Qualified teacher status

Anyone who wants to teach in a state-maintained school in England needs to achieve QTS. This is awarded to people who have successfully completed an ITT programme either through an academic or employment-based route and who have achieved the professional standards for QTS – a formal set of skills, knowledge and understanding required to be an effective teacher.

Entry to all courses of initial teacher training in England is governed by national regulations. Entrants must have a GCSE grade A–C or equivalent in English language and mathematics. In addition, a GCSE grade A–C or equivalent in science is required for those born on or after 1 September 1979 and wishing to teach primary or key stage 2/3 (ages 7–14).

A UK degree (or an equivalent qualification), which can be achieved prior to or as part of an ITT programme, is a requirement for becoming a teacher.

Registration with the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) is a requirement for all qualified teachers teaching in maintained schools, non-maintained special schools and pupil referral units in England. The requirement to register follows from the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998.

To be eligible to register, a teacher must hold QTS and not be barred from teaching. A barring can be issued by:

• the secretary of state
• the GTCE
• an independent schools tribunal, or
• any of their equivalents in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

School nurses

School nurses are qualified nurses working between health and education. They provide an essential link between school, home and the community that helps safeguard the well-being of children and young people.

To work in the UK all nurses, midwives and specialist community public health nurses (including school nurses) must register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). Practitioners have to renew their registration every three years.

The NMC approves nursing programmes of education that lead to registration. Only people who have successfully completed an approved nursing programme of education and who meet the NMC requirements of good health and good character can apply to join the register as a nurse.

When nurses and midwives reregister, they must have undertaken at least five days (35 hours) of learning in the previous three years. This is called the PREP (CPD) standard. Practitioners can complete this 35 hours of learning in a wide variety of ways – any activity that maintains and develops professional competence is suitable.

Practitioners must also have completed a minimum of 100 days (750 hours) of practice during the five years prior to renewal of registration. This is the PREP (practice) standard. of 100 days (750 hours) of practice during the five years prior to renewal of registration. This is the PREP (practice) standard.

Out-of-school care

The national standards for under 8s day care and childminding are minimum standards used for regulatory purposes. The standards apply to schools (and other organisations) that provide out-of-school day care for children under eight for more than two hours in any day and for more than five days a year. Out-of-school care may be provided before school, after school and/or during the summer holidays.

Regulations under the Children Act 2004 require providers (technically the registered person in each setting) to meet 14 national standards and to have regard to the supporting criteria giving information about how the standards are to be achieved.

The national standards and supporting criteria for out-of-school care include a requirement to ensure that staff are appropriately trained and qualified:

• The manager must have at least a level 3 qualification appropriate to the post.
• At least half of all staff must hold a level 2 qualification appropriate for the care or development of children. Where this cannot be achieved immediately, providers must present an action plan detailing how they intend to meet this criterion and in what time-scale. Ofsted will consider the plan, offering its approval or indicating aspects that need improvement.
• In their first week of employment, all staff must have induction training which includes health and safety and child protection policies and procedures.
• The continuing training needs of staff have to be met.

Food hygiene legislation

New food hygiene laws apply in the UK from 1 January 2006. They affect all food businesses, including caterers, primary producers (such as farmers), manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

Food handlers must receive adequate instruction and/or training in food hygiene to enable them to handle food safely. Those responsible for ‘hazard analysis critical control point’ (HACCP) procedures in the business must have enough relevant knowledge and understanding to ensure the procedures are operated effectively. HACCP is an internationally recognised and recommended system of food safety management. It focuses on identifying the ‘critical points’ in a process where food safety problems (or ‘hazards’) could arise and putting steps in place to prevent things going wrong. Keeping records is also an important part of HACCP systems.

There is no legal requirement to attend a formal training course or get a qualification, although many businesses may want their staff to do so. The necessary skills may be obtained in other ways, such as through on-the-job training, self-study or relevant prior experience. The owner of the food business is responsible for ensuring this happens. Achievement of a relevant food hygiene qualification provides an objective assurance that staff are working to nationally agreed standards.