Current legislative requirements and code of practice relevant to subject and Organisation

Level 4 Theory Assessment Question 2: KEY ASPECTS OF CURRENT LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENTS AND
                                                                         CODE OF PRACTICE RELEVANT TO SUBJECT AND ORGANISATION 
                                                                         
Answer to question 2 written by MATTHEW ORONSAYE

As a teacher of English and Business Studies, I am expected to have an understanding of current legislation and guidelines. The Equality Act (2006) is about the rights of learners to attend and participate, regardless of the, race, gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation, age, and ethnic origin. Examples of such legislations are:
- Health & Safety at Work Act 1974. This governs the rules that provide a suitable working
environment and making any adjustments where necessary.
- The Sex Discrimination Act 1975
- The Race Relations Act 1976
- The Disability Discrimination Act 1995
- Data Protection Act 1998. This governs the protection of personal data of my learners.
- The Child Protection Act 1999
Again, as Business Studies is one of the subjects I teach, since it involves Customer Service, I regularly update my knowledge of relevant legislation regarding consumer rights including:-
- Sale of Goods Act 1979
- Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982
- Trades Description Act 1968
- Consumer Protection Act 1987
The relevance of the above legislations to me as an English and a Business Studies teacher, would be: to act in accordance with school’s laid down regulations, uphold my professional reputation to meet my professional responsibilities and obligations to my learners and the institution, to care and ensure the safety and welfare of learners, support their wellbeing and development, and to recognize diversity and not discriminate in respect of race, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief.

The Health and Safety at work etc Act 1974 covers fundamental structure and authority for the encouragement, regulation, and enforcement of workplace health and safety within the United Kingdom. As a teacher of creative writing, because most of the activities are practice and movement based, I consider the issue of health and safety during my lessons. The way the chairs are laid out, making sure the chairs are not placed haphazardly to trip any student in the course of moving around the class for activities, is an important part of the lesson. Where the toilets and exit doors are for convenience and evacuation when needed are made known to students so that they won’t be taken unawares in case of emergency. Students are also made aware of fire drills so that they are used to the process of evacuating the building when necessary. As a teacher, I am familiar with first aid issues so that I can help students out directly or indirectly when the situation calls for it.

The sex discrimination Act 1975 protects men and women from discrimination on the ground of sex and marriage. In my class I treat male and female students fairly and objectively. Resources, teaching methods, and general class disposition are geared towards the good, development, and attainment of all students. In my class, I make sure there is no form of discrimination between male and female during identification of needs, planning and designing, lesson delivery, assessment, and evaluation. The success of lesson and students informs education delivery in my class.

The Race Relations Act 1976 covers discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, nationality, ethnic and national origin in the fields of education, employment, provision of goods and services etc. In my class, there are students from different parts of the world: some from Europe, Africa, and Asia. There are even some that have ancestry from a mix of continents. The students are of different skin colour, different countries and backgrounds. These students come to my class with their differences in lifestyle, orientation, culture etc. My duty as a teacher during my lessons is and has been to harness the differences for strength and solid educational base. The experiences from different cultures, the wealth of knowledge from different parts of the world as evidenced in my class through the students I teach makes it possible for my class to be dynamic and vibrant. I also directly and indirectly inculcate in my students the need for them to respect one another no matter the nationality, race, colour etc.

The Data Protection Act 1998 which was enacted to bring UK law in line with the European Directive of 1995 required Member States to protect peoples’ fundamental human rights and freedoms, and in particular their right to privacy with respect to the processing of personal data. This provides people with how to control the information about them. My responsibility as a teacher has been that of making sure that the information about my students is kept confidential only to be used professionally for their progress and betterment. For example, it is through students’ data that I am able to plan for teaching and learning methods, differentiation etc.
The legislation makes it a must for teachers to have current Enhanced Disclosure checks by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). This is to safeguard the lives of students from people of questionable character and criminal tendencies. My students knowing that I have undergone such checks makes them feel secure in the teaching learning process.

The above current legislative requirements and code of practice discussed above have been of great importance and immense help as per relevance in my teaching subjects and the organization I work for.

References
Child Protection Act, 1999. Available at: http://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/CURRENT/C/ChildProtectA99.pdf
[Accessed 25 Oct 2010]

Consumer Protection Act, 1987. Available at:
http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file22866.pdf
[Accessed 24 Oct 2010]

Data Protection Act, 1998. Available at:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/contents
[Accessed 25 Oct 2010]

Race Relations Act, 1976. Available at:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1976/74
[Accessed 26 Oct 2010]

Sale of Goods Act, 1979. Available at:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/54
[Accessed 24 Oct 2010]

Supply of Goods and Services Act, 1982. Fact Sheet. Available at:
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/consumers/fact-sheets/page38337.html 
[Accessed 27 Oct 2010]

The Disability Discrimination Act, 1995. Available at:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/50/contents
[Accessed 27 Oct 2010]

The Sex Discrimination Act, 1975. Available at:
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/sex_discrimination_act_1975.pdf
[Accessed 25 Oct 2010]

The Trade Descriptions Act, 1968. Available at:
http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/core.nsf/a/tstradedescr
[Accessed 23 Oct 2010]