SAFEGUARDING POLICY
Code of Conduct and Safeguarding of Children and Vulnerable Adults Policy 2023
STUDYSEED CIC
COMPANY NO. NI642606
1 DEANS ROAD, BLEARY. CO. ARMAGH. BT66 8TD.
07599 804 844
WWW.STUDYSEED.CO.UK
INFO@STUDYSEED.CO.UK
The Code of Conduct and Safeguarding of Children and Vulnerable Adults Policy outlines the safeguarding principles and standards that all tutors must adhere to when providing tuition through Studyseed CIC.
POLICY AIMS
The aims of this policy are as follows:
i) To protect all children and vulnerable adults that Studyseed CIC staff and tutors come into contact with.
ii) To make all Studyseed CIC staff and tutors aware of the need to safeguard all children and vulnerable adults that they come into contact with.
iii) To ensure that all Studyseed CIC staff and tutors are aware of safeguarding procedures and their responsibilities in identifying and reporting all possible cases of abuse to the appropriate authorities.
SCOPE OF THE POLICY
The safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults is the responsibility of all representatives of Studyseed CIC. This policy applies to all Studyseed CIC staff, tutors, directors, members and any other Studyseed CIC representatives. Our policy and procedures extend to any services provided through Studyseed CIC in all locations.
POLICY STATEMENT
- We believe that every child and young person has the right to access educational support in a safe and protective learning environment. Everyone has a responsibility to promote the safety and wellbeing of children, young people and vulnerable adults and must act in a manner that protects them.
- We will give equal priority towards keeping all children, young people and vulnerable adults safe regardless of their age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.
- We recognise the additional needs of children from minority ethnic groups and disabled children and the barriers they may face.
- Studyseed CIC will meet its commitment to keeping children safe by ensuring that all staff and tutors understand and follow the protection and safeguarding procedures and by ensuring that children and vulnerable adults are listened to and respected at all times.
CONTACT DETAILS
The following people are responsible for the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults within Studyseed CIC:
Jayne Hamilton (Director)
Siofra Frost (Director)
Danielle Pickering (Administrative Manager)
Tutors and staff should also be aware that they can contact the NSPCC Helpline and Childline for child protection support and advice:
NSPCC Helpline
help@nspcc.org.uk
POLICY DATES
This policy statement comes into force on January 1, 2023 and will be subject to review on 28 December, 2023.
TUTOR ROLES
Studyseed CIC is a community interest company that provides educational support services for individuals, schools and organisations. Educational support covers a variety of subject areas from Key Stage 1 to A-Level within the Northern Ireland curriculum. This educational support service is delivered by experienced and suitably qualified tutors. Where tutors provide a service to clients directly, we facilitate the matching of appropriate tutors (based on skills and qualifications) with clients. After tuition services have commenced, the contract for tuition services exists between the tutor and the client only and Studyseed CIC is not responsible for monitoring the service provided thereafter. From time to time, Studyseed CIC is contracted by other organisations/schools to provide a specific educational support service - in these circumstances, tutors are contracted by Studyseed CIC under Casual Worker Arrangements. All organisation/school services are monitored by Studyseed CIC.
RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION OF TUTORS
All tutors must go through Studyseed CIC’s selection procedure upon application. Following shortlisting, individuals are called to interview where they are asked questions that relate to the role or roles for which they have been shortlisted. If successful, tutors must supply the following documents to Studyseed CIC before they may be matched with prospective clients:
i) An AccessNI background check, issued within the past 12 months.
ii) Two suitable references.
iii) A signed Declaration agreeing to adhere to Studyseed CIC’s Code of Conduct and Safeguarding of Children and Vulnerable Adults Policy.
iv) A signed copy of the Terms and Conditions
v) Evidence of any requested qualification and educational certificates and/or degree transcripts.
