Suggested answers in line with current legal & government advice
The school secretary is told by Pupil A that Pupil B is HIV positive. As far as the school secretary knows, no other staff member is aware Pupil B is HIV positive.
1. What actions should the staff member take?
If pupil B truly is HIV positive, the diagnosis will almost certainly have been made by a health practitioner and the pupil will be receiving treatment to control the infection which will potentially limit the onset of AIDS. In diagnosing HIV, the health practitioner will have explored the likelihood of a child protection/safeguarding issue and referral. The school should already have Health & Safety policies which take into consideration that someone on the school site may be HIV positive. A growing number of people are living with HIV infection without it having too much impact on their lives for long periods of time, but the anti-viral drugs may cause side-effects of illness and those infected may suffer periods of depression and anxiety. Due to public misconceptions and prejudice, many infected by HIV/AIDS choose not to tell others about their HIV status.
The government advice is that as a general rule you should treat all personal information you acquire in the course of working with children as confidential as there might be a common law duty of confidence as in this case. The approach to confidential information should be the same whether any proposed disclosure is internally within the school between staff or between external agencies (eg from a teacher to a social worker). However, as the sharing of information between school staff happens frequently it might be argued that pupils and parents/carers expect information which they disclose to one school staff member to probably be disclosed to others unless they have asked for it not to be shared.
The Secretary is not required to do anything but they would probably check out how
Pupil A knows Pupil B is HIV positive. (Is it rumour? It might be a form of bullying.)
If Pupil A has asked the Secretary to keep the information confidential, the
Secretary would need to gain the consent from Pupil A if she is Fraser competent to pass on the information to someone else, (see below), unless she believes that
Pupil B is at risk of bullying by Pupil A or by other pupils. Even if Pupil A refuses to give consent to the Secretary to pass on the information, the Secretary could be legally justified in doing so as Pupil B is the subject of the information and the
Secretary could keep Pupil A’s identity anonymous.
It is not the Secretary’s role to directly question pupil B.
2. Who should be told?
The Secretary should discuss what they know with a senior member of the pastoral care team but should otherwise treat the information confidentially.
3. Why do they need to be told?
The pastoral care staff member should treat the information confidentially but may consider it appropriate to talk with Pupil B and to offer appropriate confidential s upport which might also include confidential conversations with Pupil B’s
726924532 Page: 1 June 2006

parents/carers. With the agreement of the Pupil B, if they are Fraser competent or otherwise their parents/carers, other staff members may be informed confidentially on a need-to-know basis. Depending on the bullying and rumour-mongering, the school may need to offer in-depth support to Pupil B and their family.
4. How and where will anything be recorded?
There is no reason for anything to be recorded although, a school may choose to record this information on a pupil’s confidential medical records. NB Once a pupil is
Fraser competent they are owed a common law duty of confidence and new medical information should not be added without their consent.
5. What are the legal and child protection/safeguarding issues that might affect the scenario? a. HIV is not a notifiable disease. b. Barring someone with HIV/AIDS access to a public service (e.g. school) would be illegal under Disability Discrimination Act. c. HIV is a well known potential risk therefore school Health & Safety policies and first aid arrangements should already take it into consideration along with other blood-borne infections. d. HIV infections are caused by the passing of infected blood, serum and seminal fluid from one person to another. HIV infection may well have been caused by blood transfusion or by a pupil’s mother being HIV positive during pregnancy so there cannot be an assumption that it has been caused by sexual activity which might be subject to Child Protection/safeguarding procedures. e. The common law duty of confidence applies to everyone working with children who become aware of personal information about pupils. When a pupil is Fraser competent it should not be shared with others unless: i. The pupil consents, or ii. There is a child protection/safeguarding concern, or iii. Disclosure is required under a court order or other legal obligation.
726924532 Page: 2 June 2006

