Minimum Standards for Private Boarding Schools
Minimum Standards (Standards) to safeguard and
promote the welfare of children for whom accommodation is provided by Private Boarding
Schools.
These Standards do not override the need for schools
to comply with other legislation such as the Independent Private School
Standards Regulations and legislation covering health and safety, fire or
planning regulations.
The Standards
apply to:
- all mainstream private boarding schools, for all age groups of pupils up to 18;
- any pupils over the age of 18 who live alongside those who are under 18; and
- children accommodated at the school, other than pupils2.
How the
Standards work
These Standards contain arrangements to safeguard
and promote the welfare of children for whom accommodation is provided by private
boarding schools. They provide the minimum standards below which no school is
expected to fall in securing outcomes for boarders.
The school will
be inspected against the Standards in order to determine whether there is satisfactory compliance with the legal obligation to safeguard
and promote the welfare of boarding pupils. In carrying out the inspection, the
role of the inspectorate is to determine the extent to which the school
promotes and safeguards the welfare of all boarders, rather than its compliance
with structures and systems. Inspectorates will take account of the school’s
admission policy and statement of purpose, and to the views of parents who have
chosen the school for their child.
The government will refer to these standards in any
action he may take against an independent private boarding school that fails to
comply with its duty to safeguard or promote the welfare of boarding pupils.
Local authorities and the government will also take the standards into account
in any enforcement action taken in relation to a private school’s failure to
safeguard or promote the welfare of boarding pupils.
1. A
suitable statement of the school’s boarding principles and practice is
available to sparents and staff, is made known to boarders, and is seen to work
in practice.
STANDARD
2 – Boarders’ Induction and Support
2.1
There
is an appropriate process of induction and guidance for new boarders.
2.2
Each boarder has a choice of staff to
whom s/he can turn for personal guidance or for help with a personal problem.
2.3
The school identifies at least one
person other than a parent, outside the boarding and teaching staff of the
school, who boarders may contact directly about personal problems or concerns
at school. The school ensures that boarders know who this person is, and how to
contact them. Boarders are also provided with one or more appropriate
helpline(s) or outside contact numbers, to ring in case of problems or
distress.
STANDARD
3 – Boarders’ Health and Wellbeing
3.1
The school has and implements
appropriate policies for the care of boarders who are unwell. These include
first aid, care of those with chronic conditions and disabilities, dealing with
medical emergencies and the use of household remedies.
3.2
Suitable accommodation, including toilet
and washing facilities, is provided in order to cater for the needs of boarding
pupils who are sick or injured. The accommodation is adequately staffed by
appropriately qualified personnel, adequately separated from other boarders and
provides separate accommodation for male and female boarders where this is
necessary.
3.3
In addition to any provision on site,
boarders have access to local medical, dental, optometric and other specialist
services or provision as necessary.
3.4
Prescribed medicines are given only to
the boarder to whom they are prescribed. Boarders allowed to self-medicate are
assessed as sufficiently responsible to do so.
3.5
The confidentiality and rights of
boarders as patients are appropriately respected. This includes the right of a
boarder deemed to be competent to give or withhold consent for his/her own
treatment.
STANDARD
4 – Contact with Parents/Carers
4. Boarders
can contact their parents/carers and families in private and schools facilitate
this where necessary. This does not prevent schools from operating
proportionate systems to monitor and control the use of electronic
communications in order to detect abuse, bullying or unsafe practice by
boarders.
STANDARD
5 – Boarding Accommodation
5.1
Suitable sleeping accommodation is
provided for boarders. Where pupils are aged 8 years or over, sleeping
accommodation for boys is separate from sleeping accommodation for girls.
5.2
Suitable living accommodation is
provided for boarders for the purposes of organized and private study outside
school hours and for social purposes.
5.3
Suitable toilet and washing facilities are
provided for boarders, which are reasonably accessible from the sleeping
accommodation. Separate toilet facilities are provided for boys and girls
unless each toilet facility is provided in a separate room intended for use by
one pupil at a time, the door to which is capable of being secured from inside.
Toilet and washing facilities provide appropriate privacy for boarders.
