We're halfway through 2022 and it's already been a huge year for schools. School Governance wanted to highlight some of our most read articles in 2022 (so far), as well as offer some additional resources where relevant. Many topics remained consistently popular for Australian schools including risk, compliance, and child protection.

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Here are the ‘Top 6’ School Governance articles for 2022 (so far). Click on the article title to read the full article. There are also some links to helpful resources below.

6.

The Burden of Activity Risk Management on Teachers: Some Issues to Consider

In this article CompliSpace’s Principal Consultant, Risk and Compliance, Jonathan Oliver, answers some questions about risk assessment and ‘repeat’ activities, risk control policy development, and sports competitions among schools that are not run by a sports association and related risks.

📚 HELPFUL RESOURCE: CompliSpace recently held a webinar on the burden of risk management on teachers. To learn more and request your copy, click here.

5.

Working with Children Checks: Royal Commission Review

December 2022 will mark five years since the close of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and the release of its final report. To observe the significant impact that the Royal Commission has had on schools and the forthcoming five-year anniversary of its closure, we are writing a series of articles over the course of 2022, exploring the Royal Commission’s recommendations and their implementation throughout the country. This article explores the impact of the Royal Commission’s recommendations in relation to Working with Children Checks.

📚 HELPFUL RESOURCE: CompliSpace recently held a webinar with Marist Schools Australia on how they created a child safe culture. To learn more and request your copy, click here.

4. 

Harmonised Work Health and Safety Laws and the Obligations of the School Executive and Board: a Reminder for Most and an Introduction for WA Schools

What you need to know and do if you are to carry out your workplace health and safety obligations as an “officer” of a school (and keep your staff, students, and others affected by the school’s activities, safe).

3.

Sports Coaches – Managing the Risks

Schools use a significant number of sports coaches to assist in the effective running of their sports programs. These coaches can include casual staff, volunteers, or staff employed by third-party sports coaching companies. This article focuses on some of the key risks for schools associated with sports coaches and sports volunteers and how to effectively manage these risks.

2.

TikTok: What Are the Dangers and What Should Schools Do?

While many pre-teen students and most teen students enjoy using TikTok and the ‘fun’ associated with it, recent investigations and research indicate that it presents a number of dangers that in many cases the students themselves (and parents and carers) are unaware of and, even when aware, can find difficult to address. In this article, we discuss some of the issues and potential dangers associated with TikTok and what schools should do to seek to address these.

📚 HELPFUL RESOURCE: CompliSpace published a white paper designed to assist school leaders with understanding and managing their social media risks. Request your copy of the white paper "Managing Social Media Risk in Schools" here.

1.

What If a Student Wants to Change the Gender on their School Records? Navigating the Issues

Recently there has been a lot of media attention regarding the manner in which some non-government schools manage issues relating to the gender identity of students, prospective students, and even past students. The debate around the religious discrimination Bills that were recently before Federal Parliament has only brightened the spotlight on these issues. Regardless of this media attention, many schools have begun to assess their school policies and practices with a focus on creating an environment where all students, including transgender and gender-expansive students, feel that they belong and are safe and welcome in the school.