Freedom Of Information Act Policy
From Wiki
The governing body is responsible for maintenance of this scheme.
1. Introduction: what a publication scheme is and why it has been developed
One of the aims of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (which is referred to as FOIA in the rest of this document) is that public authorities, including all maintained schools, should be clear and proactive about the information they will make public.
To do this we must produce a publication scheme, setting out:
- The classes of information which we publish or intend to publish;
- The manner in which the information will be published; and
- Whether the information is available free of charge or on payment.
The scheme covers information already published and information which is to be published in the future. All information in our publication scheme is available in paper form.
Some information which we hold may not be made public, for example personal information.
This publication scheme conforms to the model scheme for schools approved by the Information Commissioner.
2. Aims and Objectives
The school aims to:
- enable every child to fulfil their learning potential, with education that meets the needs of each child,
- help every child develop the skills, knowledge and personal qualities needed for life and work,
and this publication scheme is a means of showing how we are pursuing these aims.
3. Categories of information published
The publication scheme guides you to information which we currently publish (or have recently published) or which we will publish in the future. This is split into categories of information known as ‘classes’. These are contained in section 6 of this scheme.
The classes of information that we undertake to make available are organised into four broad topic areas:
- School Prospectus – information published in the school prospectus.
- The School Profile and other information relating to the governing body – information published in the School Profile and in other governing body documents.
- Pupils & Curriculum – information about policies that relate to pupils and the school curriculum.
- School Policies and other information related to the school - information about policies that relate to the school in general.
4. How to request information
If you require a paper version of any of the documents within the scheme, please contact the school by telephone, email, fax or letter. Contact details are set out below.
Email: [contact email address]
Tel.: [contact telephone number]
Fax: [contact fax number]
Contact Address: [school address]
To help us process your request quickly, please clearly mark any correspondence “PUBLICATION SCHEME REQUEST” (in CAPITALS please)
If the information you’re looking for isn’t available via the website or other publically available sources, you can still contact the school to ask if we have it.
5. Paying for information
Information published on our website is free, although you may incur costs from your Internet service provider. If you don’t have Internet access, you can access our website using a local library or an Internet café.
Single copies of information covered by this publication are provided free unless stated otherwise in section 6. If your request means that we have to do a lot of photocopying or printing, or pay a large postage charge, or is for a priced item such as some printed publications or videos we will let you know the cost before fulfilling your request. Where there is a charge this will be indicated by a £ sign in the description box.
6. Classes of Information Currently Published
School Prospectus – this section sets out information published in the school prospectus.
| Class | Description |
| School Prospectus | The statutory contents of the school prospectus are as follows, (other items may be included in the prospectus at the school’s discretion, or items may be located in other areas and available on request):
|
The School Profile and other information relating to the governing body– this section sets out information published in the School Profile and in other governing body documents.
| Class | Description |
| School Profile | The contents of the school profile is as follows:
• list information included in the school profile e.g.
|
| Instrument of Government | • The name of the school
• The category of the school • The name of the governing body • The manner in which the governing body is constituted • The term of office of each category of governor if less than 4 years • The name of any body entitled to appoint any category of governor • Details of any trust • If the school has a religious character, a description of the ethos The date the instrument takes effect |
| Minutes [**] of meeting of the governing body and its committees | Agreed minutes of meetings of the governing body and its committees [current and last full academic school year] |
[**]Some information might be confidential or otherwise exempt from the publication by law – we cannot therefore publish this
| Class | Description |
| | Statement of the school’s aims and values, the school’s responsibilities, the parental responsibilities and the school’s expectations of its pupils for example homework arrangements |
| | Statement on following the policy for the secular curriculum subjects and religious education and schemes of work and syllabuses currently used by the school |
| | Statement of policy with regard to sex and relationship education |
| | Information about the school's policy on providing for pupils with special educational needs
|
| | Plan for increasing participation of disabled pupils in the school’s curriculum, improving the accessibility of the physical environment and improving delivery of information to disabled pupils. |
| | Statement of policy for promoting race equality |
| | Statement of arrangements for the required daily act of collective worship |
| | Statement of the programmes of careers education provided for Key 4. |
| | Statement of policy for safeguarding and promoting welfare of pupils at the school. (from March 2004) |
| | Statement of general principles on behaviour and discipline and of measures taken by the head teacher to prevent bullying. |
[**]Some information might be confidential or otherwise exempt from the publication by law – we cannot therefore publish this
| Class | Description |
| Published reports of Ofsted referring expressly to the school | Published report of the last inspection of the school and, where appropriate, inspection reports of religious education in those schools designated as having a religious character |
| Ofsted inspection Self-Evaluation Form[**]
| A statement of the governing body’s evaluation of the school’s performance. |
| Charging and Remissions Policies | A statement of the school’s policy with respect to charges and remissions for any optional extra or board and lodging for which charges are permitted, for example school publications, music tuition, trips |
| School session times and term dates | Details of school session and dates of school terms and holidays |
| Health and Safety Policy and risk assessment | Statement of general policy with respect to health and safety at work of employees (and others) and the organisation and arrangements for carrying out the policy |
| Complaints procedure | Statement of procedures for dealing with complaints |
| Performance Management of Staff | Statement of procedures adopted by the governing body relating to the performance management of staff and the annual report of the head teacher on the effectiveness of appraisal procedures |
| Staff Conduct, Discipline and Grievance | Statement of procedure for regulating conduct and discipline of school staff and procedures by which staff may seek redress for grievance |
| Pay Policy | Statement of the school’s policy regarding teachers’ pay including procedures for determining teachers’ grievances in relation to their pay. |
| Staffing Structure Implementation Plan | The school’s plan for the implementation of any changes to its staffing structure following statutory review. |
| Curriculum circulars and statutory instruments | Any statutory instruments, departmental circulars and administrative memoranda sent by the Department of Education and Skills to the head teacher or governing body relating to the curriculum |
| Admissions policy | Statement of the schools policy on admissions. |
| Appendix I - Other documents | Appendix I provides a list of other documents that are held by the school and are available on request |
[**]Some information might be confidential or otherwise exempt from the publication by law – we cannot therefore publish this
7. Feedback and Complaints
We welcome any comments or suggestions you may have about the scheme. If you want to make any comments about this publication scheme or if you require further assistance or wish to make a complaint then initially this should be addressed to [name], [school name], [school address].
If you are not satisfied with the assistance that you get or if we have not been able to resolve your complaint and you feel that a formal complaint needs to be made then this should be addressed to the Information Commissioner’s Office. This is the organisation that ensures compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and that deals with formal complaints. They can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF or Enquiry/Information Line: 01625 545 700
E Mail: publications@ic-foi.demon.co.uk.
Website: www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
Originally submitted by GrumbleDook