5.4
Boarding houses and other accommodation
provided for boarders is appropriately lit and ventilated, cleaned and
maintained, and reasonable adjustments are made to provide adequate accessible
accommodation for any boarders with restricted mobility.
5.5
Accommodation is suitably furnished and
of sufficient size for the number, needs and ages of boarders accommodated,
with appropriate protection and separation between genders, age groups and
accommodation for adults. Bedding is clean and suitable, and is sufficiently
warm.
5.6
Boarders can personalize an area of
their accommodation with suitable posters and personal items if they wish.
5.7
Boarding accommodation is reserved for
the use of those children designated to use it, and is protected from access by
unauthorized persons. Any use of school facilities by individuals or groups
does not allow members of the public (including members of organized groups
using school facilities) substantial and unsupervised access to children, or to
boarding accommodation while occupied by children.
5.8
Any use of surveillance equipment (e.g.
CCTV cameras) or patrolling of school buildings or grounds for security
purposes does not intrude unreasonably on children’s privacy.
STANDARD
6 – Safety of Boarders
6.1
The school has a written policy on
compliance with relevant health and safety laws which is effectively
implemented.
6.2
The school premises, accommodation and facilities
provided therein are maintained to a standard such that, so far as is
reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of pupils are ensured.
STANDARD
7 – Fire Precautions and Drills
7.1
Fire
drills are regularly (at least once per term) carried out in
‘ boarding time’.
STANDARD
8 – Provision and Preparation of Food and Drinks
8.1
All boarders, including those with
special dietary, medical or religious needs, are provided with meals which are
adequate in nutrition, quantity, quality, choice and variety.
8.2
Suitable accommodation is provided for
the hygienic preparation, serving and consumption of boarders’ main meals. This
may be situated in the main school provided it is adjacent to or reasonably
accessible from the boarding accommodation.
8.3
In addition to main meals, boarders have
access to drinking water and to food or the means of hygienically preparing
food at reasonable times.
STANDARD
9 – Boarders’ Possessions
9.1
Adequate laundry provision is made for
boarders’ clothing and bedding. Boarders’ clothing is satisfactorily stored and
issued to the right boarder following laundering.
9.2
Boarders are able to obtain necessary
personal and stationery items while accommodated at school.
9.3
Reasonable protection is provided for
boarders’ personal possessions and for any boarders’ money or valuables looked
after by the school.
STANDARD
10 – Activities and Free Time
10.1 There
is an appropriate range and choice of activities for boarders outside teaching
time, including sufficient and suitably timed free time each day.
10.2 Boarders have
access to a range and choice of safe recreational areas, both indoors and
outdoors, and there are safe areas at school where boarders can be alone if
they wish.
10.3 Schools
where there are unusual or especially onerous demands on boarders ensure that
these are appropriate to the boarders concerned and do not unacceptably affect
boarders’ welfare.
10.4 Boarders
have access to information about events in the world outside the school, and
access to local facilities which are appropriate to their age.
STANDARD
11 – Child Protection
- The school ensures that:
- arrangements are made to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils at the school; and
- Such arrangements have regard to any guidance issued by the government.
STANDARD
12 – Promoting Positive Behaviour and Relationships
12.1. The school has and
consistently implements a written policy to promote good behaviour amongst
pupils. This policy includes:
·
measures
to combat bullying and to promote positive behaviour;
·
school rules;
·
disciplinary sanctions;
·
when restraint is to be used; and
·
Arrangements for searching pupils and
their possessions.
12.2.
The policy complies with relevant
legislation and guidance and is understood by staff and pupils.
STANDARD
13 – Management and Development of Boarding
13.1
There is clear management and leadership
of the practice and development of boarding in the school, and effective links
are made between academic and residential staff.
13.2
Senior
boarding staff have an adequate level of experience and/or training.
13.3
The records specified in Appendix 2 are
maintained and monitored by the school and action taken as appropriate.
STANDARD
14 – Staff Recruitment and Checks on Other Adults
14.1
Schools operate safe recruitment
procedures and vet staff in line with the regulatory requirements and having
regard to relevant guidance issued by the government.
