A significant number of our pupils arrive very early in the morning, as much as one hour before school starts. Are we responsible for them and should we have staff on duty?
It would be unreasonable for parents to expect the school to provide supervision so early and you should certainly inform them of this, telling them the time when you are prepared to accept responsibility for them.
You should remember, how-ever, that you are accepting a certain, albeit reduced, level of responsibility by allowing pupils to enter the premises, even if unsupervised. Provided that there are no serious hazards, many schools would judge this to be acceptable.
It is also the case that any teacher who is present before the official time has a common-law duty to respond to a situation with which he or she is confronted, where a pupil or property might be at risk. For example, a teacher entering school early would not be justified in ignoring a fight in the playground, even though it was before the duty time and he or she was not on duty anyway.
The governors have instructed me, as head, to hold a fire drill on a particular day. Have they the right to do this?
The governors have a duty to ensure that appropriate health and safety measures are in place in the school and that would include regular fire drills. The delivery of those measures is, however, part of the internal management of the school, which is the responsibility of the head. The governors cannot, therefore, insist on a specified date.
Archimedes
