Safeguarding Policy

1. INTRODUCTION

Find My Limited Ltd was founded to deliver excellence in tutoring and to offer an international reach. 

We are also focused on making Tutoring more accessible for people that don’t have the means to pay for it.

The manner in which our site has been built is to reflect our approach, with a platform that allows us to safely deliver Tutoring online – one-to-one, or one-to-many.

We are committed to ensuring the highest possible standard of safety, wellbeing and safeguarding of each student and tutor using FIND MY TUTOR.

This policy and the supporting procedures seek to ensure that FIND MY TUTOR undertakes its responsibilities regarding safeguarding children and young people. This policy establishes a framework to support all those who come into contact with FIND MY TUTOR, protect them from abuse and maltreatment of any kind and clarifies the organisation’s expectations.

2. SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF THE POLICY

This policy applies to all aspects of Find My Limited Ltd (FIND MY TUTOR) in relation to tutoring services. The policy and supporting procedures apply to all Directors,staff, tutors, and all other people who conduct work on behalf of FIND MY TUTOR.

FIND MY TUTOR acknowledges its duty of care to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people and is committed to ensuring safeguarding practices reflect statutory responsibilities, government guidance and reflects best practice.

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that, regardless of age, gender, religion or beliefs, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or socio-economic background, all students have a positive experience of FIND MY TUTOR through the services, support or activities they engage in.

3. SAFEGUARDING STATEMENT

Safeguarding is everyone’s business – Find My Limited is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all Directors, staff and tutors to share this commitment.FIND MY TUTOR will ensure that good governance and quality standards are maintained within the organisation and establish clear policies and procedures based on legislation and guidance. We will apply robust risk management processes for the identification of situations which may require the organisation to make professional judgements to protect students from harm.

Confidentiality is essential to the environment of trust with our students, but this will be balanced against the organisation’s duty to protect children and young people.

The organisation will collectively manage risks and reduce the likelihood of abuse by:

• The provision of up-to-date safeguarding policies and procedures that reflect current safeguarding legislation and guidance.

• Have robust safer recruitment, selection and appointment procedures for staff and tutors.

• Promote and use safer working practices for Directors, staff, tutors and students.

• The provision of induction and ongoing training for staff and tutors.

• Developing and maintaining a culture of vigilance within all areas of the organisation’s work.

• Protecting students from harm.

• Making sure people can raise safeguarding concerns.

• Handling allegations or incidents in accordance with policies and procedures.

• Report any allegations or incidents to the relevant authorities.

It is the responsibility of all directors, staff and tutors to read this policy and supporting procedures and know what to do in the event of a safeguarding concern.

4. DEFINITIONS OF ABUSE

Children are considered to be abused or at risk of abuse by parents/carers when the basic needs of the child are not being met through acts of either commission or omission. Children includes everyone under the age of 18 (KCSIE, 2021).

Knowing what to look for is vital to the early identification of abuse and neglect. All staff will be aware of indicators of abuse and neglect through their experience and training so that they are able to identify cases of children who may be in need of help or protection. If staff are unsure, they should always speak to the designated safeguarding lead (or deputy).

All staff should have an awareness of safeguarding issues that can put children at risk of harm.

Behaviours linked to issues such as drug taking, alcohol abuse, deliberately missing education and consensual and non-consensual sharing of nudes and semi-nudes images and/or videos can be signsthat children and young people are at risk.

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people is defined as:

• Protecting children from maltreatment.

• Preventing 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; and

• Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes (Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), DfE, September 2021)

Abuse

Is 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. 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 byanother child or children (KCSIE, 2021, para 26).

Types of abuse and neglect

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.

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 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.

Sexual abuse

Involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of 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 nonpenetrative 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 (including via the internet). 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 (also known as peer on peer abuse) in education and all staff and tutors should be aware of it and adhere to this policy and procedures in dealing with it.

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 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 from home or abandonment); protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger; ensure adequate supervision (including the use of inadequate care-givers); or ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment. It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs.

