Friday 20th September 2019
The DfE has just produced an update of the statutory policy checklist. This is the first update from DfE since 2014, so it is very welcome (if a tad overdue!).
The DfE webpage and guidance can be found at
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statutory-policies-for-schools-and-academy-trusts/statutory-policies-for-schools-and-academy-trusts
I have updated the EPHA checklists for academies and maintained schools, and they can be found on the EPHA website on the model policies page.
There are a number of changes to note:
The DfE now recommends an annual review of many of the policies. This may be “best practice” but doesn’t recognise the workload involved in doing this.
You and your governors can continue to decide the review frequency, unless a policy has a mandatory annual review (for example, the Safeguarding/Child Protection Policy)
There are a number of new policies named in the list. These include:
- Protection of biometric information of children and schools and colleges
- School exclusion
- Children with health needs who cannot attend school
- Newly Qualified Teachers
EPHA will speak to HR to find out if they plan to provide new model policies for subscribing schools. In the meantime, adopting guidance, such as the Exclusions Guidance 2017, will ensure that the Governing Body is compliant.
We will keep you up to date with any further information or changes, as they become clear(er).
Pam Langmead