Education and Training Act 2020, ss 106, 107
No, teachers can’t do blanket searches. A blanket search is when, for example, everyone in the class or year group is searched to find an item.
For a teacher to be able to use the power to search students’ outer clothing or bags for harmful items, the teacher would need to have “reasonable grounds” to believe that each student had a harmful item. For example, if something has apparently been stolen, the school can’t do a blanket search (even for a harmful item).