How is the health and welfare of children who attend school protected and supported? Draw on Units 2 (Childhood), 3( Health) and 4 (Law) for your answer. The welfare of children who attend school are protected by law through acts of parliament and enforced through legislation. Their health is supported through various ideologies implemented throughout their schooling and through the National Curriculum. Health is about being in good physical condition and the knowledge to maintain it. Welfare is concerned with happiness, security and prosperity to give all children the opportunity to enjoy school in a safe and nurturing manner.
Law gives children the right to a free education until they are eighteen with laws around truancy, physical punishments and harm from other pupils. Children also have rights to religious freedom. All schools have a disciplinary policy of the standards of behaviour that are expected and the procedures for disciplinary action. Vogler’s three types of transitioning is used to make sure children are ready to move into education and up through the curriculum which was influenced by the work of Piaget.
Social and Health education is taught to give children the knowledge to make healthy decisions around eating and exercise. Schools are also trying to provide healthy nutritious meals to encourage and promote healthy eating. Parents are legally obliged to ensure their children receive an education. This is enforced through the Education Act 1996. Failure to send your children to school can lead to fines and in extreme cases a prison sentence. (The Open University, 2013, block 3, P49). Since 1987 all state schools are prohibited from nflicting any form of physical punishment and in 1998 that ban was enforced in fee paying schools also. In May 2007 the Violent Crimes Reduction Act 2006 came into force giving schools the right to search pupils for offensive weapons. (The Open University, 2013, block 3, p50).
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) state that everyone has the right to freedom of though, conscience and religion, meaning that school pupils are free to practice their religion and are only subject to limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society(… . ( Article 9, ECHR) (The Open University, 2013, Block 3, p52). School regulations must be adhered to by all pupils. Pupils and their parents are given details on these in the form of a disciplinary policy which sets out standards of behaviour to be observed and the actions that may be taken in the event of a breach. (The Open University, 2013, block 3, P49) This is to make everyone concerned fully aware of the policy, processes and procedures and to promote fairness.
Children are supported prior to and during transitions, moving into education and upwards through the education system, by implementing Piaget’s stages of cognitive development and Vogler et al (2008) three types of transitions. Piaget believed that children went through four stages of cognitive development at approximately the same ages. This has been the predominant factor in deciding when children were ready to begin school and when ready to move up, or transition, from playschool to primary and primary to secondary.
Piaget considered children to be what he termed Pre-operational at ages 2 – 7 years old. This is when children are able to use language and can represent objects by images and words. They can also work with number, mass and weight, making 5 years of age the optimal time to begin their education. The Open University, (No date). Block 3,Unit 2 Childhood: Understanding how schools support transitions [online] Available at: https:// learn2. open. ac. uk/mod/oucontent/view. php? id=904366 [Accessed 21 03 2017].
From 7-11 years old Piaget concluded that children were now Concrete operational and that they could think logically about objects and events making 11 years of age the most favourable time to commence secondary school. A study by the EPPsE and Halsall identified a range of practices to aid the vertical transition from primary to secondary which included a buddy approach where a pupil from secondary will adopt a pupil transitioning from primary school to assist with social and personal skills.
Holding informative open evenings for transitioning pupils and their parents. Visiting the primary school and the primary school visiting the secondary school. The Open University, (No date). Block 3,Unit 2 Childhood: Understanding how schools support transitions [online] Available at: https://learn2. open. ac. uk/mod/oucontent/ view. php? id=904366 [Accessed 21 03 2017]. During their time at school children are taught Social and Health Education (PSHE) which is part of the national curriculum a legal format which all state schools must follow.
Here the children learn about how to look after their health in terms of exercise and healthy eating giving them the knowledge of how to look after themselves and stay healthy throughout their lives. Schools also attempt to provide as much as is possible a healthy nutritious meal every school day. (The Open University, 2013, Block 3, p38). These are some of methods in which children’s health and welfare are protected and supported in school. Protected by the Education Act 1996, the Violent Crimes Reduction act 2006, The European Convention on Human Rights and the disciplinary policy all ensure the welfare of children is given the ighest protection possible. Supported through adapting Volger’s transitioning and Piaget’s work on stages of cognitive development are utilized to ensure children are ready for education and to move up through the education system. The National Curriculum, which all state schools must follow by law, with it’s enthuses on Social and Health education gives every child the chance to learn how to look after their physical health promoting healthy eating and exercise.
