Right- ChampDoggers always seem to have information on everything so here goes - ;)

As some of you will know I am doing a Health and Safety Diploma and have a bit of a query . I need to do a Major Project on a topic to do with Health and Safety (obviously) :rolleyes:
.It is estimated to take approx. a year to complete and As I will soon be made redundant from my present job I need to choose a topic outside of my present role as obviously I wont be there .
As I have now been accepted as a Parent Governor at Son number 2' Secondary School I was thinking of a topic connected with Health and Safety within Schools . Although what the exact theme would be, I have yet to decide .
Does anybody have any School experiece or Safety experience (whether it be as teacher , asistant ,dinner lady, in the offices , caretaker , other Governors , member of the Local education authority -whatever ...) that they could pass on . Or even think of any further ideas .
Given that a teacher was recently posecuted over the death of a child on a school trip it could prove an interesting topic .
Unsure as whether to research safety on school trips , fire or evacuation procedures ,investigate the number of accidents and injuries within schools and why and how they occur or how best to implement a pro-active safety culture within schools filtering from the headteacher downwards .
I need to have some sort of idea in place that I can approach my tutor with and if he thinks it is an achievable idea he will ok it and give me the go ahead to proceed . If he doesnt I am back to square one :(
Any ideas anyone ??
Lel
by the way thanks for listening to that big ramble ;)

Hi Lesley

I'm really sorry to hear that you are being made redundant from your job :( All I can think of is you could approach the Headmaster/mistress of the school you are connected with, explain your project, ask them if the local authority has either a dedicated Health and Safety Officer for Education or someone responsible for Health and Safety within the school itself and see if you can contact them to discuss your plan and see if they can help. Another route would be to contact the Trades Unions associated with Education and see if they have anyone responsible for H & S in your area who would be willing to give you information.

Not much I'm afraid, but I hope it helps :)

Other Lesley

Hi Lel, congratulations on becoming a Parent Governor! You will find that your governors Building Committee should be responsible for H[$S in your son's school so speaking to one of the members might help. I would think the number and type of accidents in school would be quite interesting, I work in a primary school and we seem to have loads!! Thankfully mostly minor :) I am sometimes amazed at what children can manage to do to themselves in a 10 minute break time however much the staff/school try to prevent it!! :D Sorry to hear you are being made redundant but you are doing all the right things to get a supersonic top job - failing that have you ever thought of being a school secretary - you never know what's going to happen from day to day and the holidays are great! ])

Hi, I also work part time in a primary school and you do get lots of accidents, as you always do when children are involved. What I personally would find interesting though isthe amount of accidents that happen just outside the school at the crossings and so on. At our school I have seen many near misses where cars are reversing or driving at speed along the pavement to drop off their child at school. Also, despite requests from the school, parents still park on the zig zags by the crossing to drop children off. The other thing that never ceases to amaze me is the amount of drivers who go through the red light at the pedestrian crossing even if the lollipop lady is in the road!!! School drop off and pick up times are full of accidents waiting to happen. Sorry to go on but this is a bugbear of mine. I would love to find a way of stopping some of this (police seem to turn a blind eye!)

Fiona and Saffy

Probably not much help to you lel - sorry

Fiona
it is an interesting thought actually -looking at what procedures etc are in place to deal with school traffic and protecting the children -thanks.
I know at Joshs school it is mayhem with parents cars and with it being on a narrow road it is really dangerous . Some just park up anywhere regardless of the dangers they cause

Safety of pupils and who is eligable to collect pupils and young children 4-5 years old let out of school when there is no adult to collect them is my main bug bear with school, after that child is let out into the playground at the end of the day, it as have been told is not there responsability. I have a grandaughter that I have sole parental rights, the school have been told that she is not to be removed from the school to anyone but her aunty or myself, as her father has tried to take her this way on 3 separate occasions, each time the school have let him , although they have seen a court order that says he is not to have access. They have doors locked throught the day at the school to stop intruders, then why just release children without checking there is someome to pick them up. I think pupil safety is a great issue

same here britney. altho no one has tried to take my g/son its a big worry. now he has moved out of reception class (where we had to collect them at the end of the day) he is now allowed to run out when the bell goes. occasionally my elder son (19) has collected him and the teacher as never challenged him or asked my g/son if he knows him. :( :(.

