Risk Management In Schools

SA Cummins Dr Philip

Description

How is risk managed in your school? Is it dealt with internally, by an external agent, or not at all?This book is an introduction to the necessary maintenance and management of risk in schools. The concept of risk in schools is not a fad: the 'risk movement' is important and is not going away. Schools must be thinking about developing strategic processes that foster an understanding of risk management as being the natural outcome of a professional school culture.There are many approaches to risk management. This book advocates a whole school approach, let by the School Board and Principal, wit structured processes and a clearly defined framework. It champions a view of risk whereby regular review is inherent within the school operations and culture.

Informations

• Publié par: CIRCLE
• Date de parution: 18 février 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783015962
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Risk Management In Schools
Dr Philip SA Cummins
Dr Philip SA Cummins May 2012
This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be stored or reproduced by any process without prior written permission.
National Library of Australia Cataloguing in publication data:
Risk Management In Schools ISBN 978-0-9872869-4-9
Please refer to the National Library of Australia website for cataloguing in publication details.
INTRODUCTION
The chapters that follow are interrelated, but each chapter provides a particular approach to risk management. Where material referred to in other chapters is useful to the interpretation of particular content, those chapters are noted. This book otherwise presents a coherent and consistent approach to the introduction and maintenance of effective risk management in schools. It advocates a whole school approach, led by the Board and Principal, with structured processes and a clearly defined framework.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Risk Management Is The Natural Outcome Of A Professional School Culture
Chapter 2: Managing Risk - A Charter and Process
Chapter 3: Making Risk Management Happen - A Strategic Process To a Culture of Risk Management
Chapter 4: A Strategic Approach to Developing A Risk Management Framework
Chapter 5: Risk Management - An Approach to Audit, Training and Access to Professional Expertise
Chapter 6: Risk Management - Consultant or Do It Yourself
Chapter 7: Risk Management - Embedding, Not Shelving The Risk Report
Chapter 8: Risk and Board Expectations
Appendix A: Risk List of Increasing School Public Accountability
About the Author
Editorial and Production
Chapter One: RISK MANAGEMENT IS THE NATURAL OUTCOME OF A PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL CULTURE
This chapter defines and introduces the concept of risk.
Risk
The Pharmaceuticals Industry Body in the USA defines risk as:
The combination of the probability of occurrence of harm and the severity of that harm. Achieving a shared understanding of the application of risk management among diverse stakeholders is difficult because each stakeholder may perceive different potential harms, place different probability on the occurrence of each harm and attribute different severities of the harm.
The debate about what constitutes risk in a school can be complex, even hostile. There are the views and voices that seek to minimise risk, and others who see it everywhere. However, avoiding or oversimplifying the debate is not an acceptable solution to the challenge of managing the risk agenda of a school.
The essential characteristics of the culture of schools preparing to manage risk include these views and attitudes about risk management as being: Not about stopping teacher initiatives. Not about damaging successful traditional school programs. Not about stopping schools or organisations undertaking creative and exciting programs. About prudently anticipating where the school s total program potentially exposes members of the school community to accident or damage, and increasing the potential to avoid it and to protect members from unreasonable accidental occurrence wherever possible. About identifying the school s responsibility for any untoward event, and how it may and should provide against such liability.
Managing risk
The challenge of managing risk in a school is the challenge of establishing an educational environment or culture where discussion of risk can be realistic, comprehensive, and productive rather than political, where vested interests rule the discussion and necessary change is not achieved. A school in the twenty-first century must manage risk in all its complexity. This complexity includes defining risk at the school and defining the processes to manage each and all risk.
Managing risk in the first instance is about creating a process to enable the school to indicate that it has adopted appropriate diligence with regard to any particular program or event or location of the school. This diligence inhibits the risk of harm to all participants and reduces school liability.
It may take some little time to understand the implications of risk management for your school, particularly if you are just starting a formal process. You will only be successful in managing risk if the culture of your school is operating with contemporary management principles and where the whole staff have a willing and cooperative role in the conception and process of risk management. Schools where risk is relegated only to a yearly review or allocated to the responsibility of an individual or small group such as the Occupational Health and Safety Committee are not sufficiently managing risk.
Managing risk means setting up a logical and systematic method of identifying, analysing, treating and monitoring the risks involved in any activity or process under the auspice of, or associated with, the school. It requires a school culture that has established high standards of educational discussion and problem solving that is genuinely part of the expectations of all staff.
Schools with a top down more autocratic culture can legislate for risk management and staff training, but are less likely to achieve the embedded, shared culture needed for staff to own and add value to risk management processes. It is simply one of those things that has to be done.
Whatever the leadership culture, school expectations with respect to managing risk need to be clear and set in terms of all staff complying with the agreed or required processes.
Contexts of risk
We have noted above that all aspects of a school s program should ultimately be considered in a school s risk management framework, which is discussed further in Chapter 4.
However, when a school is in the early stages of development in its approach to managing risk, six key contexts may first be considered as more familiar:
Student welfare risk
When there is a decline in the morale, welfare, safety and quality of students.
Staff welfare risk
When there is a decline in the morale, welfare, safety and quality of staff.
Financial risk
Financial risk management focuses on risks that can be managed using standard business principles to protect a school s financial administration from direct human error and/or manipulation and from electronic error, invasion and breakdown. While financial risk can be well managed by standard business principles, the need is still to ensure they are being applied appropriately.
Legal risk
Legal risk involves potential lawsuits of various kinds against the school and its officers, usually as a direct result of school managed situations on and off the academic campus.
Physical risk
Physical risk can arise from fires, weather change, vehicle accidents; i.e. things over which the school has no direct control, but it can also arise from the situations into which the school and its officers place the students in the school s care. In this case, legal risk and liability is also involved.
Reputational risk
When there is a diminution in the size and quality of the school community as a result of damage to the reputation and standing of the school in the wider community.
Defensive mechanisms
Given that risk management is the process of measuring, or assessing risk, and then developing mechanisms or strategies to manage the risk, in general, the defensive strategies include: Transferring the risk to another party, or at least sharing it. Avoiding the risk. Reducing the negative effect of the risk. Accepting some or all of the consequences of a particular risk.
Transferring/sharing risk
This is an option in situations where you decide that the core business of the school is not able to provide you with the professional expertise needed to meet the standards that you expect and require. Examples of this might be some sport coaching areas and outdoor education activities such as waterbased activity, skiing, horse riding, isolated bush work or rope work.
Avoiding risk
This is a necessary strategy when an activity is viewed as too challenging or beyond the experience and capacity of the student age group. Such a view can, however, also discourage schools from providing opportunities where challenge is a reasonable educational objective. Schools need advice and considerable practice in deciding the limits of acceptable challenges. One essential step is to assess the staff capacity to manage any foreseeable difficulty.
Reducing risk
This includes many strategic options; for example, better staff and student training, smaller staff/student support ratios and, deliberative venue selection by advance parties, are all simple options to consider.
Accepting risk
This should involve detailed discussion with the school s insurers and legal advisors, and with the school s partners in any particular enterprise.
Risk and/or opportunity
Risk and opportunity go hand in hand. Many new school program projects strive to advance the current capabilities of students and staff to achieve something that they and the school have not done before. The opportunity for advancement cannot be achieved without taking risk.
Risk in itself is not bad; risk is essential to progress, and failure is often a key part of learning.