14.2
For all persons over 16 (not on the roll
of the school) there is a criminal records check completed at the standard
level.
8
14.3
There is a written agreement between the
school and any person over 16 not employed by the school but living in the same
premises as boarders (for example, members of staff households). This specifies
the terms of their accommodation, guidance on contact with boarders, their responsibilities
to supervise their visitors, and notice that accommodation may cease to be
provided if there is evidence that they are unsuitable to have regular contact
with children. They must be required to notify an unrelated designated senior
member of staff if they are charged with, or convicted of, any offence.
14.4
All persons visiting boarding
accommodation (e.g. visitors, outside delivery and maintenance personnel) are
kept under sufficient staff supervision to prevent them gaining substantial
unsupervised access to boarders or their accommodation.
14.5
The school regularly monitors the
suitability of any arrangements it makes for the appointment of guardians.
14.6
Any guardians appointed by the school
are subject to the same recruitment checks as staff, and their care of pupils
is monitored.
STANDARD
15 – Staffing and Supervision
15.1
Any person employed or volunteering in a
position working with boarders has a job description reflecting their duties,
receives induction training in boarding when newly appointed, and receives
regular reviews of their boarding practice, with opportunities for training and
continual professional development in boarding.
15.2
Any role of spouses, partners and/or
other adult members of staff households within boarding houses is made clear.
15.3 The staff
supervising boarders outside teaching time are sufficient in number, training
and experience for the age, number and needs of boarders, and the locations and
activities involved.
15.4
Boarders are at all times under the
responsibility of an identified member of staff who is suitably qualified and
experienced.
15.5
Staff know the whereabouts of boarders
(or know how to find their whereabouts) in their charge at all times.
15.6
Staff working within the school know and
implement the school’s policy in relation to children going missing and their
role in implementing that policy. Staff actively search for children who are
missing, including working with police where appropriate.
15.7 There is at
least one adult member of staff sleeping in each boarding house at night,
responsible for the boarders in the
house.
15.8
Boarders have a satisfactory means of
contacting a member of staff in each house at night.
15.9 Suitable
accommodation (consisting of accommodation in which meals may be taken, living
accommodation and sleeping accommodation) and suitable toilet and washing
facilities are provided for residential staff. This accommodation is
appropriately separated from the accommodation and facilities provided for
boarding pupils.
15.10 Any
boarder access to staff accommodation is properly supervised and does not
involve inappropriate favouritism or inappropriate one-to-one contacts between
staff and boarders.
STANDARD
16 – Equal Opportunities
16. Boarders do not experience inappropriate
discrimination because of differences arising out of gender,
pregnancy or maternity, disability, race, religion or belief, cultural
background, linguistic background, special educational need, gender
reassignment or academic or sporting ability. These factors are taken into
account in the care of boarders, so that care is sensitive to different needs.
STANDARD
17 – Securing Boarders’ Views
17. Boarders have an opportunity to contribute
views to the operation of boarding provision, are able to raise concerns and
make complaints, and their views are given appropriate weight in decisions
about the running of the school. Pupils are not penalized for raising a concern
or making a complaint in good faith.
STANDARD
18 – Complaints
18. The school has, and follows, an appropriate
policy on responding to complaints that is compliant with the relevant
regulatory standards.
STANDARD
19 – Prefects
19. Any
prefect system (or equivalent) gives prefects (or equivalent) appropriate specific
duties and responsibilities that are appropriate for them, with adequate staff
supervision and measures to counter possible abuses of the role.
STANDARD
20 – Lodgings (Long-Stay)
20.1 Any lodgings arranged by the school
to accommodate pupils provide satisfactory accommodation and supervision, are
checked before use, and are monitored by the school during use including checks
at least yearly.
20.2 It
is clearly stated to parents whether any lodgings accommodating pupils are to
be arranged by the school or by parents themselves.
20.3 Any
lodgings provided or arranged by the school are of a comparable standard to
accommodation provided by the school.
