The purpose and aim of this policy statement
The purpose of this policy statement is:
- to protect children and young people who receive Teach Wessex Ltd’s services from harm.
- to provide staff and volunteers, as well as children and young people and their families, with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection.
This policy applies to anyone working on behalf of Teach Wessex Ltd (Ltd) including Directors, paid staff, sub-contracting tutors, parents/carers and students.
Legal framework
This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England. A summary of the key legislation is available from nspcc.ork.uk/childprotection.
We believe everyone has a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, to keep them safe and to practise in a way that protects them.
We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:
- listening to children and respecting them;
- appointing a designated safeguarding lead who takes lead responsibility for safeguarding in Teach Wessex Ltd;
- writing detailed safeguarding and child protection procedures;
- making sure all staff, volunteers and sub-contracted tutors understand and follow our safeguarding and child protection procedures;
- ensuring children, young people and their families know about our safeguarding and child protection policies and what to do if they have a concern;
- building a safeguarding culture where staff, volunteers, sub-contracting tutors and children know how they are expected to behave and feel comfortable about sharing concerns.
Designated Safeguarding Officer
Teach Wessex Ltd have a Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO) to:
- Offer support to all staff, volunteers and sub-contracting tutors involved in Teach Wessex Ltd’s activities.
- To ensure that all Teach Wessex Ltd staff, volunteers and sub-contracting tutors are sufficiently vetted (see safer recruitment section of this policy).
- To act as the main point of contact in the event of any allegation or disclosure.
If there is an allegation, signs and/or indicators of abuse, neglect or exploitation are identified or if at any point an adult involved with Teach Wessex Ltd’s activities fails to comply with any element of the Safeguarding Policy this information must be passed immediately to Teach Wessex Ltd’s Designated Safeguarding Officer.
It is the Designated Safeguarding Officer’s responsibility to collect all relevant information and make decisions on how to proceed. You have a duty of care to pass on all relevant information regarding any allegations of abuse, neglect or exploitation or identified signs and indicators of possible abuse, neglect or exploitation.
Contact details
Designated Safeguarding Officer
Philip Childerhouse – contact@teachwessex.co.uk or 07584 101322
In the event of the Designated Safeguarding Officer being unavailable please email: contact@teachwessex.co.uk or call the above telephone number.
NSPCC Helpline
0808 800 5000
BCP Children’s First Response Hub
- 01202 123 334
- Monday to Thursday, 8:30am to 5:15pm and Friday, 8.30am to 4.45pm
- childrensfirstresponse@bcpcouncil.gov.uk
Out of hours service
- 01202 738 256
- Monday to Friday, from 5pm to 9am
- all day Saturdays and Sundays
- all bank holidays, including Christmas Day and New Year’s Day
Review
We are committed to reviewing our policy annually.
This policy was last reviewed by Teach Wessex Ltd Director’s on: 30.09.24
- Policy created – February 2020
- Reviewed – May 2022
- Reviewed – September 2024
- Next Review – September 2025
CHILD PROTECTION AND SAFEGUARDING POLICY
All children have an absolute right to a childhood free from abuse, neglect or exploitation. Teach Wessex Ltd believes that in all matters concerning safeguarding, the welfare of the childen and young people[1] we work with is of paramount importance.
All adults involved in Teach Wessex Ltd’s activities should make sure their approach is child centred, considering at all times, what is in the best interests of the child and young person.
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people is defined as:
- providing help and support to meet the needs of children as soon as problems emerge
- protecting children from maltreatment, whether that is within or outside the home, including online
- preventing the impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development
- ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
- taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes
This policy and the procedures contained within it exist not to discourage adults from being involved in the activities of Teach Wessex Ltd but to ensure, as far as possible, that people who may abuse children do not get the opportunity to do so.
- There is a duty placed upon us to ensure that all adults who work with or on behalf of our children and young people are competent, confident and safe to do so.
- Adults working or volunteering for Teach Wessex Ltd are responsible for their own actions and behaviour and should avoid any conduct that would lead a reasonable person to question their motivation or intention.
- Everyone involved in Teach Wessex Ltd activities must follow Teach Wessex Ltd Code of Conduct, see pg. 8 & 9 of this policy.
- They must also be familiar with the steps to be taken in the event of becoming aware of, suspecting or receiving allegations of abuse, neglect or exploitation.
Indicators of abuse, neglect and exploitation
The following definitions provide a description of the different types of abuse (physical, emotional, sexual abuse and neglect) as well as the signs and indicators that might be a cause for concern.
