In this edition we provide you with the latest in legal updates, news and insight from the sector.
In this edition we provide you with the latest in legal updates, news and insight from the sector.
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Following the Grenfell Tower fire and wider work on fire safety standards, the Department for Education has issued a call for evidence as part of its review of the Building Bulletin 100 ‘Design for Fire Safety in Schools’.
In this article, Associate Daisy-May Coster-Hollis outlines the key aspects of the revised regulations that apply to nursery schools, primary and secondary schools including sixth-form colleges, academies and city technology colleges, special schools and pupil referral units.
For the first time in five years, on 30 June the Department for Education updated the Model Articles for use by mainstream academies, special academies, 16 to 19 academies, alternative provision academies, free schools and studio schools.
In this article, Nick MacKenzie goes beyond the headline technical changes to reflect on what is driving the changes and discusses why trusts must seriously consider how the underlying issues and direction of travel may impact on how they operate in practice.
This year’s GCSE and A-level results are due to be released in just over a month. Schools will have already undertaken a huge amount of work as part of the process for determining this year’s qualifications.
However, Senior Associates Vicky Hatton and Daljit Kaur advise that now is not the time to slow down. Keep going, if you can, because much can still be done now to help avoid or mitigate the forthcoming burden of reviews, appeals and challenges that could arise as a result of this year’s approach.
Following its initial publication in May, the 2021 School Admissions Code (subject to parliamentary approval) will be in force from 1 September 2021.
In this article, Partner Richard Freeth highlights the key changes in relation to looked after/previously looked after children and in-year admissions. He also outlines changes in relation to fair access protocols that you should be aware of.
Join GDPR expert Dai Durbridge and fellow DPO peers this autumn, as two new CPD programmes for Data Protection Officers commence. The new 10-month intermediate and five-month advanced courses, delivered virtually covers everything DPOs need to keep themselves up to date throughout the year.
Effective from 1 September 2021, the ESFA have published their latest edition of the Academies Financial Handbook, now to be known as the newly titled Academy Trust Handbook.
In this briefing, newly promoted Legal Director Lydia Michelson-Yeates offers her thoughts and reflections on three key themes that trustees and executive teams may wish to consider as a result of the revisions.
On 1 September 2021 significant changes will come into force in relation to the induction of newly qualified teachers, including the change of terminology to Early Careers Teachers (ECTs).
All schools and trusts employing ECTs will need to update their related policies and supporting documentation.
The first national salary benchmarking survey for executive leaders in school trusts is underway.
We, and the Confederation of School Trusts are delighted to support the survey commissioned by independent HR solutions provider XpertHR, with the findings expected to enable trusts to make fair, evidence-based decisions about executive reward.
Over the last few months, our team of qualified barristers have been reflecting on their extensive experience at hearings before the courts and at tribunals nationwide to identify the key issues that are relevant to education providers, and share the lessons that can be learnt from these.
In this article, the fifth in the Advocacy in Action series, the team consider the issue of Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders and the importance of acting promptly.
An increasing number of students now identify as non-binary. Anyone identifying as transgender is expressly protected from discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. However, it is not clear whether these protections extend to those identifying as non-binary.
Following a landmark employment tribunal decision in 2020 that suggested that non-binary people should qualify for protection under the Equalities Act, Senior Associate Hayley O’Sullivan shares her top tips for supporting non-binary and transgender pupils in a school setting.
We highlight the key changes that, if approved, will impact the way in which your admissions system will need to operate.
During this online event, admissions experts Richard Freeth and Philip Wood will discuss how these changes will ultimately affect your decision-making, particularly in relation to supporting vulnerable children and in-year admissions.
In the final of our three-part ‘Grades without Exams’ webinar series, we will explore practical challenges when preparing for grade appeals and managing data requests.
Following the success of last year’s online conference, #EdCon is back this year with even more content and enhanced opportunities for you to network with your peers and our legal and HR experts.
You will be able to book your exclusive tickets from the beginning of September, but in the meantime make sure that you keep the 1 to 3 December 2021 free!
It’s never too early to be thinking about your training needs for the new academic year.
EduCompli is a fun and engaging way to evidence that you are meeting your statutory staff training obligations. Intuitive and simple to use, the GDPR and Child Protection courses can be played anytime, anywhere and on any device.
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Regardless of the outcome of ballots on industrial action, unless there is drastic change to funding for schools in relation to pay increases, it will be unusual to find any organisational budget that is not impacted by the current economic situation.
There’s been little evidence of interventions or financial management reviews this year and it appears the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has re-focussed on financial delivery. It’s also telling that there were no discernible changes to the reporting of financial irregularities in the Academies Trust Handbook 2022.
The Children’s Commissioner, Rachel De Souza, has recently published a report “Beyond the labels: a SEND system which works for every child, every time”, which she intends to sit alongside the DfE’s SEND Review (2019) and SEND Green Paper (2022) and which she hopes will put children’s voices at the heart of the government’s review of SEND system.
Official statistics show that 15,336 claims which included a complaint of age discrimination were received at the Employment Tribunals between March 2020 and March 2021.
As well as providing day-to-day support to help you focus on managing your settings, we also provide training and professional development on a range of topics to keep you and your staff up-to-date.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHCR) recently issued new, non-statutory guidance regarding the wearing of natural or protective hairstyles, specifically in reference to their representation in uniform, behaviour or standalone appearance policies.
Emma Hughes, head of HR services at Browne Jacobson, explains how CST’s updated executive pay report and the linked benchmarking service from XpertHR can help trust boards make robust decisions on pay.
There’s greater opportunity than ever for parents, carers and guardians to voice any concerns they have relating to their child’s education and for their concerns to be heard and to be taken seriously. While most staff in schools and academies are conscious of their legal duties relating to complaints management, many are struggling to cope with such a significant increase in the volume of complaints they must manage.
This guidance has been prepared to support academy trusts (Trusts) who want to hold a fully virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) or a hybrid AGM, as we know that Trusts may want to be prepared for future disruption as well as having a general interest in holding more meetings virtually. The guidance also applies to other meetings of the Members (known as General Meetings).
We’re pleased to collaborate with Lloyds Bank, who recently asked us and audit and risk specialists Crowe UK to offer guidance that academy trusts would find helpful when considering setting up a trading subsidiary.
The World Cup kicks off in Qatar on Sunday 20 November 2022, with the final taking place on Sunday 18 December 2022. Undoubtedly, this is a huge sporting event, and many employees will be keen to show their support for their favourite teams. However, due to the time difference, start times for the matches are between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. UK time, which could have an impact on employers if employees who wish to watch the matches are scheduled to work.
The DfE has published new guidance and opened the application process for window two of the Trust Capacity Fund (TCaF) for 2022/2023, with a fund of £86m in trust capacity funding focused particularly on education investment areas.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse was established in March 2015. We now have its report. As you would expect with such a broad scope, the report is long and makes a number of far-reaching recommendations. In this article, Dai Durbridge highlights seven of the 20 recommendations, sets out how they could impact on schools and suggests what steps to take now.
Browne Jacobson’s education team has been named as winner of the ‘Legal Advisors to Education Institutions’ category at the Education Investor Awards 2022 for a record sixth time.
Since the new Suspensions and Exclusions Statutory Guidance was published, we have received a lot of questions about the use of managed moves. For the first time, the Statutory Guidance does explain what a managed move is, but in relatively broad terms and does not cover the mechanics of how a managed move should operate.
Over 3000 young people from across the UK and Ireland took part in a virtual legal careers insight event, aimed at making the legal profession more diverse.
