24. Use of School Facilities by Ouside Bodies
Last updated: Tue, Sep 20th, 2016 7:35:09 pm
24.1 Third party use of the school facilities should be formally approved by the Board of Management
24.2 As an occupier, the Board owes a duty of care to those entering School premises and at a minimum should maintain properties including access and egress routes in good condition. The Board is responsible for ensuring the premises are provided in safe condition. Third party organisations are responsible for ensuring activities on school premises are conducted safely
24.3 The Board must establish an appropriate system of control and maintain a separate record of all lettings. Payments made into the School Fund each year in respect of general overhead costs incurred by the lettings must be identified.
24.4 The Board must determine the circumstances in which use may be made for community purposes of the school buildings or grounds.
24.5 The Board shall ensure that no outside body is granted a lease or rental agreement or right which could in any way give occupancy rights to the user group. Any legal instrument, with the exception of a standard licence agreement, created for granting the usage of any school facility requires prior Department approval. It is important that any proposed arrangement does not impede upon the future development of the school.
It should be noted that the use of school premises during the school day, for purposes other than regular school business must also have the prior approval of the Department / Minister.
In all cases the onus is on the Board and the patron to ensure that there is sufficient accommodation to cater for school enrolments.
Where approvals are required, requests should be sent to the Department’s Site Acquisition & Property Management section. It should be noted that all such requests will be appraised in the context of projected enrolment and accommodation requirements for the relevant school’s area.
24.6 The Board should conduct a risk assessment prior to the third party using the school’s facilities identify required control measures. The risk assessment should be proportionate to the level of risk and should consider:
The suitability of the premises for the intended purpose, for example is the size of the area adequate for the numbers of people etc.
Potential conflict with other uses of the premises e.g. other events being held at the same time
Physical aspects of the premises i.e. floor condition, slip/trip hazards etc.
Emergency response and first aid considerations etc.
24.7 Where lettings are granted, the Board should ensure that an agreement is entered into which takes account of the following requirements:
Usage should not affect school work in any way
Lettings should not result in a net cost to the school, taking attendance of school personnel, wear and tear, heat, light and power and other overheads into account.
Applications for use of school facilities should provide the Board with full information and should be from bodies which are properly constituted with a responsible person nominated to take charge of the activity.
24.8 The Department’s requirements in this matter are set out in Section 24.9 hereunder. See also sample application form and agreement outlined at Appendix 10
24.9 Third party organisations who request to use school facilities should be required to provide proof of public liability insurance to cover liabilities associated with their negligence. The following guidelines should be adhered to:
The policy must be inspected by the school authorities and a copy retained for school records.
The third party’s policy should contain an ‘indemnity to principals’ clause. This ensures that any organisation, including the school, which the third party engages with, will be indemnified by the policy if they are deemed negligent. Therefore, the inclusion of this clause ensures that the third party’s policy extends to cover the school Board.
For long term or high risk arrangements, the Board should be named specifically as a principal on the policy.
The Board should ensure that the third parties insurance policy scope of cover is relevant to the activity they intend it to cover. For example, if a third party has requested to use the school to hold a Fashion Show but the "nature of business" as set down in their policy scope indicates "for office based activities only" then their insurance policy would not extend to cover such an event.
It should be a condition of the permission for the third party to use school’s facilities that it gives
an undertaking to notify the school of any change with regard to the insurance policy.
It should also be a condition of the permission to use the school facility that the school be authorised to write to the insurance company requesting to be notified of any change in the policy as affects the indemnity.
The third party should be informed that in the event that the policy should cease, the premises. Accidents should be recorded in accordance with the procedures as set out in Section 34.permission to use the school facility shall be withdrawn.
As there may be a period of time between the time the policy ceases and the school is notified, the third party must be asked to give an undertaking that it will indemnify the school in respect of any claim arising in that period of time.
It follows that any such period of time should be kept to a minimum and the school should reserve the right to withdraw the permission without prior notice to the third party.
24.10 The third party should notify the Board immediately of any incidents which occur while on School premises.