Education Environment Essay

1.Access the following policies on the Department of Education & Training WA website, http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/ Staff Conduct: The purpose of this policy is to outline the Department of Education’s expectation & requirements for the standard of behaviour of staff at work. It provides instruction & direction for the appropriate behaviour in ethical risk situations and areas. It provides information for staff to recognise their rights, where to go for help in resolving breeches or complaints, their legal obligations and expectations within the code of ethics. It also provides a statement of public accountability for staff. Child Protection: The purpose of this policy is to state that all staff employed by the Department of Education is committed to the care, safety and protection of children, including factors such as possible sexual, emotional, physical and/or psychological abuse or neglect of a child. Provides guidelines to aide staff in the correct response to a situation where concern has arisen for the safety & well being of a child or the need for the disclosure of abuse and the actions to take where allegations of child abuse have been made against the staff member. Duty of Care for Students: The purpose is to provide information to staff of the duty of care imposed by law, to take care to minimise the risk of harm to students. It provides an explanation to what the duty of care means & how staff may act to fulfil their duty of care. It also outlines the situations where non-teaching staff, volunteers or external providers must provide a duty of care. The policy also states the need for staff to have a balance between ensuring safety without interfering with a student’s independence and learning opportunities. Occupational Health & Safety: The purpose of this policy is to state the Department of Education is committed to providing and promoting a safe and healthy working environment for staff and students. It provides guidelines to the occupational health & safety requirements within the Department of Education. Contains procedures to identify report & manage hazards, accident or incident investigation and training. It outlines the responsibilities & functions of health & safety representatives & committees. Please see attached printouts of each policy accessed. 2.Visit the Equal Opportunity Commission WA website http://www.equalopportunity.wa.gov.au/ write a summary of the 1984 Equal Opportunity Act. The Equal Opportunity act was set in 1984 and updated in 2002. The Equal Opportunity act is designed to outline the course of action to eliminate discrimination in the work place, accommodation, education or the provision of goods & services or the membership to clubs and to eliminate sexual and/or racial harassment in the workplace, education environments or accommodation. The act promotes the recognition & acceptance of equality of persons of all races & gender. 3.Source a copy of or your job description. Write a summary paragraph of your role and explain how your role will change as you gain more experience. Level 1 Employees are to work under direct supervision of a teacher performing basic routine tasks. They are to assist in the delivery of planned education programs to small groups or individuals. They are to prepare and maintain the learning environment by maintaining resources , displays, equipment and demonstrations, also to assist the teacher with storage of equipment, resources and displays, as well as the management of resources, including inventory lists and stock levels. Assist the teacher with the care and general wellbeing of students both in and out of the classroom. In the Pre-Primary and Pre-School areas, assist with the preparation and distribution of food at morning tea time. Assist with the arrival and departure of students travelling to and from school on busses. Assists students undressing, bathing, dressing, toileting and, where necessary, cleans soiled clothing and areas. Provide administration support in accordance with the school policy and collect monies from s tudents where appropriate. 4.As an Education Assistant, should you have any queries relating to legislation, policies or role, who would you go to for support? The following people can provide information & support in relation to queries regarding legislation, policies or role: Principal, Deputy Principal, Heads of Department, Registrar, Supervising Teacher, Guidance Officers, Teacher Librarian or other Specialist teachers. 5.What is the Industrial Award / Certified Agreement related to Education Assistants / Teachers Assistants? The Teachers Aide’s Award 1979 is a document outlining the the laws in relation to remuneration, working hours & leave for a Teachers Aide. The Education Assistants’ (Government) General Agreement 2010 is a document that outlines core employment conditions and wage increases for employees bound by the general agreement. 6.Source and read a copy of the Industrial Award / Certified Agreement. Submit the first page and a summary paragraph of the award / agreement. The parties bound by the General Agreement are the Director General, Department of Education and the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union, Western Australian Branch. The agreement applies to all employees, who are members or eligible members of the Union. The purpose of the agreement is to provide core employment conditions (general terms of employment, leave of absence, hours of work) and together with the awards (Teachers’ Aides’ Award 1979 for Education Assistants, Miscellaneous Government Conditions and Allowances Award 1992, Western Australian Government/Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union Redeployment, Redundancy and Retraining Certified Agreement 2004) to provide wage increases for all employees bound by the agreement. 7.Give an example of when you have adhered to the legislation or policies of the school An example of where I have adhered to legislation or polices of the school would be in the classroom where a student has been repetitively showing disruptive and bad behaviour. Under the guidance of the teacher I have followed through the School Behaviour Management plan and implemented the required steps with the student. 8.Give an example of when you have reviewed your own performance and compliance with legislation / policies and how you got feedback from others. While completing the practical side of the assessment for this module I have had to review my performance in relation to maintaining my duty or care and child protection. I have then sat with my supervising teacher and discussed my rating and received feedback. 9.Give an example of when you have reported an incident or occurrence in line with school policy. An example of when I have reported an incident or occurrence in line with school policy was during a lunchtime break in the Kindy/ Pre-Primary was a duty of care incident. A leak or spillage had occurred in the toilet area. I reported the occurrence to the supervising teacher. I had identified this occurrence as a hazard as the children had the potential to slip in the â€Å"water† and injure themselves. 10. What changes to your personal details should you report to your Principal or line manager? All changes to personal details must be reported to your Principal or Line Manager. My personal details include (but are not limited to): Name, Address, banking details, Criminal History check, Health details, home address, postal address, next of kin. 11. Consider this scenario: You are an Education Assistant working in a Kindergarten, you and your teacher have been advised that in two weeks time, a new student will join the class. The student has a physical disability and requires personal care support. This will require you as the Education Assistant to undertake some manual handling (lifting, reposition of the student, moving the student from the wheelchair to the toilet etc). You currently have no training in manual handling. Consider you role in terms of Duty of Care and Occupational Health and Safety. What actions would you take? I would discuss with the teacher the needed changes in the room to ensure the student felt comfortable and welcome. I would also speak to the teacher about how I have not undergone any manual handling training and would ask the principal if there were any courses available. I would speak to the principal about the possibility of a meeting involving the student’s parents, the teacher, principal and myself. This meeting would then ensure we have a full understanding of the requirements of the student and any necessary changes we may need to make within the classroom to ensure a smooth integration of the student into our class. 12. Describe the curriculum your school uses. The curriculum my school uses is called Years K – 10 Curriculum. It sets out the ‘knowledge, understandings, skills, values and attitudes that students are expected to acquire’ during the students education. These requirements are described as a series of learning outcomes. These learning outcomes consist of the mandatory element of curriculum. They also include overarching outcomes and learning area outcomes. As of 2011 the school will be following the national curriculum.