School Law: How Watertight is your School Enrolment Contract?
How watertight is your school enrolment contract? In disputes like unpaid fees, the enrolment contract serves as the cornerstone of any recovery action. It's paramount that these contracts clearly outline the relationship between your school, the student & their guardians. Equally crucial is ensuring that contract terms comply with Australian consumer laws to avoid legal pitfalls. Attend & gain insight into crafting robust & legally sound enrolment contracts that protect both schools & families. WEB246N23C
Description
Teachers attending this session earn 1 Professional Development Hour (NSW, VIC) / CPD Point (QLD, WA, SA)
Lawyers attending this session earn 1 CPD unit in Substantive Law
Chair: Dr Steven Middleton, Associate Principal, St Margaret’s Berwick Grammar
1.00pm to 2.00pm How Watertight is your School Enrolment Contract?
- As parents become more willing to take legal action against schools, it is critically important that schools identify legal risks by ensuring terms of enrolment contracts are consistent with the law and cater for the broad range of issues that arise in the student relationship
- The enrolment contract between the school and parents is a legally binding document
- In the event of disputes, such as unpaid fees, teacher/student misconduct, expulsion or allegations of breach of duty of care, the enrolment contract will be the basis for many of the rights and responsibilities of the respective parties
- However, it is surprising how outdated and unsophisticated many of these documents can be
Presented by Alexandra Terrill, Managing Associate, Dentons
Presenters
Dr Steven Middleton
Dr Steven Middleton is currently the Associate Principal of St Margaret’s Berwick Grammar, a independent school in Melbourne’s outer south east. Over the past two decades Dr Middleton has worked in a variety of leadership roles in various independent School’s in both Sydney and Melbourne including The King’s School, Knox Grammar School and Carey Grammar. Dr Middleton has a passion for school culture, teacher and student growth and high performance in various contexts. His Doctoral Thesis from The University of Melbourne focused on leadership and character education for adolescents. Steve has written and presented extensively on issues of school culture, strategic leadership, student well-being and achievement in recent years. He is also beginning a Juris Doctor degree due to his interest in educational legal matters.
Alexandra Terrill
Alexandra Terrill is a Managing Associate in the Employment and Safety team in the Melbourne office. Alexandra has considerable experience providing practical and tailored solutions in relation to various workplace law matters across the full range of employment and post-employment matters. She advises clients across various industries, including retail, education, security, labour hire and aged care. Alexandra has worked on some of the most significant industrial relations cases of the past decade. For example, between 2016-2017, she instructed Counsel on behalf of the Australian Retailers Association in the penalty rates reduction case in the Fair Work Commission, which reduced penalty rates in modern awards in the retail and hospitality industries. This was one of the most significant cases in retail industry history in Australia. She also worked on a major High Court matter on behalf of Boral against the CFMEU which involved contempt of court and secondary boycotts, ultimately resulting in a successful High Court judgment for the client.