This is the Our Lady and St. Patrick’s College, Knock Publication Scheme on information available under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.  The governing body is responsible for maintenance of this scheme.

1.     INTRODUCTION: WHAT A PUBLICATION SCHEME IS AND WHY IT HAS BEEN DEVELOPED

One of the aims of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (which is referred to as FOIA in the rest of this document) is that public authorities, including all maintained schools, should be clear and proactive about the information they will make public.  To do this we must produce a publication scheme, setting out:

·       The classes of information which we publish or intend to publish;

·       The manner in which the information will be published; and

·       Whether the information is available free of charge or on payment .

The scheme covers information already published and information which is to be published in the future.  All information in our publication scheme is either available for you on our website (www.knock.co.uk) to download and print off or available for  you in paper form.  Some information which we hold may not be made public, for example personal information.  This publication scheme conforms to the model scheme for schools approved by the Information Commissioner.

2.     AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The school aims:

·       To develop the “whole person” as a follower of Christ.

·       To create a believing community committed to the Christian way of Life.

·       To promote the philosophy and values of Catholic Education.

·       To promote justice in all areas of College Life.

·       To prepare the individual to live in a changing social, political, cultural and technological environment.

·       To enable students to realise their academic potential to the full and to develop all their gifts and talents.

·       To help students develop positive attitudes, lively enquiring minds and the ability to question and use arguments based on reason.

·       To help students prepare for adulthood by enabling them to acquire knowledge and skills relevant to their adult life.

·       To help students understand the world in which we live and the need for mutual respect and co-operation between individuals, groups and peoples.

This publication is a means of showing how we are pursuing these aims.

3.     CATEGORIES OF INFORMATION PUBLISHED

The publication scheme guides you to information which we currently publish (or have recently published) or which we will publish in the future.  This is split into categories of information known as ‘classes’.  These are contained in section 6 of this scheme.

The classes of information that we undertake to make available are organised into four broad topic areas:

School Prospectus - information published in the school prospectus.

Governor’s Documents - information published in the Governor’s Annual Report and in other governing body documents.

Students & Curriculum - information about policies that relate to students and the school curriculum.

School Policies and other information related to the school - information about policies that relate to the school in general.

4.     HOW TO REQUEST INFORMATION

If you require a paper version of any of the documents within the scheme please contact the school by telephone, e-mail, fax or letter.  Contact details are set out below, our you can visit our website at www.knock.co.uk.

E-mail:                        olspc_knock@yahoo.co.uk

Tel:                              028 9040 1184

Fax:                              028 9079 9890

Contact Address :      Our Lady & St. Patrick’s College, Knock

                                    Kingsway Gardens

                                    Belfast

                                    BT5 7DQ

To help us process your request quickly, please clearly mark any correspondence “PublicationScheme Request”.  If the information you’re looking for is not available via the scheme (and isn’t on our website) you can still contact the school to ask if we have it.

5.   PAYING FOR INFORMATION

Information published on our website is free, although you may incur costs from your internet service provider.  If you don’t have internet access, you can access our website using a local library or an internet café.  Single copies of information covered by this publication are provided free unless stated otherwise in section 6.  If your request means that we have to do a lot of photocopying or printing, or pay a large postage charge, or is for a priced item such as some printed publications or videos we will let you know the cost before fulfilling your request.    

6.   CLASSES OF INFORMATION CURRENTLY PUBLISHED

1.  School Prospectus

This section sets out information published in the school prospectus.

Class Description - School Prospectus

The statutory contents of the school prospectus are as follows, (other items may be included in the prospectus at the school’s discretion):

• The name, address and telephone number of the school and the type of school.
• The names of the Principal and Chair of Governors.
• Information on the school policy on admissions.
• A statement of the school’s ethos and values.
• Details of any affiliations with a particular religion or religious denomination, and alternative provision for other faith students.
• Information about the school’s policy on providing for students with special educational needs.
• Number of students on roll.
• Key Stage 3 results, with national summary figures.
• GCSE & GCE A Level results.
• The number of students studying for and percentage achieving other vocational qualifications.
• The destination of school leavers.
• The arrangements for visits to the school by prospective parents.
• The number of places for students of normal age of entry in the preceding school year and the number of written applications/ preferences expressed for those places.

