Schools as Organisations: UK Education System Analysis Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of schools as organizations within the United Kingdom's education system. It begins by outlining the entitlement and provision for early years education, including the government's role in funding and extending hours for nursery and preschool programs. The report then categorizes different types of schools in the UK, such as community schools, voluntary schools, trust schools, independent schools, and free schools, and discusses post-16 options available to young people. The core of the report explores the strategic purpose of school governors and the roles of the senior management team, SENCO, teachers, and support staff. It also examines the role of external professionals, including speech therapists and education welfare officers. Furthermore, the report delves into the ethos, mission, aims, objectives, and working practices of schools, including methods of communication. Finally, it discusses the laws and codes of practice affecting schools, such as the Data Protection Act, Children Act, Freedom of Information Act, and Human Rights Act, and analyzes the effects of legislation on school work, emphasizing the importance of these regulations in ensuring the safety, rights, and welfare of students and staff.

Running head: SCHOOLS AS ORGANISATIONS
Schools as Organisations
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents

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Task 1
1.1 Entitlement and Provision for Early Years Education
Since the year 2004 the local authorities responsible for education and funded by the
government in the United Kingdom ensured that the children of the UK who belonged to the
age group of three and four must be admitted to the nursery or to some other preschools. This
also included the child-minders and the parents do not have to bear the cost of it. The
government of the country extended the timing for these schools from 12.5hours to 15 hours
for a term of 38 weeks in a year (Roberts-Holmes, 2015). These provide care and education
to the children from their childhood so as to ensure that the children are benefitted from this
education. The extended time period for the children help the working parents to travel and
work according to their convenience. Sometime later, in the year 2013, the government
extended the age limit so that the children belonging to the age group of two are also able to
seek this free funding of education (Pugh & Duffy, 2013).
1.2 Different Types of Schools
The stages of education in the United Kingdom can be categorised as early years,
primary, secondary, higher and further modes of education. These stages are marked in
England as the key stages which ranges from one to four. The children develop through a
year of reception and then assessments are done based on the key stages. Post qualifying in
these stages the children of the UK can continue their learning process through achieving
education from the colleges, universities and other training programmes.
The different types of schools that are prominent in the UK are the following:
(a) Community Schools: These are the schools that are normally funded by the state and
are run by the Local education Authority (LEA). The staffs and the buildings of the

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schools are under the control of the Local Authority though the schools are run by
their individual governing body.
(b) Voluntary Schools: There are two types of these schools, voluntary controlled schools
and voluntary aided schools. The voluntary controlled schools are known as the
religious or faith schools. In these schools the land and the buildings are owned by
some charitable organisations which are mainly religious in nature. The staffs and the
services are provided by the LEA. The members of the governing bodies are
appointed by the charity while the schools are run by the LEA. In voluntary aided
schools, the land and the building of the schools are owned by charities such as the
churches. The school is run by the governing body and largely contributes towards the
buildings and maintenance costs of the schools.
(c) Trust schools: These schools are founded and funded by the state and usually receive
some extra help from the charitable trusts. The charitable trusts are composed of the
partners such as business or educational charities, working together for the benefit and
betterment of the schools.
(d) Independent or Private Schools: these schools are not governed or run by the local
authorities and are independent of the finances and governing the schools. These
schools are funded by the fees that they receive from the parents of the students and
through the income received from the investments made by the schools.
(e) Free Schools: These are the non-profit making and are funded by the state that have
been set up so that the local and the poor and the needy children can improve
themselves in their education.
1.3 Post-16 Options
The young people of the United Kingdom are expected to continue their education until
they reach the age of 18 or become an adult. Continuing their field in education does not

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mean that the young student has to remain in their schools, rather they have a variety of
options to choose from. The students can attend a college or start for a course that will
help them in working as well as learning. They can also avail themselves for a job
suitable to them or involve themselves in any kind of voluntary work. The choices that
are available for the students’ post-16 are funded by the local authority. The options
chosen by the students are discussed during the annual review and a plan is formulated to
help the students in the same.
Task 2
2.1 Strategic Purpose of:
School Governors
The school governors act as the supervisors of the schools in the United Kingdom.
The school governors perform their major functions in the state schools, mainly those schools
that are meant for the education of the students without any cost. The governors provide a
clear vision, ethos and strategic directions to the other members of the governing body and to
the staffs of the school (Radford et al., 2013). The head of the teachers have to report to the
governors regarding the educational performance of the school and the students. Managing
the financial performance of the schools is one of the major and most important function of
the governors.
Senior Management Team
The senior management team of the school in the UK work closely with the head of
the teachers. The team is made up of the most experienced persons of the organisation such
as the deputy head teacher, SENCO coordinator and other such high ranked officials of the
schools. The most important duties of the governors are to set up the goals and objectives that
the schools are needed to achieve (Ball, Macrae& Maguire, 2013).