Peer on Peer / Child on Child Abuse

Children can abuse other children (often referred to as peer-on-peer abuse) and it can take many forms. It can happen both inside and outside of school/college and online. It is important that all staff recognise the indicators and signs of peer-on-peer abuse and know how to identify it and respond to reports. This can include (but is not limited to): bullying (including cyberbullying, prejudice-based and discriminatory bullying); abuse within intimate partner relationships; physical abuse such as hitting, kicking, shaking, biting, hair pulling, or otherwise causing physical harm; sexual violence and sexual harassment; consensual and non-consensual sharing of nude and semi-nude images and/or videos; causing someone to engage in sexual activity without consent, such as forcing someone to strip, touch themselves sexually, or to engage in sexual activity with a third party; up skirting and initiation/hazing type violence and rituals. Addressing inappropriate behaviour (even if it appears to be relatively innocuous) can be an important intervention that helps prevent problematic, abusive and/or violent behaviour in the future. (KCSIE 2021, page 135)

Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment between children

Child on child sexual violence can happen both inside and outside of education settings. 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 is unwanted conduct of a sexual nature that can occur online and offline and both inside and outside education settings. Child on child sexual harassment is likely to: violate a child’s dignity, and/or make them feel intimidated degraded or humiliated and/or create a hostile, offensive or sexualised environment. (Sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges, DfE, Sept 2021)

Child Protection

Is one part of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and refers to the activity that is undertaken to protect children who are suffering, or at risk of suffering significant harm.

Significant Harm

The definition of significant harm is not prescriptive. The interpretation will depend largely on professional judgement, based on the known facts. It can include inappropriate touching, an assault, or a series of compounding events e.g., bullying. Other factors to be considered include the age and vulnerability of the child, the degree of force used, the frequency of the harm, the nature of the harm in terms of ill treatment, and the impact on the child’s health and development.

5. ONLINE SAFETY

FIND MY TUTOR takes a holistic approach to online safety that aims to protect staff, tutors and students in their use of technology, and specifically our site. All communication between tutors and students take place via our site.

This meansthat personal details about the student and their parents/carers (including email addresses and telephone numbers) remain private and confidential and are not visible to the tutor. We have mechanisms to identify, intervene in and escalate any concerns where appropriate.

As outlined in KCSIE 2021 FIND MY TUTOR recognise the considerable breadth of issues classified within online safety, which have been categorised into the following four areas:

• content: being exposed to illegal, inappropriate or harmful content, for example: pornography, fake news, racism, misogyny, self-harm, suicide, anti-Semitism, radicalisation and extremism.

• contact: being subjected to harmful online interaction with other users; for example: peer to peer pressure, commercial advertising and adults posing as children or young adults with the intention to groom or exploit them for sexual, criminal, financial or other purposes’.

• conduct: personal online behaviour that increases the likelihood of, or causes, harm; for example, making, sending and receiving explicit images (e.g. consensual and nonconsensual sharing of nudes and semi-nudes and/or pornography, sharing other explicit images and online bullying; and

• commerce – risks such as online gambling, inappropriate advertising, phishing and or financial scams. If you feel your pupils, students or staff are at risk, please report it to the Anti-Phishing Working Group (https://apwg.org/).

FIND MY TUTOR ensures online safety is a constant running and interrelated theme through the development and implementation of all our services, policies and procedures.

6. Safeguarding Governance – Roles and Responsibilities

FIND MY TUTOR is committed to providing support to all those involved with the organisation. A clear structure of safeguarding accountability supports everyone to understand their individual and collective responsibilities for safeguarding children and young people.

FIND MY TUTOR will ensure it has arrangements in place to fulfil its commitment and duty to safeguard children and young people in accordance with legislation and statutory guidance.

FIND MY TUTOR

The Director plays a vital role in ensuring that they are legally compliant in order to manage the organisation’s resources effectively and provide a long-term vision and protect the organisation’s reputation and values.

In order to fulfil these responsibilities, the Director may delegate some or all of these responsibilities’ to other members of the leadership team.

The Director is responsible for:

1. Approving all safeguarding policies and supporting procedures.

2. Ensuring adequate resources are available for effective safeguarding practices and training.

3. Ensuring effective reporting and auditing processes are in place and that the same are regularly reviewed.

4. Receiving regular safeguarding reports from the leadership team.

5. Developing a culture within the organisation that promotes effective safeguarding practices.

FIND MY TUTOR Team

The team will ensure a commitment to safeguarding is integral in the delivery of all its services, activities and contracts. They will assist in the safer recruitment and selection of staff and tutors.