DUTIES AND STANDARDS
All tutors must ensure that their contact time with students falls within the boundaries of the tutor role. Tutors must ensure that they:
i) Maintain professional standards at all times.
ii) Do not offer personal advice to students that falls beyond the remit of the subject area that they are providing educational support for.
iii) Do not instigate or accept any contact with students over social media networks.
iv) Only directly contact students in exceptional circumstances that have been prearranged with parents/guardians. Examples of these circumstances may include returning annotated essay notes or feedback on assignments to an email address used by the student, with the parent/guardian CC’d into any email correspondence where possible. Tutors must not directly communicate with students under the age of 18 via telephone, SMS or other forms of instant messaging.
v) Refuse to be left alone with students for home tuition sessions if parents/guardians intend to leave the premises during any part of a session. All tuition must be carried out in visible and communal areas of the student’s home.
vi) Refuse to provide lifts or any other childminding services for students at the request of parents/guardians under any circumstances.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Tutors undertaking work under casual worker arrangements are required to keep all information that relates to Studyseed CIC clients and the students that they are working with strictly confidential. It is imperative that tutors respect the privacy of the students that they support. This confidentiality may only be breached in circumstances where there is a concern about the wellbeing, safety or welfare of the student, particularly if the student might be at risk to themselves or others. Concerns must be immediately reported to Studyseed CIC and, if the concern is raised during the course of tuition within a school or organisation, the appropriate safeguarding representative within the official body that the service is being provided in. If a student is in immediate danger or at risk of serious harm, the tutor must make a referral to the police and/or the children’s social care services immediately.
PROTECTION OF STUDENT INFORMATION
Tutors will be given student information such as:
i) Name
ii) Home address (for home tuition)
iii) Age
iv) School Year
v) Academic information regarding results and targets
vi) Parent/Guardian contact details for students under 18 years old
vii) SEN information
During the course of tuition, it is likely that tutors will gain further information relating to the students that they work with. This can include:
School/College details
i) Alternative contact details/email addresses
ii) Personal information pertaining to reasons for cancelling or rescheduling sessions
iii) Teacher feedback/school reports/exam and test results
It is imperative that tutors protect all information that they gain about students. It is the tutor’s responsibility to ensure that this information is kept confidential and that it is not disclosed to third parties, either intentionally or accidentally. Tutors must ensure that all data pertaining to students which is held on electronic devices is securely held and password protected.
PROCEDURE FOR REPORTING INCIDENTS
In the event that a tutor undertaking work under casual worker arrangements or staff member receives information relating to an allegation or disclosure of suspected child abuse, they must follow these steps:
1. Speak individually with the parties concerned. In the case of disclosures, it is important to remain calm and accepting of the information. The individual making the disclosure or allegation must not be interrogated or questioned. It is absolutely vital that the tutor or staff member does not promise to keep the disclosure or allegation a secret, and that the individual is made aware that the information will need to be reported. Tutors and staff members must take care to reassure the individual that they have done the correct thing in disclosing the information.
2. Make a detailed and accurate record of all conversations immediately after the disclosure. This record should be free from any personal judgment, input or prejudice. It is important that all details are factual and free from opinion.
3. This information must be recorded in a written and signed report that should contain the following points if known, with as much detail as possible:
i) Details of the child/vulnerable adult
ii) Details of the parents/guardians
iii) Details of the individual making the disclosure or allegation
iv) Details regarding the incident based on the record made
4. Ensure that this information has been recorded and detailed in a report within 24 hours of receiving the disclosure or allegation. Once completed, the report must be password protected and sent to one of the named persons within Studyseed CIC to whom referrals should be made, and to the appropriate safeguarding officer within the official body that the student has been referred to from. With the exception of circumstances where a child or vulnerable adult is in immediate danger, it is the responsibility of Studyseed CIC to act immediately on receipt of the information and report the incident to the police and/or the children’s social care services.
Studyseed CIC will keep written records of all concerns and ensure that these records are Password protected and held securely.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Studyseed CIC has a zero-tolerance policy on the taking of any photographs during the provision of tuition support sessions. All students, tutors, staff and parents/guardians are made aware that photography is prohibited in areas where children and/or vulnerable adults are present. In exceptional circumstances, official photographs may be taken at events or large workshops for publication in news outlets and/or the official websites of those partaking organisations. In such circumstances, consent must be gained from the host organisation to take and publish any photographs. It is our policy that these photographs must not capture the faces or any identifying features of individual children and/or vulnerable adults.