Suggested answers in line with current legal & government advice
A boy in Year 10 is struggling with his work. He is upset and other pupils have been calling him names. He tells his teacher that he thinks that he might be gay. He doesn’t know who to speak to and wants to speak to someone about this.
1. What actions should the staff member take? a. The staff member should support and reassure the boy. The teacher should offer confidentiality, but if they are to do something about the name-calling they may need to explain the situation to other staff members and the boy will need to agree to this. b. The teacher may need to discuss with the pupil & colleagues how he can be supported with the work he’s struggling on. This does not require disclosure of the reasons he has given. c. The boy should be supported to access more information and to discuss his sexuality – this may be through the school counsellor/nurse/Connexions PA who can all offer a confidential service, subject to the school policy as well as links to appropriate specialist support services for young people around sexuality if this is what is wanted. d. If the boy has not already discussed his worries with his parent(s)/carer(s) then he might be encouraged and offered support to do so if the boy wishes.
2. Who should be told?
There is no need for anyone to necessarily be informed, though the name-calling may require the issue to be dealt with under the school’s bullying policy. (NB There is guidance in the DfES publication about homophobic bullying, Stand up for us )
3. Why do they need to be told?
4. How and where will anything be recorded?
Nothing about the issue of his sexuality will be recorded unless in the confidential notes of a school nurse/counsellor/Connexions PA if the boy becomes a client of one of these services.
School bullying policies may require incidents to be recorded but this should be in a way that does not associate the individual with concerns about his sexuality unless he consents. If the bullying were so serious as to lead to permanent exclusion for the perpetrator(s) there would need to be a consideration of what goes into this pupil’s witness statement since the excluded pupil(s) and their parents would receive copies of such statements at any appeal hearing.
5. What are the legal and child protection/safeguarding issues that might affect the scenario? a. There are no apparent legal or child protection/safeguarding issues in this scenario unless discussions reveal other issues to be a concern – refer to the Hampshire Safeguarding Children Board Protocol for working with young people under 18 on sexual issues. b. Anti-discrimination legislation might be relevant in this case.
726924532 Page: 3 June 2006

726924532 c. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 recognises that staff may give confidential advice on sexuality to young people, promoting the child’s emotional wellbeing and deleted the former “Clause 28” which prevented schools from
“promoting” homosexuality. d. Ofsted reported in 2003 that schools had much to do to remove homophobic bullying.
Page: 4 June 2006

Suggested answers in line with current legal & government advice
A Year 11 pupil tells a member of the school staff that she had unprotected sex two nights ago and she wants help to get emergency contraception, but doesn’t want the member of staff to tell her parents.
1. What actions should the staff member take? a. The welfare of the young person is paramount. If she had unprotected sex then she may become pregnant, (which she has clearly indicated she does not want), so she needs to access emergency contraception within 72 hours.
The efficacy of emergency contraception drops after about 48 hours so she could be at the point when it really is very urgent that she gets the contraception. In this case, it would strongly be suggested that she is supported to get the contraception first and then move on to deal with the other issues. Other staff members or agencies working on site may be able to provide the practical support to the pupil to obtain the emergency contraception. The pupil should be told whether these staff are able to offer confidentiality (NB Child protection/safeguarding issues override anyone’s ability to offer absolute confidentiality.) b. It depends on which staff member the pupil has told that she had unprotected sex and whether she is 16+ as to whether the staff member would have to “pass it up the line” for the school’s pastoral care managers to make a decision whether the pupil’s parents are to be informed. If she told the school counsellor/nurse/Connexions Personal Adviser, your policy may give them more flexibility over confidentiality (unless it was a Child protection/safeguarding issue) which may be the very reason why she felt able to go to them and ask for support. Staff in this position should always encourage and offer to support the pupil to discuss the issue with her parent(s)/carer(s), particularly if they are under 16. c. Irrespective of which staff member she has told, they will now have to decide whether they feel there is a possible Child protection/safeguarding issue,
(refer to the current Hampshire Safeguarding Children Board’s Protocol on under 18 sexual activity) and if this is the case will need to warn the pupil that they cannot hold confidentiality for this reason but that they will support the pupil during the referral process. d. The pupil also needs to be encouraged to access her local contraceptive and sexual health service as she has had unprotected sex and may have been exposed to a sexually transmitted infection. She may also be regularly sexually active and need appropriate contraception to protect her from unintended pregnancy. Advice on which type of contraception to use should be given by health practitioners, not teachers.
2. Who should be told? a. If the staff member is to transport her or escort her to where she can obtain the emergency contraception then they will need to seek permission from their line manager and to follow the school policy on transport of pupils. The pupil will need to be told that this permission has to be sought but that things
726924532 Page: 5 June 2006

