Unsupervised students in labs?

A

AWTechie

Can anyone point me in the direction of a CLEAPSS document that says students should not be allowed in labs unsupervised? Common sense, I know, but I need something to wave at SLT :rolleyes:

We're currently having an argument with SLT insisting teachers need to be on the corridors during lesson changeovers because the behaviour is so bad, but with an L shaped corridor and weird shaped rooms that leaves either students in classrooms unsupervised or students on the corridors unsupervised - I need something to wave at SLT to say teachers have to be in the classrooms once there's a student in there so they make provisions for an SLO or similar to be on the corridor (and ideally update our CCTV so it covers the whole corridor, but that might be optimistic)

I've had a look myself but can't find what I need, so help needed please!
 
D

Deleted member 32724

Guest
Write an e-mail to management explaining your concerns and potential hazards involved so you cover your own back in the event something happens.

Let them bloody sort this out, it's their job and they get paid a damn good amount to sort these things out! :mad:
 
A

Andrew Symonds

From G271
Security It should be possible to secure these rooms, generally by means of a lockable door. Doors MUST be locked when no member of staff is present. The lock on the chemical store door should be different to all other locks in the school, and only limited staff should have access to this key i.e. HoD, technicians and site services staff only.
 
A

AWTechie

I've got a wonderful department who are being swamped with daft requests and our HODs have already been to bat for us all with the headteacher about behaviour. In return we got a "corridor quality assessment" and told to have more presence on the corridors. It's a joke, and clearly SLT aren't interested, so ideally I want an official looking document they can't ignore.

I might end up emailing CLEAPSS to ask them to point me in the right direction/give me a statement I can wave at them.
 
Paul

Paul

The following paragraph is taken from Safety in Science Education, DfEE, 1996
Click to expand...
7.3 Supervision of Pupils
Pupils should be allowed in laboratories only if supervised by a teacher who is
aware of the hazards and how they can be avoided. This restriction should appear
in the science safety policy under both pupil and staff rules.
Laboratories should not be used by pupils during recreation periods, or even for
registration by teachers who are not scientists.
Click to expand...

On the Corridors here means, in the doorway to the lab watching both.
 
CovTech

CovTech

Lvl 38 Alchemist
COMMITTEE
Have a look at CLEAPSS PS38

It has things like "must wait outside the lab for a teacher" and "must not be left unsupervised in a lab"
 
Paul

Paul

Really the teachers need to work out how to be on the corridor and supervise the lab at the same time.

It's what they are paid for.
 
Rock Chick

Rock Chick

Lock the lab doors so they can't get in? When we have "all staff" meetings, all doors in the department are locked. If the teachers have a meeting, all the doors onto the corridor are locked - the set up of the rooms means I can access them all without needing to use the door onto the corridor.
 
A

AWTechie

Paul said:
On the Corridors here means, in the doorway to the lab watching both.
Click to expand...
We've got odd shaped rooms where you can't see the desks properly from the doorway, and an L shaped corridor where the short side has no doors on it so needs someone to step away from their door to supervise that area. Hence arguing for an SLO to be posted on the corridor during changeovers so that area is covered properly
 
Technician Q

Technician Q

(she/her)
AWTechie said:
We've got odd shaped rooms where you can't see the desks properly from the doorway, and an L shaped corridor where the short side has no doors on it so needs someone to step away from their door to supervise that area. Hence arguing for an SLO to be posted on the corridor during changeovers so that area is covered properly
Click to expand...
So are the students in classes already in progress (because you have double periods or staggered changes?) or because they’re allowed to enter as and when they arrive?
 
A

AWTechie

Technician Q said:
So are the students in classes already in progress (because you have double periods or staggered changes?) or because they’re allowed to enter as and when they arrive?
Click to expand...
Because they're allowed to enter as they arrive - not enough room in the corridor for classes to be queuing up and unfortunately it's the students who turn up just-about-on-time or very slightly late that are causing the issues
 
Technician Q

Technician Q

(she/her)
AWTechie said:
Because they're allowed to enter as they arrive - not enough room in the corridor for classes to be queuing up and unfortunately it's the students who turn up just-about-on-time or very slightly late that are causing the issues
Click to expand...
We have wide corridors but my kids school don’t and have a strictly enforced one way system. ALL classes queue to enter so ALL teachers are on the corridors to enforce it and to enforce the queues. Middle complains at least once a week about it!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top