At the Catholic Infant schools my youngest two went to , no one could pick the children up except the parents that the Teachers knew. If you wanted someone else to pick them up you had to actually inform the school beforehand.

Also , the children stood by the TEacher at home time and were only allowed to go when the Teacher SAW the parent for him or herself

Melody :)

I'm totally with you Fiona. We have parents who think not parking on the zig zags applies to everyone but them We have recently had one mum come in very shaken because another parent almost reversed into her baby in her buggy! and another who left an unrestrained toddler in a car outside on a busy road who managed to open the door and was only saved by other parents Don't get me started!! Having said that, most of our parents are very careful and helpful outside school :) It's just the ones who block nearby residents' drives (the school's fault of course!) and block the staff car park entrance :( We have even had an anonimous letter from a resident who says he has access to a JCB and will move cars that way - now that I would like to see!!! Off now to have a glass or three of wine to calm down ;)

Lel
You might want to look at the guidance published for teachers by the unions. Some of it suggests that teachers shouldn't take children on school trips etc and that extra training is needed for those that wish to. The NUT also suggest that 'dangerous' activities shouldn't take place. All schools should recently have appointed a school excursions manager. Residential centres that children visit are also part of this and they undergo rigorous H & S checks. Try getting in touch with some of the residential centres and ask for their literature - Kingswood Center (3 or 4 in England, Norfolk and Wolverhampton area are 2 I believe), Longtown (Wales?), they might be able to help.

Steph

Slightly off topic, but abouit how far a schools responsibility reaches - my nephew has moved up to Junior School at the start of the term. Feels very grown up, and for the first time is allowed by the school simply to walk out of the gates at home time (the infants school made them stand in class groups by the teacher until an authorised adult collected them). About 2 weeks ago, when my sister dropped him off on the monday morning, she noticed the local policeman cycling around and around (the school is overlloked by a pub car park where the PC was looping round on his bike). Thought it was to warn parents off about the dangers of parking on the zig zags etc. However, talking to another mum as they waited for the kids to go in, she was told that on the preceding Friday evening there had been an attempted child snatch just round the corner from the school, foiled by an older child yelling out to the little boy "dont get into that car if you dont know him" and the driver of the car releasing the small boy and speeding off. My sister was shocked and appalled, and waited for some sort of letter/warning to arrive from school. Max made no mention of it, and careful questioning left him puzzled - no one had said anything. Due to unfortunate relationship with head teacher after older nehpew attended (dyspraxic, dyslexic, etc) sister didnt feel she could ring head, so called infants school . Head teacher there said theyt had given all the children "Stranger Danger" talks the last 2 days, local PC had called in to do same, extra playground patrols etc. Got someone else with a child attending to call the junior school, and the head was VERY dismissive! Said it took place off school grounds (even though child was a pupil) they had no intention of "Scaring" the children with unecessary warnings, police were dealing with it, and they were not going to alert the parents either!

It makes you think, of course a school is not responsible for what happens to a child on its way home, but surely advising parents of this danger would have been appropriate, as would the 'stranger danger' talks given at the other school . This school seems to have decided that if it happens outside the gates then it did not happen at all!
bye Gwen

Hi Lel,

I don't know what legislation there is in schools regarding disability access but in our Uni we are undergoing major changes to enable full access to disabled students - ramps for wheelchairs, widening door accesses, putting down paving slabs with raised strips or bobbles to indicate steps/kerbs for partially sighted people etc....

I don't know if that will give you any ideas???