The Small Print

New and updated guidance

We continue to write new guidance and will be publishing a new suite of guidance for gardening and grounds works, following a conversation with a school in Guernsey who do a lot of work outdoors. Take a look at the ‘What’s New’ links on the website.

We published our guide on supporting pupils with Coeliac disease last term, which has been well received in schools, and we continue to update out advice on food ingredients.

There has been a recent consultation on how to manage allergens in schools and we will update our advice where necessary, when the new regulations come into effect, which could be later this year. Until the regulations are finalised, our existing guidance is still appropriate.

To keep abreast of updates to our publications, use the ‘What’s New’ links on the site. We also keep an up-to-date index of the MRATs (MRAT index) which identifies which MRATs have been updated and when, with a note explaining why the changes were made.

Heads of Department

We get lots of helplines about what training new staff will need. This is particularly true this term as new appointments for September starts are made. Heads of D&T and A+D may find it useful to refresh their understanding of the training and induction needs of new staff. We have some useful guides focussing on this area:

GL494 Training for D T staff

GL392 Induction for teachers of DT food and art

GL388 Training Plan

We also recommend that HoDs encourage their staff to work through the CLEAPSS online training course “Health & safety in Design Technology self-study course”, this is free to members. It takes approximately 60 minutes to work through the 5 short videos and the associated activities.

This can also be used as the basis of a departmental meeting or INSET day activity. If, having worked through this, you, or your colleagues, still have questions, you can sign up for the online follow-up session “Health & safety in Design Technology follow on course (online)” where we pose some new questions and address any concerns you have. This costs £95 per person and runs once a term.