Draft Education (Amendment No.3) (Jersey) Law 201-: Lodging

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A decision made on 15 June 2017:

Decision Reference: MD-ESC-2017-0013
Decision Summary Title :	Addition of Article 36A to the Education (Jersey) Law 1999		Date of Decision Summary:	13 June 2017
Decision Summary Author:	Director - Policy & Planning		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	Restrictive Physical Intervention – Amendment to the Education (Jersey) Law 1999		Date of Written Report:	6 June 2017
Written Report Author:	Director - Policy & Planning		Written Report: Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: To amend the Education (Jersey) Law 1999 by including Article 36A, to stipulate when and in what context school staff will be permitted to use a restrictive physical intervention on a child.
Decision(s): The Minister approved the draft Education (Amendment No. 3) (Jersey) Law 201- and decided to lodge it ‘au Greffe’ on the earliest possible date in order to include Article 36A with immediate effect.
Reason(s) for Decision: There is currently no specific legislation governing the use of restrictive physical intervention (RPI) by staff in schools. However, the Education Department has in place a robust policy and training programme based on best practice. The Education Minister is proposing to amend the Education (Jersey) Law 1999 in order to: Clarify the legal position of teachers and other school staff in the event they need to use a physical intervention when dealing with a child and when this is appropriate; More closely align Jersey and UK codes of practice and legislation on this subject; Provide clearer guidance for teachers and other staff in charge of children in Jersey schools in this potentially difficult area, particularly those recruited and trained from the English system.
Resource Implications: There are no additional resource implications with this proposed amendment. A robust policy and training programme based on best practice is already in place.
Action required: The Greffier of the States to be requested to arrange for the draft Law to be lodged ‘au Greffe’ on the earliest possible date.
Signature:		Position: Minister for Education
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):