The Leadership Team will ensure that:

1. Safeguarding and a culture of vigilance is promoted and embedded in all areas of the organisation including with the organisation’s partners and contractors.

2. Clear and effective communication pathways for safeguarding are shared with all staff, tutors and customers.

3. Proposed changes to safeguarding policies and supporting procedures are presented to the Board in accordance with the agreed cycle of policy review.

4. The Named Designated Safeguarding Officer and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Officers have sufficient resources in order that they may discharge their functions detailed below.

5. Safe recruitment and selection practices of staff and tutors are implemented in accordance with the safer recruitment policy and procedures

6. They coordinate the investigation of concerns and allegations against staff members or tutors with the FIND MY TUTOR Named Designated Safeguarding Officer and Deputies

The Named Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO) and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Officers

(DDSO) will be provided with the appropriate level of training to enable them to fulfil their responsibilities in supporting and guiding staff and tutors on safeguarding matters. The training should be updated every two years. They are responsible for responding to initial concerns or disclosures.

The Named Designated Safeguarding Officer and Deputies will:

• Provide ready and accessible support and guidance to all staff, tutors and directors on safeguarding matters

• Manage all safeguarding reports and act as liaison for statutory services during any criminal or safeguarding investigation

• Ensure that serious incidents relating to safeguarding are reported immediately and managed effectively

• Report allegations against directors, staff, or tutors to the relevant Local Authority and Disclosure and Barring Service as appropriate

• Ensure accurate records of all safeguarding concerns and the secure storage of all safeguarding records

• Provide a quality assurance and review function for all safeguarding concerns

• Work with all the above governance bodies to inform of serious or untowardsafeguarding incidents as appropriate

• Ensure the adoption, implementation and auditing of all policies and strategies in relation to safeguarding

• Liaise with school Designated Safeguarding Leads on matters of safety and safeguarding, in particular online and digital safety involving FIND MY TUTOR tutors, when deciding whether to make a referral to the relevant agencies
FIND MY TUTOR Staff and Tutors

All FIND MY TUTOR staff and tutors have a shared responsibility to safeguard and promote thewelfare of children and young people. They should know how to recognise, respond to, report and record any safeguarding concerns.

All staff and tutors are responsible for following the organisation’s safeguarding procedures for reporting any concerns relating to abuse or neglect or suspected abuse or neglect of any child or young person immediately.

In an emergency staff and tutors will be expected to report urgent concerns directly to the relevant statutory agency.

7. Dealing with a safeguarding concern or disclosure

This policy and the following procedures have been developed to:

• Prevent and reduce the incidence of abuse;

• Increase awareness of issues concerning the abuse of children;

• Provide a process if issues of concern are disclosed or discovered;

• Improve the quality of life and protection of children with whom we work.

• Protect people from harm

• Make sure people can raise safeguarding concerns

• Handle allegations or incidents

• Report to the relevant authorities

We must be alert to the risks from:

• Neglect

• Physical abuse

• Sexual abuse

• Sexual violence and sexual harassment

• Emotional abuse

• Mental health

• Bullying or harassment

• Peer on Peer abuse

• Domestic Abuse

• Health and safety

• Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)

• Child criminal Exploitation (CCE)

• Radicalisation and Extremism

• Forced marriage and honour-based violence

• Trafficking or modern slavery

• Female genital mutilation

• Discrimination on any of the grounds in the Equality Act 2010

• People targeting our organisation

• Culture within the organisation allowing poor behaviour

• People abusing a position of trust they hold within FIND MY TUTOR
Staff or tutors may have suspicions that a person is either

• at risk of harm or

• suffering abuse or neglect because of behavioural, emotional and/or physical factors; or symptoms or conversations and/or

written evidence which indicate that abuse or neglect may have taken place, or an individual may disclose information that causes a concern for their safety and welfare.

When making difficult judgements around possible signs and symptoms of abuse and neglect it is crucial that all available information and presenting injuries or behaviours are seen in context. e.g. is the change in behaviour a result of a sudden illness, recent bereavement or exam anxiety?

When information is shared with you which causes concerns of possible abuse, your requirement is to accept the information being shared without influencing it, as well as providing support and reassurance to the child and managing expectations.

