer data electronically through the ScotXed programme. ScotXed aims to support schools and local authorities by supporting the collection, processing and dissemination of statistical information required for planning, management and monitoring of Scottish education services. In order to make the best decisions about how to improve our education service, Scottish Government, education authorities and other partners such as the SQA and Careers Scotland need accurate, up-to-date data about our children and young people. We are keen to help all our children and young people do well in all aspects of school life and achieve better examination results. A subset of this information is passed to Scottish Government for research and National Statistics publications. Education data within Scottish Government is managed effectively by secure systems and is exploited as a valuable corporate resource, subject to confidentiality restraints. As part of its data policy, the Scottish Government will not publish or make publicly available any information that allows individual pupils to be identified, nor will data be used by Scottish Government to take any actions in respect of individuals. Data is held securely and no information on individual pupils can or would be published by Scottish Government. The individual data collected by Scottish Government is used for statistical and research purposes only. We hope that the explanations contained on the ScotXed website will help you understand the importance of providing the information. Fuller details of the uses of this data can be found on the ScotXed website www.scotxed.net 17

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act, 2002 provides a right of access to all types of record held by Scottish public authorities. Subject to certain limited exemptions, anyone who makes a request to a public authority for information will be entitled to receive it. Publication Scheme As with other authorities in Scotland, East Ayrshire Council has compiled a publication scheme outlining the types of information we routinely make available to the public, the manner in which it is published and details of any charges. Anything that is made accessible in this way is then exempt from requiring a specific response under the Freedom of Information legislation. To request information e-mail: freedomofinformation@east-ayrshire.gov.uk Placing requests Occasionally parents/carers may wish to send their children to a school which is not their catchment area school. If this is the case, please complete and submit a school placing request form to the education authority. Please note that if you select a school which is not in your catchment area, your child will not entitled to receive free school transport to and from school. If your placing request is refused by the Head of Service, you can appeal in writing, within 28 days of receiving the refusal. An appeals panel will then be arranged by the Registrar. At this hearing, a panel which is made up of one elected member and two parent council representatives will make a decision on whether to uphold or reject the appeal. An officer from legal services will also attend the hearing to provide advice to the panel. If you remain unhappy with the decision, you have the right to seek a final appeal at the Sheriff Court within 28 days of being advised of the appeals panel's decision. 18

Deferred entry to primary school Under current legislation in Scotland, parents/carers of children aged between four and a half and five at the start of the school session (those with September to February birthdays) have a choice about enrolling their child for primary school. Children can start school before they are five or can defer their start until the following August. Parents/carers must: register the child at the catchment area school, where there will be an opportunity to indicate interest in deferring entry, during the period notified in the local press. discuss the possibility of a deferred entry with staff in an early years establishment (if attending). If the child does not attend an early years establishment, advice and an application form can be obtained from East Ayrshire Council, Early Education and Childcare Service, Educational and Social Services Office, Civic Centre South, John Finnie Street, Kilmarnock, KA1 1HW or by telephoning 01563 578125. For children with September to December birthdays, an application form will need to be completed and returned to the address given by the last day in February. Early entry to primary school Further information is available in the leaflet entitled Early Entry Request which is available in all primary schools. Early learning and childcare admissions policy Local authorities require to provide a minimum of 600 hours of free early learning and childcare to three and four year olds, looked after two-year-olds and two-year-olds subject to a Kinship Care order. This policy is under review for implementation for academic year 2014-15. 19

Emergencies We make every effort to maintain a full educational service but on some occasions circumstances arise which lead to disruption. Establishments may be affected by, for example, severe weather, temporary interruption of power, provision of transport or fuel supply. In such cases we shall do all we can to let you know about the details of closure, temporary arrangements or re-opening. We shall keep you informed by letter, via the Council website, Twitter, notices in local shops and community centres, announcements in local churches, the press and local radio. Parents are asked where possible to provide the educational establishment with the names, addresses and telephone numbers of two contact persons for use in case of emergency. It is essential that this information along with the parent/guardian s contact details is kept up to date. Equalities Every establishment will set out its policy on equal opportunities as defined by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000; the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 and the Gender Equality Act 2006. No one should be denied opportunities because of their race or ethnicity, disability, gender or sexual orientation, age or religion. Establishment Inspections Early Childhood Centres are subject to inspection by the Care Inspectorate as prescribed in the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010. All Early Childhood Centres have joint inspections by the Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland. HM Inspectors from Education Scotland inspect and report on the quality of education in a sample of pre-school centres, primary schools, secondary schools, special schools, community learning and development services, colleges, and residential educational provision. They also inspect the education functions of local authorities. In both cases, reports will be published and available to parents. 20