2.  Governor’s Annual Report and other information relating to the governing body

This section sets out information published in the Governor’s Annual Report and other governing body documents

Class Description - Governor’s Annual Report

The statutory contents of the governors’ annual report to parents are as follows, (other items may be included in the annual report at the school’s discretion):

• Details of the Board of Governors and their category of membership, clearly identifying the Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary.
• A financial statement indicating, in general terms, how grants made to the Board of Governors under the Education Orders were used.
• A description of the school’s arrangements for accommodation and arrangements for the security of students and staff.
• A description of what steps have been taken by the Board to develop or strengthen the College’s links with the community and in particular, to promote Education for Mutual Understanding.
• Arrangements made and facilities provided for students with special educational needs and disabilities to ensure they are no less favourably treated than other students.  Article 8 of the 1996 order refers.
• Description of the steps taken to implement special needs policies, in accordance with Article 9 of the order.

Minutes of meeting of the governing body and its committees

• Agreed minutes of meetings of the governing body and its committees in relation to meetings held from June 2004 onwards.

3. Students & Curriculum Policies

This section gives access to information about policies that relate to students and the school curriculum.

Class Description – Students & Curriculum Policies

General Policies

• Statement of the school’s aims and values, the school’s responsibilities, the parental responsibilities and the school’s expectations of its students, for example general rules, homework and internet usage arrangements.

Curriculum Policy – Schemes of Works

• Statement on following the policy for secular curriculum subjects and religious education and schemes of work and syllabuses currently used by the school.

Education for Love – Schemes of Work

• Statement of policy with regard to sex and relationships education.

Special Education Needs Policy

• Information about the school’s policy on providing for students with special educational needs
• Accessibility Plans – Plan for increasing participation of disabled students in the school’s curriculum, improving the accessibility of the physical environment and improving delivery of information to disabled students.

Equality of Opportunity Policy

• Statement of policy for promoting equality as per Section 75 of the 1998 NI Act.

Careers Education – Schemes of Work

• Statement of the programmes of careers education provided for Key 4.

Child Protection Policy

• Statement of policy for safeguarding and promoting welfare of students at the school

Complaint – Possible Child Abuse

• Statement about the procedure for making a complaint about a student’s safety.

Pupil Discipline & Bullying Policy

• Statement of general principles on behaviour and discipline and of the measures taken by the Principal to prevent bullying.

Drugs Policy

• Statement about the procedure for dealing with the misuse of drugs.

4. SCHOOL POLICIES AND OTHER INFORMATION RELATED TO THE SCHOOL

This section gives access to information about policies that relate to the school in general.

School Policies

ETI Inspections

• Published reports form the Education and Training Inspectorate.

School Session

• Details of school session and dates of school terms and holidays.

Health and Safety Policy and Risk Assessment Policy

• Statement of general policy with respect to health and safety at work of employees (and others) and the organisation and arrangements for carrying out the policy.

Performance Management of Staff - PRSD

• Statement of procedures adopted by the governing body relating to the performance management of staff and the annual report of the head teacher on the effectiveness of appraisal procedures.

Staff Conduct, Discipline and Grievance

• Statement of procedure for regulating conduct and discipline of school staff and procedures by which staff may seek redress for grievance.

Curriculum Circulars and Statutory Instruments

• Any statutory instruments, departmental circulars and administrative memoranda sent by the Department of Education to the head teacher or governing body relating to the curriculum.

7.   FEEDBACK AND COMPLAINTS

We welcome any comments or suggestions you may have about the scheme.  If you want to make any comments about this publication scheme or if you require further assistance or wish to make a complaint then initially this should be addressed to ‘Chairman of Board of Governors’and marked PUBLICATION SCHEME.  If you are not satisfied with the assistance that you get or if we have not been able to resolve your complaint and you feel that a formal complaint needs to be made then this should be addressed to the Information Commissioner’s Office.  This is the organisation that ensures compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and that deals with formal complaints.  They can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Or

Enquiry/ Information Line:  01625 545 700

E-mail:                                     publications@ic-foi.demon.co.uk

Website:                                  www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

[1] Some information might be confidential or otherwise exempt from the publication by law – we cannot therefore publish this