will remain confidential between the staff member and their line manager at this point. It would only be in exceptional circumstances (where the school is acting in the best interests of the welfare of the pupil) that it may directly provide transport to an off-site clinic or health service. If the pupil is in a distressed and/or an emotional state, then she should be accompanied if going off-site as allowing her to go off-site on her own would not be in the best interests of the child. School nurses or Connexions Personal Advisers may be able to assist with transport and providing support to visit health services in some cases. b. If she is under 16 the emergency contraception will only be given to her by a health practitioner or pharmacist if she satisfies them that she is Fraser competent and they have run through the protocol for administering the drug. The school is not administering the drug so does not have to inform the parents/carers. Any woman aged 16+ can purchase emergency contraception from a pharmacist. c. The decision whether to inform the parents/carers will depend upon the school’s confidentiality policy, the age of the pupil and whether a decision has been made to make a Child protection/safeguarding referral – see above. d. Depending on the school’s confidentiality policy and the role of the member of staff approached by the pupil, the issue may need to be raised with one of t he school’s pastoral care managers. e. The Child Protection Liaison Officer will need to be informed if is felt to be a likely Child protection/safeguarding referral.
3. Why do they need to be told?
The school’s confidentiality policy may require certain people to be informed and the Child protection/safeguarding procedures will require others to be informed .
It may be that the male sexual partner is also a school pupil and may want to be supportive of her accessing emergency contraception. He may need to be involved in discussions or to be counselled. It is the girl’s decision as to whether he is involved in supporting her to access emergency contraception.
4. How and where will anything be recorded? a. If a Child protection/safeguarding referral is made then a formal recording must be made. b. Confidential case records may be made by the school nurse/counsellor/Connexions Personal Adviser if appropriate. c. It would not automatically be recorded on a pupil’s school file – it might be felt appropriate if the pupil’s parents had been informed. d. Paragraph 7.13 of the DfES Sex & Relationships Education Guidance (July
2000) says that it is only in the most exceptional case that schools should be in the position of having to handle such information without parental knowledge, and where young pupils are involved, this should be grounds for
726924532 Page: 6 June 2006

serious concern. The Guidance goes on to advise Head Teachers and
Governing Bodies to monitor the frequency of such cases. If such cases occur frequently this points to deficiencies in p upils’ awareness of, and confidence in, sources of confidential medical advice and should be addressed in the school’s Sex & Relationships Education programme.
5. What are the legal and child protection/safeguarding issues that might affect the scenario? a. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 does not intend to criminalise normal adolescent behaviour but to protect everyone from abuse and exploitation.
Whilst the legal age of consent is 16, it is very unlikely that the Crown
Prosecution Service will seek to prosecute a young male of similar age to the girl he has had sex with unless there are issues which indicate abuse or exploitation. b. The Sexual Offences Act also provides a statuary defence to a charge of facilitating the commission of a child sex offence in section 14(3) to cover professionals and laypersons alike so staff may offer and support confidential access to advice and information on contraception and sexual health to young people under 16 within certain parameters:

