teaching safety and teaching safely presented by: david rushton head of education & leisure
TRANSCRIPT
Teaching Safety and Teaching Safely
Presented by: David RushtonHead of Education & Leisure
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries
About RoSPA?
Founded in 1917 Patron: Her Majesty The Queen Registered Charity One of the world’s leading safety training and
consultancy organisations involved in safety management and training In the home At work On the road In water and leisure In education
Schools should be “as safe as necessary not as safe as possible”
Presentation outline
Statistical background
Teaching safety
Teaching safely
Academies
Help and advice
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries
Statistical background
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries
Injury rate to children
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries
Hospital admissions 0-14 years in 2010/2011
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries
Leisure injuries
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries
AND: Do they want to maximise learning about the real world? Are they aware that the best learning environments are those where students
are exposed to the factors they are learning about?
BUT: They’re unclear about what stakeholders expect in terms of safety? They are worried that they may be sued or prosecuted if anything goes
wrong? They don’t want to feed the ‘Elf and Safety monster’ or pander to the nanny
state?
CONSIDERING THAT: Budgets are reducing for: funding, staff, time, space… You need to balance multiple demands on your time: Ofsted, Parents, media,
EHO’s, your own family… And the need to balance risk management and actually enjoy teaching!
Do Teachers?Want to deliver effective teaching, which stimulates and challenges your students?
The safety debate
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries
2005-2010
50,058 significant injuries reported to HSE by schools
Approx 25,000 unreported injuries?
30% of reported injuries to Staff
29 Prosecutions
2 related to school trips
Two topics
Teaching Safety
Helping children develop risk competence
Teaching Safely
Responsibilities and competence established
Equipment and facilities fit for purpose
Support on standards, assessing risks and managing
stakeholder expectations
Teaching risk competence
Teaching should include the principles of safety and risk education
Students :
How to prepare children to survive in the “real world”
No “Cotton wool kids”
Recognise and evaluate risks
No stay at home kids
School
Encourage teachers to recognise the difference between hazards and risks
Encourage teachers to use real risks constructively in lessons
Help teachers to know students, and of course, their own, limitations
LASER Alliance
“Learning About Safety Through Experiencing
Risk”
Network of LASER centres and event
organisers
Young people get to learn about identifying
and managing risk in the home, at school
and on the road
Interactive, focused – ‘away day’
Accredited centres include Dangerpoint (N
Wales), Bristol Lifeskills centre and Safeside
centre (Birmingham)RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce
injuries
High Quality Practical Safety Education
Strategic issues:
High quality practical safety education should be
part of a wider strategy to prevent unintended
injury, and its effectiveness should be evaluated.
The following summary brings together both views
and now constitutes the LASER Alliance’s
definition of HQPSE, to be used as a tool for
developing policy, strategy and resources and
services.
Definition of ‘HQPSE’
High quality practical safety
education can be recognised
because it has clear aims and
objectives which:
1. help children and young
people develop risk
competence appropriate
for their age and
developmental stage
Definition of ‘HQPSE’
High quality practical safety
education can be recognised
because it has clear aims and
objectives which:
2. use active, interactive and
experiential learning in a
variety of challenging but
controlled environments
Definition of ‘HQPSE’
High quality practical safety
education can be recognised
because it has clear aims and
objectives which:
3. develop injury prevention
knowledge, skills,
perceptions and attitudes
Definition of ‘HQPSE’
High quality practical safety
education can be recognised
because it has clear aims and
objectives which:
4. encourage and support
reflection on these
attitudes
Definition of ‘HQPSE’
High quality practical safety
education can be recognised
because it has clear aims and
objectives which:
5. is quality assured against
evidence-based standards
Definition of ‘HQPSE’
High quality practical safety
education can be recognised
because it has clear aims and
objectives which:
6. encourages personal
responsibility for keeping
themselves (and others)
safe
Definition of ‘HQPSE’
High quality practical safety
education can be recognised
because it has clear aims and
objectives which:
7. is part of a wider strategy
to prevent unintentional
injury
School Visits
Learn new skills
Try ‘risky’ activities
Lifetime and memorable experience
Active learning – get the young
people to do the RAs
“…on a typical school visit, the
children who take part are at
no greater risk of death than
their schoolmates who have
stayed behind”. (English Outdoor
Council, 2012)RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries
However.......
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries
Other initiatives
Forest Schools - providing opportunities for positive experiences
and participation in engaging, motivating and achievable tasks and
activities in a woodland environment, helping to develop personal
and social and emotional skills.
Cycling safety training
Draw and write – get the children to identify hazards they might find
on their way to school
Pre-driver training for young people aged 15 onwards
...........The most effective programmes involve young people in their
conception
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries
Teaching Safety 10 Principles
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries
Teaching Safely
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries
1. Actually have a clear system2. Set standards3. Competence before responsibilities4. Plan through assessing5. Identify failures 6. Act quickly7. Share lessons8. Drive Improvement
Managing safely health check
1. Is management clearly committed to safety?
2. Is the correct focus given to quality of lessons, provision of
equipment, availability of supervision?
3. Do staff keep themselves up to date with current practices?
4. Is commitment and application of standards consistent?
5. Are all managers actually involved in checking standards?
6. Are rules actually followed?
7. Are consequences proportional and consistently applied?
8. Are all managers held accountable?
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries
Academies
Radical change in the education sector with move towards
academies and other free schools
Now nearly 3,500 academies in England – this has doubled in the
last 18 months
Change in employer H&S responsibilities from LEA to the governing
body
Governing body may be an individual school or a multi academy
trust
RoSPA concerned about the potential risks of the loss of LEA
support
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries
2012 academy research – what we found
Health and safety often the responsibility of non-experts e.g.
business manager, bursar, head teacher etc...
Employer responsibilities of heads and Governors not fully realised
Health and safety managed in an ad-hoc way
Large shopping list for schools converting to academy status –
safety is not high up on this list
Some still buying in LEA expertise, others the LEA no longer offers
any support
...Quite a lot of unconscious incompetence!
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries
The whole-school approach
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries
RoSPA resources to help schools
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries
RoSPA resources cont’d
Schools and colleges website
Helpline and email [email protected]
Host LASER Alliance
Host the National Safety in Education Committee
RoSPA SchoolSafe award system –
includes ‘teaching safely’ and ‘teaching
safety’
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries
Summary
1. Schools should not be apprehensive about innovative
lessons or locations – the benefits outweigh the risks
2. Safety management should be inherent in the normal
management of the school – including teaching safety and
teaching safely
3. Education sector is becoming fragmented resulting in
inconsistent approach and capacity gaps
4. Support and assistance is available
All done – any questions?
RoSPA’s mission is to save lives and reduce injuries