Staff and tutors should:

• Stay Calm

• Listen carefully, let the child tell their story and take it seriously

• Ask TED questions – Tell me, Explain to me, Describe to me

• Keep the child informed about what you are doing and what is happening at every stage

• Reassure them they have done nothing wrong and it is not their fault

• Make a full record of what has been said as soon as possible

Staff and tutors should not:

• Promise confidentiality. Be honest about your own position, who you will have to tell and why

• Ask leading questions (e.g. Did your mother do this to you)

• Press the child for more details

• Make promises (e.g. this will never happen again)

When responding to a concern or disclosure of sexual violence or sexual harm, staff and tutors MUST NOT view or forward illegal images of a child.

Once a disclosure has been made or a concern has been shared, the Designated Safeguarding Officer (or Deputy) will consider the information, if necessary, taking advice, and will make a decision to either:

• Keep detailed records of the concern with no further action at this time

• Make a child protection referral to Children’s Social Care

Where a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer from harm, it is important that a referral to children’s social care (and if appropriate the police) is made immediately.

Once an incident of sexual violence or sexual harassment has been disclosed the Designated Safeguarding Officer (or Deputy) should make an immediate risk and needs assessment. This may be done with the school DSO. The risk and needs assessment should consider:

• The victim, especially their protection and support

• Whether there have been other victims

• The child displaying the sexualised behaviour• All the other children, and if appropriate staff and tutor, and actions that are appropriate to protect them from further harmful sexualised behaviour.

Once the decision is made to make a referral the Designated Safeguarding Officer (or Deputy) will contact the relevant Children’s Social Care Team and make a telephone referral. This must be followed up in writing within 24 hours.

Within one working day of a referral being made, a local authority social worker should acknowledge receipt to the referrer and make a decision about the next steps and the type of response that is required. This will include determining whether:

• the child requires immediate protection and urgent action is required;

• the child isin need, and should be assessed undersection 17 of the Children Act 1989;

• there is reasonable cause to suspect the child is suffering or likely to suffer

• significant harm, and whether enquiries must be made and the child assessed under section 47 of the Children Act 1989;

• any services are required by the child and family and what type of services;

• further specialist assessments are required to help the local authority to decide what further action to take; and

• to see the child as soon as possible if the decision is taken that the referral requires further assessment.

It is important to note that where tutors are delivering tuition to children and young people in a school or college, the FIND MY TUTOR DSO/ Deputy must inform the school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead/ Officer.

8. Sharing Information

Effective sharing of information between FIND MY TUTOR, schools, colleges, local authorities and other statutory services is essential for the early identification of need, assessment and intervention in order to keep children safe.

Fears about sharing information cannot be allowed to stand in the way of the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people identified as being ‘at risk of abuse or neglect’.

Personal information held by FIND MY TUTOR is subject to a legal duty of confidentiality and will not normally be disclosed without the consent of a child’s parent/carer. However, the right to confidentiality and respect for private and family life (Article 8, Human Rights Act, 1998) is not absolute.

The only exceptions to this are where confidentiality can be overridden either by a court order or other legal authority (e.g. Prevent Duty), or in the public interest i.e. in order to safeguard a child.

Public interest justifications usually relate to disclosures to prevent significant orserious harm to third parties or to prevent or to prosecute a serious crime. e.g. suicide pacts, terrorist threats.

FIND MY TUTOR recognises that information sharing between key organisations is essential to safeguard children and young people at risk of abuse, neglect and exploitation.

FIND MY TUTOR will ensure that where staff or tutors need to share special category personal data, they are aware that the Data Protection Act 2018 includes ‘safeguarding of individuals at risk’ as a condition that allows practitioners to share information without consent.

FIND MY TUTOR will ensure that confidential information is only shared where it is lawful and ethical to do so. All staff and tutors must be clear about situations when they can share information with appropriate agencies i.e. when they believe a child is at risk of harm.

FIND MY TUTOR staff and tutors will give due regard to relevant legislation and guidance when making decisions on sharing information including the following:

• The Data Protection Act 1998 and 2018 (GDPR).

• The Children’s Code (issued under S125 DPA 2018 effective from 5 Oct 2021).

• Information sharing Advice for practitioners providing safeguarding services to children, young people, parents and carers July 2018.

• Working Together to Safeguarding Children 2018.

• Keeping Children Safe in Education 2021.