protecting the young person from sexually transmitted infection, or

protecting the physical safety of the young person, or

preventing the young person from becoming pregnant, or
 promoting the young person’s emotional well-being by the giving of advice as long as they don’t act for the purpose of causing or
e ncouraging an activity constituting an offence or the young person’s
participation in it.
The above does not apply if the person is acting for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification. c. If there is sufficient concern to warrant a child protection/safeguarding referral then this must be carried out. d. There is no legal requirement for schools to inform parents/carers of everything they know about their pupils. e. Careful consideration should be given as to what information is recorded in order to respect confidentiality since parents/carers have a legal right of access to school files. There is an exemption in that a Head Teacher does not have to provide access to any information contained in a pupil’s educational record which the pupil would not be able to access under the
Data Protection Act, (eg information about sexual abuse or child welfare allegations, or information which could seriously harm the pupil’s or anyone else’s mental or physical health).
726924532 Page: 7 June 2006

Suggested answers in line with current legal & government advice
During a one to one review, a pupil discloses to her tutor that she doesn’t want anyone else to know, but she thinks her mother is an alcoholic.
1. What actions should the staff member take?
The tutor should reassure and support the pupil whilst gently trying to find out more about the situation at home. If there is sufficient information to indicate there might be a child protection/safeguarding issue, then the pupil should be told that the tutor will discuss the situation with their Child Protection Liaison Officer under the school’s child protection/safeguarding policy and possibly a senior member of the pastoral care team. She needs to be reassured that all information will remain confidential unless it is felt that a child protection/safeguarding referral will be made.
If that is to be done, then she should be informed and supported.
2. Who should be told?
Depending on the information gathered, it could be the Child Protection Liaison
Officer and/or a senior member of the pastoral care team.
3. Why do they need to be told?
The pupil may need support and be given some flexibility depending on the situation at home. Depending on the information gathered, there might need to be a formal investigati on by the Children’s Services into the parenting capacity of the mother.
4. How and where will anything be recorded?
Depending on the school’s recording policies, a reference to the pupil being upset about her mother may be recorded sensitively. If it is felt that there is a child protection/safeguarding concern, then the decision and reasons to refer, or not to refer, should be should be recorded.
5. What are the legal and child protection issues that might affect the scenario? a. If there is sufficient concern to warrant a child protection/safeguarding referral then this must be carried out. b. Parents have a legal right of access to school files. Care is needed in how something is recorded as “fact” i.e. “X was upset and worried because she thought her mother was an alcoholic” rather than “X’s mother is an alcoholic”
(unless this has been confirmed by other official sources.) c. Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights recognises a right to respect for private and family life. Disclosing such confidential information could cause disruption to this pupil’s family life. This “interference” could be argued to be justified if it is necessary to protect the health and welfare of a child or young person and is a proportionate response, ie the amount of confidential information disclosed and the number of people to whom it is disclosed, should be no more than is strictly necessary to meet the public interest in protecting the health and well-being of the child. d. The Data Protection Act (1998) should not be an obstacle to disclosure where a teacher has particular concerns about the welfare of a child and the
Child protection/safeguarding policies and guidance are followed.
726924532 Page: 8 June 2006

