Useful Resources for School Leaders
As schools, colleges and nurseries are set to remain open this Autumn and Winter following insistence from the government, Ellis Whittam is continuing to produce free resources to help education providers implement and maintain COVID-secure measures to reduce the risk of transmission in their settings.
The challenge of welcoming pupils and staff safely, and overcoming the various employment-related issues this presents – all while maintaining educational standards – is no small feat. These resources are designed to help you simplify your safety responsibilities and approach difficult employee situations confidently, and safely.
If you don’t employ an in-house team, or your staff don’t have the necessary expertise to deal with complex health and safety or people issues, external support in the form of our simple, personalised service is a perfect solution. Why not arrange a time to talk to us using the form opposite?
Free COVID-19 Templates and Resources
Risk Assessment Templates
From a health and safety perspective, there has been very little relaxation of legislation or standards for schools during COVID-19. In fact, compliance has never been more important.
Risk assessment is an essential part of keeping your pupils, staff and others safe and fulfilling your legal duty of care during coronavirus. Any organisation that employs five or more people must conduct a risk assessment and keep a written record of key findings and controls. As well as being a legal requirement, this will support good governance by helping you to demonstrate the steps you are taking to keep people safe, which will in turn:
- Enable you to share your arrangements with those they affect
- Encourage a return to work
- Increase stakeholder confidence
- Reduce risk and protect your school from regulatory scrutiny
To help you, our Health & Safety Team has created education-specific COVID-19 Risk Assessment Templates that reflect government guidance and can be adapted to suit your environment and practices. Download for free using the buttons below.
Emergency Action Plan for Schools
Our Employment Law specialists have produced practical guidance for school leaders, setting out the steps required if you believe you have (had) a person with coronavirus (COVID-19) at your school
Download for free using the button below.
Guide to Changing Terms and Conditions of Employment
Throughout the pandemic schools will need to consider their workforce arrangements: who will return to work and in what form? You may need to ask employees to work in a different way, including amending their start and finish times and perhaps redeploying them to different roles or departments.
To help you, our Employment Law specialists have produced practical guidance for school leaders, setting out the steps required to bring about any contractual amendments. Download for free using the buttons below.
If you find these essential documents useful, why not schedule a free no-obligation call with one of our friendly team using the form opposite to talk through your school’s Employment Law and Health & Safety requirements and the range of support available.
COVID-19 live Q&A: How to safely reopen your school
At Ellis Whittam, we speak to educational leaders every day, offering support with their employment and safety-related challenges. Our recent webinar therefore covers some of the issues we know to be front of mind right now, including:
- The right way to deal with anxious staff and refusals to work;
- Managing pregnant staff and staff with disabilities;
- Restructuring and redundancies (planning, process and notice periods);
- For independent schools, how to change terms and conditions;
- Handling health and safety issues raised by unions;
- Dealing with dysfunctional management teams; and
- Other everyday operational difficulties and managing difficult employees.
Hit play now for for direction, clarity and reassurance from our leading Education Employment Law and Health & Safety specialists.
Meet the Education specialists
Jane Hallas
Head of Team and Solicitor
Scott Crichton
Senior Health & Safety Consultant
Anna Jones
Director - National Accounts
Coronavirus Advice Hub
To access our full range of regularly updated resources for schools, including a COVID-19 Health & Safety Policy Template, staff training videos and various management checklists, visit our free Coronavirus Advice Hub now.
- Angela Whyte, Service Manager, East Pollokshields Out Of School Care Service