Abuse: a form of maltreatment of a child. Somebody may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting harm or by failing to act to prevent harm. Harm can include ill treatment that is not physical as well as the impact of witnessing ill treatment of others. This can be particularly relevant, for example, in relation to the impact on children of all forms of domestic abuse, including where they see, hear or experience its effects. Children may be abused in a family or in an institutional or community setting by those known to them or, more rarely, by others. Abuse can take place wholly online, or technology may be used to facilitate offline abuse. Children may be abused by an adult or adults or by another child or children (KCSIE, 2024, para24).
Physical Abuse: a form of abuse which may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child (KCSIE, 2024, para25).
Emotional Abuse: the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and adverse effects on the child’s emotional development. It may involve conveying to a child that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. It may include not giving the child opportunities to express their views, deliberately silencing them or ‘making fun’ of what they say or how they communicate. It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. These may include interactions that are beyond a child’s developmental capability as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning or preventing the child from participating in normal social interaction. It may involve seeing or hearing the ill treatment of another. It may involve serious bullying (including cyberbullying), causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, although it may occur alone (KCSIE, 2024, para26).
Sexual Abuse: Involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example rape or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing, and touching outside of clothing. They may also include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse. Sexual abuse can take place online, and technology can be used to facilitate offline abuse. Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children. The sexual abuse of children by other children is a specific safeguarding issue in education and all staff should be aware of it and of their school or college’s policy and procedures for dealing with it (KCSIE, 2024, para27).
Neglect: the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development. Neglect may occur during pregnancy, for example, as a result of maternal substance abuse. Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to: provide adequate food, clothing and shelter (including exclusion 13 from home or abandonment); protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger; ensure adequate supervision (including the use of inadequate caregivers); or ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment. It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs (KCSIE, 2024, para28).
Extremism: is the vocal or active opposition to our fundamental values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and the mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. This also includes calling for the death of members of the armed forces (KCSIE, 2024, pg156).
Child on Child abuse: All staff are aware that children can abuse other children at any age (often referred to as child-on-child abuse) and that it can happen both inside and outside of their school or college and online (KSCIE, 2024, para 33).
Child-on-child abuse is most likely to include, but may not be limited to:
- Bullying (including cyberbullying, prejudice-based and discriminatory bullying);
- Abuse in intimate personal relationships between children (sometimes known as ’teenage relationship abuse’);
- Physical abuse which can include hitting, kicking, shaking, biting, hair pulling, or otherwise causing physical harm;
- Sexual violence – for the purposes of this policy and procedures when referring to sexual violence we are referring to sexual offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 specifically, rape, assault by penetration, sexual assault and causing someone to engage in sexual activity without consent;
- Sexual harassment, such as sexual comments, remarks, jokes and online sexual harassment.
Child criminal exploitation (CCE) and child sexual exploitation (CSE): Both CCE and CSE are forms of abuse that occur where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance in power to coerce, manipulate or deceive a child into taking part in criminal or sexual activity. It may involve an exchange for something the victim needs or wants, and/or for the financial advantage or increased status of the perpetrator or facilitator and/or through violence or the threat of violence. CCE and CSE can affect children, both male and female and can include children who have been moved (commonly referred to as trafficking) for the purpose of exploitation (KSCIE, 2024, para 34).
Domestic abuse: can encompass a wide range of behaviours and may be a single incident or a pattern of incidents. That abuse can be, but is not Ltd to, psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional. Children can be victims of domestic abuse. They may see, hear, or experience the effects of abuse at home and/or suffer domestic abuse in their own intimate relationships (teenage relationship abuse). All of which can have a detrimental and long-term impact on their health, well-being, development, and ability to learn (KSCIE, 2024, para 41).
Female genital mutilation (FGM): All staff and tutors have a legal obligation to report to the DSL any cases where it is known that FGM has been carried out on a child, in line with these safeguarding procedures(KSCIE, 2024, para 42).
Mental health: Mental health problems can, in some cases, be an indicator that a child has suffered or is at risk of suffering abuse, neglect or exploitation (KSCIE, 2024, para 43).
Procedures
In all cases related to child protection and safeguarding, the main procedure is to treat the allegation seriously, in strict confidence and immediately contact the Teach Wessex Ltd Designated Safeguarding Officer. In the event of Teach Wessex Ltd’s Designated Safeguarding Officer being contacted, the following protocol will be followed:
- Teach Wessex Ltd shall follow the company procedure for contacting BCP’s Children’s First Response Hub (CFRH). Teach Wessex Ltd shall support with any action that the CFRH deems appropriate and shall undertake reasonable endeavours to provide them with any assistance or documents.