20.4 The
school visits all potential lodgings, and interviews the adult who will be responsible
for the accommodation of the pupils in each lodging, takes up references, and
has recorded a satisfactory assessment, before any pupil is placed there. The
school can demonstrate that members of the host family aged over 16 are subject
to a criminal records check, with a satisfactory outcome known before any pupil
is placed.
20.5 The
school has a satisfactory written agreement with each adult providing lodgings
for pupils on its behalf.
20.6 The
school provides satisfactory written guidance to host families accommodating
pupils on behalf of the school, covering the school’s policy and practice for
lodging pupils.
20.7 At
least once per school term a member of staff discusses their lodgings
separately with each pupil accommodated by or on behalf of the school in
lodgings, recording the pupil’s assessment in writing and taking action on any
concerns or complaints.
Appendix
1
List
of Policies and Documents
The
following policies and documents should be kept by the school:
Policies
1.
Countering bullying
2.
Child protection
3.
Discipline (including sanctions, rewards
and restraint)
4.
Staff disciplinary, grievance and
whistleblowing policy
5.
Care of boarders who are unwell,
including first aid, care of those with chronic conditions and disabilities,
dealing with medical emergencies and the use of household remedies
6.
Safety and supervision on school
journeys
7.
Access to school premises by people
outside the school
8.
Pupil
access to risky areas of school buildings and grounds
9.
Health
and safety
10. Pupil access to
a person independent of the school staff group
11. Provision for
pupils with particular religious, dietary, language or cultural needs
12. Supervision of
ancillary, contract and ‘unchecked’ staff
Documents:
13. Staff
Handbook / guidance for boarding staff [this document may include many of the
policy documents listed above]
14. Statement of the
school’s boarding principles and practice
15. Requirement for
staff to report concerns or allegations of risk of harm to pupils
16. Complaints
procedure
17. Procedure for
enabling pupils to take problems or concerns to any member of staff
18. Responses to
alcohol, smoking and substance abuse
19. Plans for
foreseeable crises
20. Staff
induction, training and development programme
21. Prefect duties,
powers and responsibilities
22. Key written
information for new boarders
23. Job descriptions
for staff with boarding duties where applicable:
24. Clarification
of whether any educational guardians or lodgings are arranged by the school or
parents
25. Agreement with
any adult providing lodgings to pupils
26. Guidance on
welfare to host families accommodating pupils on behalf of the school
List of Records
The following
school records are required:
1.
Child
protection allegations or concerns
2.
Major
sanctions
3.
Use
of physical restraint
4.
Complaints
5.
Individual
boarders’ records (containing personal, health and welfare information)
6.
Administration
of medication, treatment and first aid (kept confidentially)
7.
Significant
illnesses
8.
Significant
accidents and injuries
9.
Parental permission for medical and
dental treatment, first aid and non-prescription medication
10. Risk assessments
(for risky activities and in relation to premises/grounds)
11. Staff
recruitment records and checks (including checks on others given substantial
unsupervised access to boarders or boarding accommodation)
12. Staff duty rotas
13. Staff supervision,
appraisal and training
14. Fire precautions
tests and drills
15. Risk assessments
under the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations
16. Menus
17. Pocket money and
any personal property looked after by staff
18. Care plans for
boarders with special needs (where applicable)
19. Parental
permission for high risk activities
20. Checks on
licensing of relevant Adventure Activities Centres
21. Assessments of
lodgings arranged by the school
22. Assessment of
off-site accommodation used by the school
Appendix 3
List of issues to be monitored by the
school
The following matters
and records in relation to boarders, as described in the Standards, must be
regularly monitored by the Head or a senior member of staff, to identify
whether review or change in welfare practice is needed:
1.
Records
of complaints and their outcomes
2.
Records
of major sanctions
3.
Records
of any use of physical restraint
4.
Systems
and management of medical welfare
5.
Records
of significant accidents
6.
Records
of all risk assessments carried out
7.
Action
taken in response to all risk assessments carried out
8.
Suitability
of any guardianship arrangements made
P.O. Box 29324 Kampala,
Uganda Tel: +256 753632211, Mengo Sentema Road
Email: unapsi@yahoo.com
, unapsidept@gmail.com, Website: www.unapsi.org
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