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SENCO
The responsibility of SENCO, in the schools of the Unite Kingdom, is to manage and monitor
the provision of the students with special needs in the school. They provide advice and
support to the other members and the staffs in the school and ensure that proper
communications are established with the parent of the needy children and with the other
professions who are involved with the school (Hodgen, Marks & Pepper, 2013).
Teachers
The teachers usually plan and implement the curriculum that the students need and
follow. Some of the teachers in the school have other responsibilities besides managing their
classes especially in the subject area or act as the first aider.
Support Staff Roles
There different types of staffs within a school. These include the teachers, assistants,
secretary, caretaker, technicians and other professionals such as the lunchtime supervisors.
Though their roles vary from one another, they provide support to the children in the school.
2.2 Role of External Professionals in School
There are a number of professionals who work in schools for the wellbeing of the
students. Some of the professionals guide the students while some are associated in
improving the relationship and understanding between the teacher and the students (Bowe,
Ball& Gold 2017). Children having problems with speech and language require the help from
the experts such as the speech therapist. These experts are not directly associated with the
schools but practice in the hospitals or in some health care centres, come to work with the
children and the parents of the children.

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There are experts like the special teacher who offer certain advices and supports a
range of the needs of the children. These needs are either behavioural, social or need for
proper communication (Wilkins, 2015). The students of the school lack these and seek help
from these experts. The education welfare officer also known as the educational social
worker, are from the local authorities, work in accordance with the head teacher in order to
monitor the attendance of the students.
Task 3
3.1 The Ethos, Mission, Aims and Objectives and Working Practice
People performing different roles are present in every school and hence the school has
the teachers, students and the other staffs are the main components of any school. The
mission of the schools are presented in the form of motto and reflected with the help of the
ethos. The mission statement is formulated by the head of the school and is the intention that
the school wants to achieve (Sterling, 2013). This statement includes the aims of the school
set by the head teacher and other staffs from the community of the school. The aims are the
hopes that the school wants every child to achieve such as being literate and numerate, able
and independent learners and carrying out responsibility towards others. The school has an
aim that is to develop the intellectual, spiritual, emotional and the physical understanding of
the children and hope that the children will be leaving the school after adopting these values
within themselves. The values that a school follows are the most basic aspects that can easily
be controlled by the schools (Day, Gu & Sammons, 2016).
3.2 Methods of communicating the Ethos, Mission, Aims and Values
Every school has the aim to develop the children or the students in the possible
manner of ways, and hence prepares the students academically, emotionally and physically.
The teachers develop the students through the teaching programmes and other means in the

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classrooms along with learning and fun (Kadji-Beltran, Zachariou & Stevenson, 2013). This
takes place along with the discussion and ex-explanation of the topic so that it becomes easier
for the students to understand. The teachers also encourage the students to participate in
different extracurricular activities such as dancing on the street, playing sports like football
and cricket, taking active art in different types of competition organised by the school
(Kasim& Yusoff, 2014).
Task 4
4.1 Laws and Code of Practice
There a number of laws and codes that affect the functioning of the schools. The
important among these laws are the Data Protection Act 1998, the Children Act 2004, the
Children Act, 2006, the Freedom of Information Act and the Human Rights Act. The Data
Protection Act of 1998 is helpful in regulating and processing the information. This act
allows a person to use, hold, obtain and disclose information to any person. The Children Act
of 2004 places some duties on the main agencies such as the schools in order to promote and
protect the welfare of the children. The Children Act of 2006 is a reformation that helps to
simplify the regulations of the early years and in the inspection of the arrangements. The
Freedom of Information Act promotes that the information can be accessed by the public
authorities such as the schools (Edge & Hoffman, 2013). The Human Rights Act which came
into force in the month of October, 2000 have been incorporated into the European laws and
promotes certain other laws such as the right to education. Besides these, the Health and
Safety at Work Act ensures the health and safety of the children of the students and all other
employees in all the work places of the country.
4.2 Effects of Legislations on School Work

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According to Harris and Atkinson (2013), the term “legislation” refers to the actual
law that has been enacted or implemented by the governing body of a nation both in the
central as well as in the state level. There are many such legislations that are rested with the
governing body of the United Kingdom but only the legislations or the rules associated with
the functioning of the schools have been discussed here. These laws are produced and
implemented in order to protect the children and other employees such as the teachers and
other staff members in the schools. Legislations ensures the safety and respect of the rights of
the employees and the students in school. The schools have the option either to follow or not
follow the Code of Practice. Different legislations have different functions. The Freedom of
Information Act states that advice and assistance must be provided to all the people who are
eager to seek information. It also states that all the information must be recorded
professionally and not optionally as this information can be seen by anyone. The Data
Protection Act states that the information should always be stored securely and should not be
taken offsite. The information should be provided regarding the students and the employees
as and when required. Every person responsible for keeping the record and the information
must follow a particular schedule.
5.1 Why are Procedures and Policies Required in Schools?
Both policies as well as procedures ought to form an integral part of the
administration in any school or educational institution. Policies and procedures have an
important role to play in defining and putting into place the regulations, rules and protocols
that are necessary to keep the school running in a smooth and efficient manner. Policies assist
in the implementation of rules and regulations and also establish a number of safety standards
for students (Hatzenbuehler & Keyes, 2013). Policies entail all the procedures that need to be
followed to ensure that school operations are all executed down to the last detail, thus
preventing a lot of chaos and confusion from being generated in the running of the school.