- Teach Wessex Ltd shall not, under any circumstances, undertake any independent investigation or questioning (as this may jeopardise any enquiry) unless or until Teach Wessex Ltd is given authorisation by the CFRH. Following authorisation, Teach Wessex Ltd may independently follow up on the allegation.
- All allegations or suspicions shall be referred to the CFRH no matter how insignificant they seem to be or when they occur. Any information about suspicious behaviour or circumstances will be passed to the local CFRH within 24 hours or as soon as shall be reasonably practicable.
In the event that a child or young person discloses abuse to an employee of Teach Wessex Ltd or a sub-contracting tutor
Employees of Teach Wessex Ltd and sub-contracting tutors shall:
- Allow the young person to speak without interruption, giving them your full attention. Encourage them to tell you only what they feel comfortable telling you, and be compassionate, understanding and reassure them their feelings are important.
- Do not ask investigative or leading questions of any kind i.e. those that suggest the answer such as, “Did the bus driver do that?”.
- Explain to the young person that you will offer support, but that you MUST share what they’ve told you with somebody else who can help.
- If they refuse to tell you anything unless you promise to keep it a secret, explain to them that you want to help and that there is one person you must tell and that you’re unable to keep anything they tell you a secret. If they then refuse to tell you anymore, please respect their decision and report this incident.
- Ensure that the child or young person is not immediately at risk of any further abuse, neglect or exploitation.
- Immediately after a disclosure, contact the Designated Safeguarding Officer at Teach Wessex Ltd.
- Keep accurate notes about what the child/young person has told you. Report the facts as you know them/or understand them, including:
-
- Name, age and address (if known) of child.
- Nature of concern – what the child said, what someone told you, physical signs and behavioural indicators.
- Your name and your role (if relevant) or the name and role of the person who told you.
- When and where this happened and who else was present.
- What the child said or what you observed about the child if they were telling you directly.
- Any relevant observations about the child in the past, e.g. has their behaviour changed?
- What you said to the child about confidentiality and their response.
- The name and address (if known) of the alleged abuser.
- Your response to the child and what you said.
- Your opinion if this is relevant and useful – but make sure you say when something is your opinion and/or when it is fact.
- Who you have told, any advice received, or action taken.
- Sign and date the record.
- Provide this detailed information to the Designated Safeguarding Officer at Teach Wessex Ltd as soon as you are able.
- Teach Wessex Ltd shall retain a copy of all such notifications in accordance with GDPR guidelines.
If you receive an allegation about any adult or a sub-contracting tutor (including the person hearing the allegation)
This guidance should be followed when any Teach Wessex representative has:
- behaved in a way that has harmed a child or young person, or may have harmed a child and/or;
- possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child, and/or;
- behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates he or she may pose a risk of harm to children, and/or;
- behaved or may have behaved in a way that indicates they may not be suitable to work with children. This includes behaviour that may have occurred inside or outside of Teach Wessex Ltd (KCSIE 2024 para 362).
Teach Wessex Ltd will deal appropriately and promptly with all allegations or concerns and refer all safeguarding concerns or allegations about its staff or sub-contracted tutors immediately to the appropriate local authority designated officer (LADO) in accordance with local safeguarding procedures and practical guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2018.
Teach Wessex Ltd will consider immediate suspension of staff members or termination for sub-contractor tutors (without prejudice) if a safeguarding allegation is made, pending investigation when there is cause to suspect that another child(ren) and/or young person is /are at risk of harm from their continued contact with children, in line with KCSIE 2024 recommendations.
Suspension will also be considered even if the allegation is not linked to their role or activity with Teach Wessex.
If you deal with the personal data of young people (including names, grades and school)
Employees of Teach Wessex Ltd and sub-contracting tutors shall:
- Handle all information with sensitivity and confidentiality and in accordance with the Child Protections records retention and storage guidelines & GDPR guidelines.
- The information should be kept securely and not be made available to others without the authority of Teach Wessex Ltd.
Safer Recruitment
We apply a fair and consistent approach to recruitment. We have robust procedures in place to ensure we work with sub-contracted tutors that are appropriately qualified and have the skills and knowledge to deliver a high-quality service.
