One of the objectives in the school's Safeguarding policy is to provide a safe environment for the children to learn. They are encouraged to talk about their problems with an adult at school, which is why it is important for the children to have a positive and friendly relationship with their teacher/teaching assistant. When a policy is reviewed and updated, all staff members read it to understand any new changes. Also, once a year (on an inset day) all staff read the policies to remind themselves of the procedures to follow. This Is important because all adults need to fully understand the duty of care they are responsible for, because children and young people need to feel safe and secure whilst at school (Every Child Matters outcome).
Answer:
All educational institutes are structured in an ethical framework that advocates safe practices within its premises. These practices and suggestions are strategically formulated into policies and regulations which every student, teacher and staff members have to abide by. These policies ensure that each member conforms to the legal responsibilities within their prerogative and contribute effectively to a safe learning environment. The following report discusses the various approaches by which safety policies can be successfully exercised within an educational premise and also focuses on the benefits of complying with these policies.
Discussion
Evaluation of Policies and Procedures Aimed at Promoting Safety in a School
a. Safety Policies
The inclusion of safety policies in a school curriculum has been done with the primary objective to promote a harmonious learning environment that contributes to ample productivity. Along with this, a school, through these policy regulations, aims at endorsing acceptable behavior among students. It helps to ensure a smooth running and unifies the school as a singular entity. A few of these safety policies are:
- Developing skills to protect oneself against abuse
- Encourage curriculum that equips students to be vocal about their thoughts and perception concerned with decision making
- Recruiting teachers and staff after a thorough background check and briefing them appropriately about their roles and responsibilities related to safeguarding students.
- Keeping parents, guardians and community members informed about prolonged and unexplained absenteeism of any student. Regular home visits are carried out to validate that no student is a victim of abuse which is a vulnerable cause of missing schools.
- Making Positive Contribution to Adhere to Safety Policies
As stated by, the safety policies in school, aimed at imparting long-term behavioral goals, are formulated with equal contribution from school staff, the students and their parents. These policies are meant to enforce positive behavior in each member of the school so that everyone feels valued, respected and responsible for their actions.
In order to make students aware of the outcomes of their behavior, both positive and negative, teachers devise certain methods of reinforcements in compliance with the school’s policy framework. In such reinforcement methods, when a student exhibits positive behavior, he or she is encouraged through achievement points or behavior point. This not only urges the child to stick to his or her good behavior but also sets an example for others in the class. In addition to this, teachers occasionally conduct assemblies, like once in a month, to take students through their behaviour regime and provide assessment of how their own behaviour had been till that time. Certificates are distributed to those students with outstanding behaviour. It is a well-established strategy to instil appropriation of behaviour for long term that yield positive outcomes.
- Developing Emotional and Social Skills
An essential part of any learning environment is to make it emotionally safe. The fact can be implemented by encouraging the members to inculcate specific values such as empathy, self and social awareness, resilience, self-sufficiency, relationship skill and self-esteem. SEL or the Social and Emotional Learning and PSHE or Physical, Social, Health and Economic Education are integral parts of modern education system. These two modules can be incorporated by employing interactive and experimental learning workshops. Thus in a realistic simulated setting, it can train the young minds various skills and competencies which can be adapted for making firm decisions and safe choices, handing challenges, adhere to acceptable attitudes and being respectful towards others.
PSHE, in particular advocate on healthy living by spreading awareness on the harms of smoking, bullying, alcohol and substance abuse; importance of sex education, managing personal finance and family relationships and how essential it is to focus on one’s career. The schools attempts to ingrain the positive aspects of these modules by increasing their visibility in classrooms and corridors through school charters and display boards. Schools adopting this module make sure that the students undergo PSHE sessions at least twice a week with the form tutors. In addition to this, outside agencies are sometimes hired to delegate awareness and also to cater to these needs. These agencies constitute Educational Support Services, Education Welfare Officer, Paediatrician, Play Therapist and Clinical Psychologist.
d. Understanding the School’s Expectations and its Limits
A child’s safety within the school premise is the responsibility of the school authority. However, all practices come with limitations. It is precisely at this juncture where cooperation of the child’s parents and guardians is required. The safety policies not only aim at educating the young members but its purpose is to extend the awareness and accountability to the world at large. The systems are aimed at making the community know about the harms of domestic violence, forced marriage, cyber-crime, sexual exploitation of children, violence concerning genital mutilation and radicalisation. Most of these malpractices happen outside the school premises but have a negative impact on students facing these. Safety policies, thus, go beyond its limits to demonstrate the basic expectations of a healthy society among the social and cultural communities.
Benefits of Policies in Schools Aimed at Improving Young People’s
The benefits that an individual or community can reap from the implication of Safety Policies is a continuous process, given there is an adequate amount of co-operation among the schools, its students and their guardians. When monitored closely, it not only prevents the occurrence of unfavorable circumstances but also establishes positive behavior in the students. Positive behavior is established by first letting the young pupils understand the essence of it followed by framing rules that monitor their behavior and finally rewarding or penalizing them in accordance with the behavior they display.
For example, by teaching a student to make the right choices, the teacher educates him or her the basics of problem solving and decision making skills and when the student demonstrates a behaviour in the needful situation that is in compliance with what they had been taught, they become a role model for the other students. When students are rewarded for their good behaviour, they are likely to get positively reinforced and repeat the acceptable behaviour in the needful settings.
If any student behaves in an inappropriate manner, such as whispering and disrupting a learning session in presence of a teacher, the teacher quickly intervenes and use methods of negative reinforcement, such as giving them a ‘sad peg’ if they continue with their improper demeanour, to restrain them from behaving unacceptably in future. This is how teachers are able to enforce the required discipline in students and teach them how they should behave with others, especially the adults, even outside the school premises. The students also learn crucial lessons regarding when to take a risk and when to avert it and thus learn to become responsible citizens of the society.
Conclusion
To conclude the above illustration on the various health and safety policies and its interpretation of behavioral and social benefits, it can be stated that a planned approach to work out issues always enables an individual to be more resilient in challenging circumstances. Risks can occur at any point in life, but with preparation and adequate knowledge, it is possible to avert it without encountering substantial difficulties.
References
Centres for Disease Control. "Make a difference at your school." (2013).
Galvin, Peter, Jayne Nash, and Andy Miller. Behaviour and Discipline in Schools: Devising and revising a whole-school policy. Routledge, 2013.
Losen, Daniel J. "Discipline policies, successful schools, racial justice, and the law." Family Court Review 51.3 (2013): 388-400.
Närhi, Vesa, et al. "Reducing disruptive behaviours and improving learning climates with class-wide positive behaviour support in middle schools." European Journal of Special Needs Education 30.2 (2015): 274-285.
O'Brien, Tim. Promoting positive behaviour. David Fulton Publishers, 2013.
Studer, Jeannine R., and Blair S. Mynatt. "Bullying prevention in middle schools: a collaborative approach: collaborative, proactive anti-bullying interventions and policies that strive to create and sustain a safe environment for all adolescents." Middle School Journal 46.3 (2015): 25-32.