Suggested answers in line with current legal & government advice
A teacher overhears two Year 6 boys talking - Pupil A tells Pupil B that he has seen
Pupil B’s dad kissing his (Pupil A’s) mum on the settee at his home. Pupil A thinks it is funny. Pupil B gets upset and rushes off crying.
1. What actions should the staff member take?
The first priority would be to monitor where Pupil B is going and to offer some comforting words if necessary, without indicating that they had heard what was said.
There may, or may not be truth in what was overheard and there may be a range of things going on which have caused Pupil B to react this way. Gentle questioning in the appropriate time and place away from the earshot of other pupils about why Pupil B ran off looking distressed may reveal Pupil B’s concerns and support can be given as needed.
Pupil A seemed unconcerned about the issue. It might have been a lie and a form of bullying. It might have been an innocent kiss or misconceived as a kiss by Pupil A. The two parents may be starting a relationship. There is an extreme possibility that what
Pupil A witnessed might have been more than kissing, in which case there could be a child protection/safeguarding issue. Having talked with Pupil B, the teacher is better informed to talk quietly in a confidential setting with Pupil A about what he said and why. Care is needed both not to pry into family life and if there is a potential child protection/safeguarding issue, not to prejudice any further investigations by asking too many questions.
2. Who should be told?
Depending on what is disclosed during the conversations, it may be appropriate for the teacher to speak to the form tutor(s)/senior pastoral care staff manager/Child
Protection Liaison Officer. People should only be told on a “need-to-know” basis depending on what the issues are. It may be sufficient to tell some staff that Pupil B is upset about family issues without broadcasting to everyone what has been overheard.
3. Why do they need to be told?
Other school staff may need to be informed to offer appropriate support in order to promote the welfare of Pupil B. If Pupil B continues to remain upset and his education suffers, then it might be appropriate for a pastoral staff manager to speak to Pupil B’s father to explain what the school is experiencing and what they have been told by the pupils – this may need to be done very tactfully as no staff member may know the truth and if Pupil B’s parents are still living together, any allegation may cause great damage to the relationship. (It may be necessary here to weigh up proportionality, ie the risk to damage to home life and privacy as opposed to the risks to the child if not mentioned.
Pupils A and B would not necessarily anticipate their teacher breaking their confidentiality by disclosing information to Pupil B’s father. What could be done to ensure Pupils A and B consent to disclosure or at least understand why their teacher cannot keep the information confidential?) If there is a child protection/safeguarding concern about Pupil A then the school procedures must be followed.
4. How and where will anything be recorded?
In these circumstances nothing would necessarily be recorded unless it was a child protection/safeguarding concern in which case reasons behind the decision to refer, or not to refer, should be recorded. If the distress to Pupil B was ongoing, it might be
726924532 Page: 9 June 2006

relevant to record he was going through a period of distress relating to apparent family issues but no further detail unless volunteered by Pupil B’s parents themselves.
5. What are the legal and child protection/safeguarding issues that might affect the scenario? a. If there is sufficient concern to warrant a child protection/safeguarding referral then this must be carried out. b. Parents have a legal right of access to school files. Care is needed in how something is recorded as “fact” – see 4 above. c. Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights recognises a right to respect for private and family life. Disclosing such confidential information could cause disruption to this pupil’s family life. This “interference” could be argued to be justified if it is necessary to protect the health and welfare of a child or a young person and is a proportionate response, i.e. the amount of confidential information disclosed and the number of people to whom it is disclosed should be no more than is strictly necessary to meet the public interest in protecting the health and well-being of the child. d. The Data Protection Act (1998) should not be an obstacle to disclosure where a teacher has particular concerns about the welfare of a child and the Child
Protection policies and guidance are followed.
726924532 Page: 10 June 2006

Suggested answers in line with current legal & government advice
As Deputy Head of an Infant School, you take a telephone call from a very angry father complaining bitterly about one of your teachers, Mr A. Apparently the father and his wife were shocked and appalled when they saw Mr A leaving a local gay pub, “clearly with another man”. He is demanding that his son is moved from Mr
A’s class immediately. Mr A has never given any idea about his sexual orientation to you.
1. What actions should the staff member take?
The father will need to be informed that the legal situation entitles people to teach, irrespective of their sexual orientation. Whether Mr A is gay or not is irrelevant as to how good a teacher he is. It would be highly exceptional to move a pupil (assuming that was possible) from one class to another because of such a complaint.
It might be felt appropriate to inform the father whether there is a formal complaints process for hi m to follow if he is unhappy with the school’s response.
The father may need to be warned that the police take complaints about homophobic abuse seriously and if Mr A, or the school, have cause for a complaint about the father’s behaviour, they will report it to the police. If the father was to make offensive remarks to his son about Mr A then this would be likely to impact on his son’s learning.
The father might ask that the reason for his request to move his son is kept confidential from Mr A. This potentially places the Deputy Head Teacher in a difficult position. (The
Deputy Head Teacher may wish to obtain Personnel advice before agreeing to keep the father’s concerns confidential from Mr A.) If the pupil was moved to another class and the true reason not given to Mr A, should it be subsequently revealed, perhaps by the parents telling their son or other members of the local community, Mr A may feel that his employers have supported prejudice against him and take appropriate legal action.
2. Who should be told?
The head teacher would need to be confidentially informed. If the father has made a confidential request for the transfer of his son to another class, then the issues will need to be carefully considered
– see above. It would be advisable for the head teacher to discuss the issue with the school’s legal advisers as soon as possible in order that both the school and Mr A can be prepared if the father takes further action.
Mr A would need to be confidentially informed about the telephone conversation and offered support to deal with issues which might arise. (The exception to this would be when the father has asked for the reason for his son’s transfer to remain confidential and the Head teacher is prepared to support this, having considered the potential legal issues it might present).
No-one else should be informed unless Mr A consents or unless a formal complaint is made and the process requires this to happen. In this case, information should be disclosed on a “need-to-know” basis.
726924532 Page: 11 June 2006