All staff, contracting tutors and volunteer will be subject to an enhanced DBS check before they can begin working for Teach Wessex Ltd. This will be checked through the DBS Update Service. Every sub-contracting tutor, volunteer and employee must have either an existing enhanced DBS check no more than 2 years old verified by a member of Teach Wessex Ltd staff, with the disclosure number and date of issue recorded, along with photographic ID or a new enhanced DBS check undertaken.
Our recruitment process will also check the individual’s identity, right to work in the U.K., professional qualification and seek confirmation of the applicant’s experience and history through references.
Disclaimer
Teach Wessex Ltd staff and sub-contracting tutors are aware of the contents of this policy as part of their induction, this policy is made available to all adults involved in Teach Wessex Ltd’s activities and all sub-contracting tutors are to confirm they have read and understood their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding.
Code of Conduct
All adults coming into contact with children and young people through Teach Wessex Ltd’s activities must comply with this Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy and Code of Conduct.
This code outlines the conduct that Teach Wessex Ltd expects from all subcontracted tutors and anyone who is undertaking duties for the organisation, whether paid or unpaid.
Teach Wessex Ltd is responsible for making sure everyone taking part in our activities has seen, understood and agreed to the following code of conduct and understands the consequences of inappropriate conduct.
We expect people who take part in our services to display appropriate conduct at all times.
You must:
- Tutors will conduct online tuition in an appropriate, quiet setting, which is not distracting and does not expose inappropriate information or images.
- Prioritise the welfare of children and young people.
- Act in accordance with Teach Wessex Ltd.’s policies and procedures regarding child protection and safeguarding.
- Listen to and respect children and young people at all times.
- Value and take children’s contributions seriously, actively involving them in planning activities, where possible.
- Remember that someone else might misinterpret your actions, no matter how well intentioned.
- Be aware that any physical contact with a young person can be misinterpreted and should always be avoided. Shaking hands in a public setting is considered acceptable.
- Ensure as much as possible that there are always 1 or more adults present during activities with children.
- Share Teach Wessex Ltd.’s dedicated email address (contact@teachwessex.co.uk) and phone number (07584 101322) to parents for any queries, never give your personal contact details.
- Be aware that social networking sites are in the public domain if not protected by privacy settings. Strongly consider strengthening any privacy settings so that children and young people are not be able to access your online profiles and be privy to any information you would not want in the public domain.
- Never contact children/a student directly or accept requests on social media.
- Block any young people that approach you online and inform Teach Wessex Ltd.’s Designated Safeguarding Officer immediately.
- Remember you are in a position of trust and must act in a professional manner at all times.
- Challenge inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour, reporting any breaches of the code of conduct to Katie at contact@teachwessex.co.uk.
- Recognise that special caution is required when discussing sensitive issues with young people. If you need to break confidentiality in order to follow child protection procedure, it’s important to explain this to the child/young person at the earliest opportunity.
- Operate within Teach Wessex Ltd.’s procedures in the event of any disclosure/concern. Reporting all allegations/suspicions of abuse, neglect or exploitation to the Teach Wessex Ltd.’s Designated Safeguarding Officer.
- Raise any questions or concerns about child protection and safeguarding with Teach Wessex Ltd.’s Designated Safeguarding Officer, or if unsure of a procedure, information should be sought from Teach Wessex Ltd’s staff.
When working with children and young people you must not:
- Allow concerns or allegations to go unreported.
- Promise confidentiality to children and young people in any situation.
- Provide a safe environment for children and young people:
- Ensuring equipment is used safely and for its intended purpose
- No items of a personal nature are on display when undertaking tuition
- Seek out or add young people on any social networking site.
- Develop inappropriate relationships with children and young people.
- Make inappropriate promises to children and young people.
- Engage in behaviour that can be perceived as threatening or abusive.
- Patronise or belittle children or young people.
- Make a sarcastic, insensitive, derogatory or sexually suggestive comment or gesture to or in front of a child or young person.
- Respond to any online communication from a young person, for example on social networking sites.
- Share any personal contact details including email address, telephone number or address with children and young people or seek out their personal contact details or have contact with them via a personal social media account.
- Arrange to meet a young person outside of the allocated tutoring time.
- Act in a manner that excludes children and young people you are working with.
- Have inappropriate physical contact or verbal contact with young people.
- Be under the influence of alcohol or other substances when working on activities involving young people.
- Take photographs or screenshots of children or young people during the session.
[1] For the purposes of this policy a young person is defined as any person under the age of eighteen.