The Children’s Code

The Children’s Code (or the age-appropriate design code) is a statutory code of practice that articulates how online services likely to be accessed by children should comply with the UK GDPR when using children’s data. The code sets out 15 flexible standards that allow children to explore, learn and play online. It ensuresthat the best interests ofthe child are the primary consideration when designing and developing online services. The code standards are:

• Best interests of the child

• Data protection impact assessments

• Age appropriate application

• Transparency

• Detrimental use of data

• Policies and community standards

• Default settings

• Data minimisation

• Data sharing

• Geolocation

• Parental controls

• Profiling

• Nudge techniques

• Connected toys and devices

• Online tools

The concept of the best interests of the child comes from Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). FIND MY TUTOR is committed to working in the best interests of the child and ensures the use of their data does not have a negative impact on their rights under the< UNCRC.

The code applies to ‘information society services likely to be accessed by children’, and contains practical guidance on how to share data fairly and lawfully, it does not impose any additional barriers to data sharing. FIND MY TUTOR will use the code’s 15 standards to review and, where necessary, update our ongoing data sharing arrangements.

9. Safeguarding Allegations Against Directors, Staff or Tutors

FIND MY TUTOR recognises its duty to report concerns or allegations against its directors, staff, or tutors. All directors,staff and tutors must comply with the relevant Code of Conduct when performing their role in order to promote safer working practices.

Allegations of abuse against directors, staff or tutors can be made by either a child or an adult and should be made immediately to the DSO. Allegations made against the DSO should instead be made to another member of the leadership team who will inform the other team members. Another suitable senior member of staff will then be appointed to take the place of the DSO in response to the allegation.

FIND MY TUTOR recognises that there are two levels of allegation/concern as outlined in KCSIE 2021, Part 4, these are:

1. Allegations that meet the harms threshold

2. Allegations/concerns that do not meet the harms threshold – referred to as ‘low level concerns’.

FIND MY TUTOR will deal appropriately and promptly with all allegations or concerns and refer all safeguarding concerns or allegations about its directors, staff or tutors immediately to the appropriate local authority designated officer (LADO) in accordance with local safeguarding procedures and practical guidance.

FIND MY TUTOR is committed to creating and sustaining an open and transparent culture in which all concerns about adults (including allegations that do not meet the harms threshold) are shared responsibly with the right person, recorded and dealt with in accordance with our policies and procedures. This organisation wide approach to safeguarding will ensure we are able to identify concerning, problematic or inappropriate behaviour early; minimise the risk of abuse; and ensure that adults working in or on behalf of FIND MY TUTOR are clear about professional boundaries and act within these boundaries, and in accordance with the ethos and values of FIND MY TUTOR.

It is a matter of policy that any director, staff member or tutor, against whom a safeguarding allegation is made, will be suspended without prejudice immediately pending investigation. This will be the case even if the allegation is not linked to their role or activity with FIND MY TUTOR. Such instances will be rare occasions and any decision to suspend will not be taken lightly. The decision will be taken after full discussions with the Managing Director, in consultation with the HR Department.

During any investigation of an allegation against a director, staff member or tutor suspended from the workplace, FIND MY TUTOR recognises that it has a continuing duty of care. It will ensure a link person is nominated (not connected to the investigation) to provide support and guidance and be able to signpost those suspended to other external support networks. e.g. local trade union reps, Occupational Health, G.P., Samaritans etc.

DBS Requirement and Duty to Report

Under legal duties to make referrals to the Disclosure and Barring Service, FIND MY TUTOR will report any concerns about unsafe practice by any of its directors, staff or tutors to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

If at any time FIND MY TUTOR dismisses a director, member of staff or tutor due to relevant conduct, risk of harm or receiving a caution or conviction for a relevant offence (or the person has resigned or left that post in circumstances where they may have been removed), then a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service will be made by the DSO.

10. What staff and tutors should do if they have concerns about poor or unsafe practices within FIND MY TUTOR

Staff and tutors should feel able to raise concerns about poor or unsafe practice and potential failures in FIND MY TUTOR’s safeguarding regime. Appropriate whistleblowing procedures, which are suitably reflected in staff and tutors’ induction, training and the code of conduct, are in place for such concerns to be raised with FIND MY TUTOR’s leadership team.

