school
Let an agent handle a school as an institution with a legal status, a stage, a curriculum and duties of care, separately from its buildings and from education as an activity.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify
Researched by: Claude
Purpose and description
Let an agent handle a school as an institution with a legal status, a stage, a curriculum and duties of care, separately from its buildings and from education as an activity.
An institution that provides organised education to learners, usually in groups, following a curriculum and staffed by teachers, often at defined stages of schooling.
What it is for: Educating learners in a structured way, and certifying their progress.
It can be enrol a learner, subject to admission rules and capacity; inspect and rate it, which public bodies do in most countries; contact it through its official channels for records and decisions; open, merge or close it, through a regulated procedure.
Distinguishing features
An institution, not a building: it is identified by registration and governance
Operates at a stage of education defined by the national system
Carries duties of care toward minors that most organisations do not
Funded and governed publicly, privately or in mixtures that change what rules apply
What it looks like
Usually one or more buildings with classrooms and outdoor space; but a school can be online, can share buildings, and can outlive the building it started in.
How it is recognised
Signage and an official registration number, not the building, identify the school
A campus may host several schools, and one school may use several sites
Uniforms, where used, identify a school only locally and are easily copied
Related models
is a kind of - inherits identity, governance and legal status
occupies - the building is a separate model and can change
employs - teachers are the occupation model, with their own qualifications
is confused with - a homonym; this entry is the educational institution
In practice
Families and kinds
by stage: pre-primary, primary, lower and upper secondary, vocational
by funding: public, private, publicly funded independent
by admission: comprehensive, selective, specialist
by mode: day, boarding, online, home-school umbrella
Identifiers
national school register number country-specific the authoritative identifier, for example a URN in England
ISCED level 0-3 for school stages places the school stage in an international classification
Standards and regulation
National education acts and curriculum regulations
UNESCO ISCED 2011 classification of education levels
Safeguarding and child protection law in each jurisdiction
Data protection law covering records of minors
Failure modes and hazards
Confusing the school with its building or its site
Treating ratings from different inspectorates or dates as comparable
Disclosing information about children beyond what the law permits
Missing a closure or merger, so enquiries go to an institution that no longer exists
Also called
+755
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Also registered as vr.tr.school-3
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.
Identity and status Which school, run by whom, under what status.
Schools are identified by registration and operator; names repeat and buildings change.
Registration
The official register entry.
Register entry
The register, the number and the current status.
- What is this school official register number and status? provenance
- Has it been renamed, merged or closed, and when? provenance
Operator and funding
Who runs and pays for it.
Operator and funding
The legal operator and the funding model.
- Who operates this school, and how is it funded? definition
- Which rules differ because of that status? boundary
Education offered Stages, curriculum and qualifications.
What a school teaches and certifies is the reason anyone looks it up.
Stage and ages
The stages and age range served.
Stages served
The stages and their ISCED equivalents.
- Which stages and ages does this school serve? definition
- How do those stages map onto ISCED levels? measurement
Curriculum and qualifications
What is taught and certified.
Curriculum and awards
The curriculum followed and qualifications awarded.
- Which curriculum does it follow, and which qualifications does it award? definition
- How are those qualifications recognised elsewhere? boundary
Admission and access Who can attend and how.
Admission rules are where families interact with the school and where disputes arise.
Admission rules
Criteria, catchment and capacity.
Admission criteria
The rules and the body that applies them.
- What are the admission criteria, and who decides applications? definition
- How can a refused application be appealed? action
Accessibility and support
Provision for learners with additional needs.
Support provision
The support available and how it is arranged.
- What provision exists for learners with disabilities or additional needs? definition
- Is the site physically accessible, and to what standard? measurement
Quality and safeguarding How good and how safe it is.
Inspection results and safeguarding arrangements are the facts with most consequence and the easiest to misstate.
Inspection
Ratings and reports.
Inspection results
The latest rating, date and inspectorate.
- What did the latest inspection find, and when was it? measurement
- How far can that rating be compared with other schools? boundary
Safeguarding and records
Duties of care and data about children.
Safeguarding duties
The duties in force and the limits on disclosure.
- Who is responsible for safeguarding, and how are concerns reported? action
- What information about pupils must never be disclosed? boundary
What the second pass must settle
- Should the registry separate the institution, the site and the legal operator of a school?
- How should school stages map across countries where ISCED equivalence is approximate?
- What may an agent say about a school when the only available rating is out of date?