3. Why do they need to be told?
The Head Teacher will probably become the centre for communications and decisions on this issue if it develops further.
Mr A needs to be prepared for potentially difficult times and to be open about his sexuality if that is his choice.
In exceptional circumstances, if the father generates a controversy in the community, other staff members will hear things or see protests via pupils and parents so the Head
Teacher may need to prepare staff accordingly.
4. How and where will anything be recorded?
Nothing would need to be recorded unless the angry father was causing disruption which may require involvement by legal services, or unless the father makes a formal complaint.
5. What are the legal and child protection issues that might affect the scenario? a. There is no child protection/ safeguarding issue. b. Mr A is protected by employment discrimination legislation. The Employment
Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 came into effect on 1 December
2003 and outlaw discrimination in employment and vocational training on the grounds of sexual orientation. c. Would there be a legal issue if the angry father directly or indirectly started to make it impossible for Mr A to teach? A parent normally has a licence to enter the school’s premises, but a Head teacher has power to terminate that licence, thereby banning the parent from the premises, but only after due notice and after giving the parent an opportunity to make representations. If the harassment takes place off the school premises it may be necessary for Mr A to make a complaint to the Police.
726924532 Page: 12 June 2006

Suggested answers in line with current legal & government advice
The work of Sarah in Year 5 has been deteriorating recently and she often seems tearful for no apparent reason. Her class teacher has consoled her but she won’t say what is really bothering her, other than it’s to do with her family and the teacher must speak to her mother to know more. When the teacher speaks to Sarah’s mother, she discloses that Sarah’s older sister, Claire, now in Year 8 of a local secondary school, was sexually assaulted by a stranger three weeks ago whilst the family were on holiday at the other end of the country – the police have arrested someone but Claire and her mother don’t want news to get out that she was the victim.
1. What actions should the staff member take?
Sarah’s teacher needs to confirm that she will not pass on this information to other people but express her concern that it is affecting the welfare of Sarah. Therefore, she feels it would be helpful if the head teacher was to be informed and the mother could help Sarah to cope by letting her speak about what is happening to her class teacher, or someone else in the school.
The teacher could offer to find out if there is some family support which could help them to cope. She could also suggest to the mother/offer to help her seek more family support through their police contacts and to offer to help her access this support.
2. Who should be told?
The teacher would need to make a judgement about the need to maintain confidentiality for Claire and her mother against the welfare considerations for Sarah – it is very likely that she will feel she must inform the head teacher, even if Sara h’s mother does not want this. The Head Teacher will need to make a judgement about whether to speak to Sarah’s mother and to offer the support of school staff or to secure additional family support – she can promise confidentiality on a “need-to-know” basis.
3. Why do they need to be told?
Sarah’s welfare is being harmed by not being able to cope with the stress to the family and having to keep everything secret.
4. How and where will anything be recorded?
It may be appropriate to record on Sarah’s records that she has been going through a period of emotional stress due to family issues and details of any additional services which the school may have arranged for Sarah or the family to access. It would be inappropriate for any direct mention/inference of the sexual assault to her sister to be recorded in school records.
726924532 Page: 13 June 2006

