This school sends a number of pupils in Years 10 and 11 to the local further education college for part of the week. They are taught by college lecturers, but we pay the college for the service. Who is responsible for their supervision and discipline while they are travelling and when they are there.
The potential for trouble in this situation is such that you should not leave matters to chance waiting for the first serious incident to occur.
This issue should be sorted out by the head of the school and the principal of the college, setting out quite clearly who is responsible for what, to whom and when and spelling out procedures to be followed in dealing with specific problems.
The resulting document should be available to all staff in both institutions and where appropriate, should be known to parents as well.
The argument might incorporate the following general principals:.
The pupils are on the school roll and the head is therefore ultimately responsible for their discipline. Therefore, any disciplinary issue that cannot be resolved on the spot should be referred back to the school.
The college staff have the same right to discipline pupils in their classrooms as they normally enjoy and may employ such sanctions as the school makes available to them.
The principal is responsible for good order and safety on the college premises and all students must conform to the college requirements while they are there. Where immediate action is called for, the principal’s authority must be accepted.
While the students are probably old enough to be trusted to make their way between school and college unsupervised (and the parents are aware that this is the practice), they are nonetheless still under the school’s jurisdiction while they are doing so and may be disciplined for any misdemeanour committed on the way
Archimedes