Where a staff member or tutor feels unable to raise the issue with their manager or feels that their genuine concerns are not being addressed, other whistleblowing channels are open to them:

• the NSPCC’s what you can do to report abuse dedicated helpline is available as an alternative route for staff who do not feel able to raise concerns regarding child protection failures internally or have concerns about the way a concern is being handled by their school or college. Staff and tutors can call 0800 028 0285 – line is available from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, Monday to Friday and email: help@nspcc.org.uk

11. Recruitment, Selection and Training

Recruitment and Selection

FIND MY TUTOR is aware of its responsibility for ensuring that it carries out appropriate safer recruitment practices for all positions within the organisation. The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 requires the organisation to carry out specific vetting (enhanced DBS and barred list checks) on staff or tutors if they work with children and young people.

In order to deter unsuitable individuals and inappropriate behaviour FIND MY TUTOR will highlight the Safeguarding statement (see section 2) to tutors throughout the recruitment process.

Training

FIND MY TUTOR believes that training and raising awareness of safeguarding issues, policies and procedures is fundamental to the development and maintenance of a safer environment, safer organisation and safer staff/ tutors. It will ensure that appropriate safeguarding training is provided to all staff and tutors to assist them in:

• preventing abuse

• recognising abuse

• recording concerns

• responding appropriately to allegations of abuse

• knowing who to tell, and

• when information can be shared.

Safeguarding training at the appropriate level to the role and responsibilities held will be a mandatory element of all inductions for staff and tutors. Furthermore, safeguarding training will not be regarded as a ‘once only’ activity, but as an ongoing development of skills and knowledge of safeguarding practices.

12. Complaints

If a complaint is identified as a potential safeguarding concern, then the Safeguarding Procedures will be followed.

13. Quality Assurance and Review

FIND MY TUTOR is committed to striving for excellence in the provision of all its services. We do this by actively reviewing the safeguarding systems in place.

We use an electronic recording system to capture all relevant data that supports the evidencing and monitoring of compliance in safeguarding. This quality assurance mechanism is a crucial and integral part of the governance structure.

The leadership team will review the safeguarding policy and supporting procedures annually to ensure they continue to reflect legislation and guidance. Any amendments to the policy and supporting procedures will be submitted to the Directors for approval.

14. Underpinning Legislation and Guidance

Legislation

• Children Act 1989

• Human Rights Act 1998

• United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1991

• Sexual Offences Act 2003

• Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003

• Children Act 2004

• Safeguarding vulnerable Groups Act 2006

• The Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007

• The Equality Act 2010

• Children and Families Act 2014

• Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014

• Modern Slavery Act 2015

• Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015

• Children and Social Work Act 2017

• Data Protection Act 2018

• Voyeurism (Offences) Act 2019

• Domestic Abuse Act 2021

• Children’s Code (issued under S125 DPA 2018, effective Oct 2021)

Guidance

• What to do if you’re worried about a Child is being Abused, 2015

• Child Sexual Exploitation Guidance 2017

• Information Sharing Advice for Safeguarding Practitioners 2018

• Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 places a general duty on schools to work and cooperate with other agencies to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

FIND MY TUTOR is committed to do this by having an open, honest and transparent line of communication.

• Guidance for Safer Working Practice for those working with children and young people in education settings, May 2019

This document is an update by the Safer Recruitment Consortium of a document previously published for schools by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). It was initially issued as those working with children had expressed concern about their vulnerability and requested clearer advice about what constitutes illegal behaviour and what might be considered as misconduct. Education staff asked for practical guidance about which behaviours constitute safe practice and which behaviours should be avoided. This safe working practice document is NOT statutory guidance from the Department for Education (DfE); it is for employers, local authorities and/or the Three Safeguarding Partners to decide whether to use this as the basis for their code of conduct / staff behaviour guidelines.

An addendum was published in response to Covid-19 in April 2020.

• Keeping Children Safe in Education 2021 (KCSIE) is statutory guidance issued from the Department for Education under Section 175 of the Education Act 2002. Schools and colleges must have regard to this when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the wellbeing of children.

• Sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges 2021 – the advice provided by the DfE sets out what sexual violence and sexual harassment is, how to minimise the risk of it occurring and what to do when it does occur or is alleged to have occurred.

• Children’s Code is a statutory code of practice that articulates how online services likely to be accessed by children should comply with the UK GDPR when using children’s data.

The code was prepared under s121 of the DPA 2018 and issued under s125 of DPA 2018, coming into effect on 5 October 2021.