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5.2 .1 How Can School Policies be designed to Help School Staff?
Policies that look into the protection of employees like a health insurance policy or an
accident insurance policy or the promotion of physical education can go a long way in
helping the staff at a school feel safe and secure (Cooper et.al., 2016). They will feel
motivated to do their best for the school if they know that at least part of their medical
expenses will be covered by the administration.
5.2.2. How May School Policies be framed to Help Pupils?
A school can develop a number of anti-bullying policies to make sure that the
physical and mental wellbeing of students is looked into when they come to the school to
study (Harris 2013). Safety policies like a fire drill policy can also enable students to keep
themselves safe in school in the event of a mishap like a fire outbreak.
5.2.3. How Can School Policies improve Teaching and Learning?
A school policy that makes it imperative for all teachers to instruct their students to be
original in their work and learning and not plagiarise from the internet is something that can
greatly assist with the learning process. When students are taught to avoid plagiarism, they
become well positioned to improve the quality of their work and do well for themselves when
they enter institutions of higher learning, upon graduation.
5.2.4. How Can Policies in School Foster Inclusion, Diversity and Equality?
School policies can definitely play an important role in making sure that the school ethos is
one that is based on the notion of equality, diversity and inclusiveness by recruiting people
from diverse ethnic backgrounds or people of colour to serve as part of the school staff or
administration (Booth 2013). Equality can also be ensured through the implementation of

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policy by hiring members of the third gender to work in the school or by admitting trans
students into the school.
5.2.5 How can School Policy Facilitate Parental Engagement?
A school policy that requires the parents of students to meet with the teaching staff of the
school at least two to three times a year to discuss how their children are progressing
academically can be quite effective as far as parental engagement is concerned. Parents will
feel compelled to get involved in their children’s academic life because of such a policy.
5.3 How Can School Policies be Developed as well as Communicated?
School policies can be developed by sitting in for consultative meetings during which all
members of the staff and administration are present. The policies can be communicated in the
form of formal notices, emails and even social media platforms.
6. 1 What are the Responsibilities and Roles that must be Fulfilled by National and Local
Governments when Designing and Implementing Educational Policies and Practices?
Local and national governmental authorities should ensure that the educational
policies that they design and ultimately enforce are those that are well representative of the
needs and requirements of minority communities. Members of the minority communities
should be encouraged to apply for teaching posts and deserving minority candidates ought to
be recruited as teachers and professors (Higham and Earley 2013). Special attention should
be paid to introducing and implementing policies that are sensitive to the issues that members
of the third gender face when applying at an educational institution to study or when they are
enrolled at the institution and face discrimination.
6.2 How can Schools play an Active Role in Drafting Policies that Look into the Wellbeing
of Children and Young Families?

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Schools can highlight the urgency of drafting child friendly policies that can go a long
way in ensuring that children perform well at the school level. Children coming from nuclear
families or from families where the parents themselves are not too old can run the risk of
being misguided (Smyth & Wrigley 2013). Schools must encourage national level policy
makers to introduce educational policies that make parental engagement absolutely
mandatory at the primary and even secondary levels of education. By insisting on the drafting
of such policies, schools will ensure that the wellbeing of their students is looked into by a
considerable degree (Toomey et.al., 2013).
6.3 How Can Organisations that work specifically with Children impact the work done by
Schools?
Organisations, particularly non-profit organisations that work closely with children
and young adults can supplement the work that is done by schools, by also advocating,
promoting and even encouraging the implementation of policies that look into their
wellbeing. These organisations can also play a crucial role in getting policy makers to draft
educational policies that take the needs and interests of children into primary consideration.
Non-profit organisations can definitely influence policy makers alongside school authorities
to form policies and procedures that take due note of the special requirements by LGBTQ
children as well as trans-gender children (Lee & Stewart). These are children that are likely to
be discriminated against in a school setup and NGO’s can certainly play a very vital role in
encouraging policy makers to draft rules and regulations that make sure that such
discrimination is avoided at all costs in schools. Since NGO professionals often have to deal
with the trauma and abuse that third gender children and LGBTQ children have to face from
their class mates in school they are more than well positioned to advocate the formation of
policies that looks into the mitigation of such trauma and abuse.

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