As lockdown continues, technology shortages mean many pupils do not have the laptops or equipment they need to engage in remote learning.
Please note: the information contained in this legal update is correct as of the original date of publication
As lockdown continues, technology shortages mean many pupils do not have the laptops or equipment they need to engage in remote learning. Donations from the community are helping, and to manage them correctly schools need to get their gifts and donations policies polished up and fit for purpose in order to steward the offers of equipment received from generous donors. In this article, Laura Murphy sets out what schools need to be thinking about.
As charity trustees, it is good practice for schools/academies to have a gifts/donations policy in place. This ensures that donations from the community are identified and directed correctly, including those of equipment and technology.
Lack of access and technical poverty have been a big factor for many, with increasing pressure on the requirements for home schooling. The inequality of technology and ability to ‘join in’ has had an impact on wellbeing (both of pupils and parents) as pressure mounts.
Difficult times can bring out a newfound resilience in communities, and the pandemic has been a classic example of this. Whilst times have been incredibly tough for schools, pupils and their families, something good has come out of the dark the generosity shown to educational institutions by local/national companies and the community.
Donations and gifts to schools have significantly increased over the course of the last year. On the surface this is a huge step forward in equipment provision and the ability to engage pupils across the country with home-schooling, significantly enhancing young people’s learning experience. However, the provision is still well below the need. Although the DfE has been trying to increase the provision of equipment to schools, this doesn’t cover issues such as lack of access to broadband, data packages or general bill concerns.
Lack of access to the internet and laptops is now considered a vulnerable characteristic and potentially allows pupils to claim a place at school during lockdown in order to access the education they cannot get online. This could overwhelm schools, with places already up dramatically compared to the first lockdown and now an additional group of pupils who may be classed as vulnerable and who need to attend school. However, access to quality education to prevent disadvantaged pupils falling behind is a key concern during yet another lockdown with uncertain end dates.
Having a well-thought-out policy and procedure will enable the school to protect itself and consider any issues arising from the donation of gifts or equipment. This will include risks and issues with the equipment itself, such as wiping and clearing data, virus protection and software.
Discussing such a scheme with your insurers regarding straightforward donations and any flow of liability (if, for example, the items are found to be faulty and cause injury or damage, or if the individuals use the items to accesses inappropriate materials) is recommended.
In putting together such a document you will need to consider issues such as:
Schools are also likely to consider prioritisation of those most in need based on their own policies, reviews and evidence. However, it should be clear how this is done in order to prevent unnecessary challenges over the handout of equipment.
If this type of scheme is something your school is thinking about in order to boost access to devices in your school community or if you are looking at putting such a policy in place, please do get in touch to discuss your needs further.
Associate
Laura.murphy@brownejacobson.com
+44 (0)115 908 4886
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.
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.
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 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.
Holly Quirk, an associate barrister in Browne Jacobson’s Manchester office, was awarded the Legal Professional of the Year Award at this year’s Manchester Young Talent Awards.
The risk of assault against staff is, sadly, something that all schools need to consider carefully. Here one legal expert explains what they can do to protect staff and ensure they fulfil their duty of care.
Browne Jacobson’s education team has again been confirmed as a national powerhouse after securing five Tier 1 rankings relating to Education in the latest edition of Legal 500 and maintaining a Band 1 UK-wide ranking for Education in Chambers & Partners UK 2023.
Created at the end of the Brexit transition period, Retained EU Law is a category of domestic law that consists of EU-derived legislation retained in our domestic legal framework by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. This was never intended to be a permanent arrangement as parliament promised to deal with retained EU law through the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (the “Bill”).