5. What are the legal and child protection/ safeguarding issues that might affect the scenario? a. Issues around the sexual assault of Sarah’s older sister, Claire are already being dealt with by the Police who should have activated local victim support services. b. Sarah’s emotional development may be harmed by the family stress, so if continued offers of support are resisted, it might become a formal child protection/ safeguarding issue. c. Claire is legally entitled to anonymity and great efforts must be taken to ensure this is not broken. d. Pupil records should only contain information appropriate to the pupil’s education and welfare
– they should not contain information about other people unless it is relevant, factual and if confidential, marked as such. When disclosure of records is sought it will then be possible to make an assessment on disclosure in accordance with the relevant terms and conditions of the Data Protection Act 1998 and orders there-under.
726924532 Page: 14 June 2006

Suggested answers in line with current legal & government advice
Teacher, Ms S, has been showing great signs of stress recently, such that it has become the “buzz” of the staff room and she seems to be losing her concentration with her class. As Deputy Head, you ask her to meet you and in the conversation she breaks down into tears, telling you that she had an affair with married teacher,
Mr C, which has just ended and she has discovered she is 5 weeks pregnant. She hasn’t decided whether to continue her pregnancy and doesn’t want anyone else in the school to know about it, particularly Mr C. She’s confident that no-one else knows about the affair. Mr C’s wife is a friend of the school’s Head Teacher.
1. What actions should the staff member take?
Ms S should be reassured that confidentiality will be maintained by the Deputy Head and support should be offered to Ms S to access her GP or health services so that she can discuss more fully her options about the pregnancy. Information on the confidential Hampshire County Council Employee Support Service should be provided so that she can talk with someone about her personal issues. More practical support needs (e.g. agreement to some time away from work or time for an urgent appointment to be made with her GP) may be appropriate.
Both teachers may have broken a staff school code of practice, particularly if it is a faithbased school, though this is unlikely. In these circumstances, the school’s disciplinary process would have to be followed, though it would be sensible for this not to be put into action until Ms S has decided on her pregnancy options.
2. Who should be told?
The Head Teacher may need to be informed about Ms S going through a stressful situation and possibly needing some time from work but due to the friendship between the head teacher and M r C’s wife, it may be inappropriate to inform the Head Teacher in detail about the reasons. However, the Head Teacher is expected to be able to treat information she is privy to in a professional manner so should be able to separate her professional and personal life.
If there is a school code of practice which the two teachers may have broken and possibly be subject to disciplinary procedures the appropriate people will need to be informed, along with Mr C and Ms S, though the timing of this could be delayed until Ms
S has decided on her pregnancy options.
3. Why do they need to be told?
The Head Teacher may need to authorise staff absence and will want to be aware of staffing issues.
Any disciplinary process, which is likely to be initiated through the Head Teacher, is a contractual obligation.
726924532 Page: 15 June 2006

4. How and where will anything be recorded?
Any absence of Ms S will need to be recorded on her personnel records with appropriate reasons which do not go into more detail than is required by the personnel system. Nothing would be recorded on personnel records about the affair or Mr C.
If school disciplinary procedures are to be followed, only established facts can be recorded. Mr C may deny the affair and deny being the father of the baby if the pregnancy is continued – it could be a fabrication by Ms S.
5. What are the legal and child protection issues that might affect the scenario? a. There are no child protection/ safeguarding issues. b. Ms S is owed a duty of confidence by the Deputy Head and if the Head Teacher is informed confidentially, also by the Head Teacher. c. All staff are legally entitled to read their personnel records (relating to their work role) under the terms of the Data Protection Act. There are exemptions under the terms and conditions set out in the Data Protection Act, for example, it would not be necessary to disclose negotiations over a return to work. Third party information would not be disclosed without consent (NB Other members of staff are not classed as third parties).
726924532 Page: 16 June 2006