Safeguarding

Introduction and Rational

All children have an absolute right to free from abuse, neglect or exploitation. Slough Tuition Centre believes that in all matters concerning child protection and safeguarding, the welfare and protection of the young people is of paramount consideration.

All adults involved in Slough Tuition Centre’s activities and who come into contact with children have a duty of care to safeguard and promote their welfare. This policy and the procedures contain within it exist not to discourage adults from being involved in the work of Slough Tuition Centre 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 young people are competent, confident and safe to do so.
  • Adults working or volunteering for Slough Tuition Centre 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 Slough Tuition Centre activities must follow Slough Tuition Centre’s Code of Conduct.
  • They must also be familiar with the steps to be taken in the event of becoming aware of, suspecting or receiving allegations of abuse.

Designated Safeguarding Officer

Slough Tuition Centre have a Designated Safeguarding Officer to:

  • Offer support and training to all staff and volunteers involved in Slough Tuition Centre’s work.
  • To ensure that all Slough Tuition Centre staff and volunteers are sufficiently vetted.
  • To act as the main point of contact in the event of any allegation or disclosure.
  • To act as the as the main point of contact between Slough Tuition Centre and partner schools.

If there is an allegation, signs and indicators of abuse are identified or if at any point an adult involved with Slough Tuition Centre’s work fails to comply with any element of the Code of Behaviour this information must be passed immediately to Slough Tuition Centre’s Designated Safeguarding Officer. Mandeep who can be contacted on 01753318318 or via email on m.dhaliwal@sloughtuition.com. It is the Designated Safeguarding Officer’s responsibility to collect all relevant information and make decisions on how to proceed (this will include contacting the designated safeguarding lead at the relevant partner school/s). All staff working at STC  have a duty of care to pass on all relevant information regarding any allegations of abuse or identified signs and indicators of possible abuse.

Slough Borough Council Safeguarding Details

Office hours – Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
Email safeguarding.adults@slough.gov.uk
Safeguarding adults: 01753 690444
Safeguarding children and young people: 01753 875362
Prevent coordinator: 07540 147340
Out of office hours
Adult & child safeguarding referral: 01344 786543
Prevent Engagement Team (Thames Valley Police): 01753 506 291 / 506059
Prevent National Security Hotline: 0800 789 321
Emergency – urgent police or medical attention call: 999

Definition of Abuse

Physical Abuse: physical injury to a child where there is knowledge, or a reasonable suspicion, that their injury was inflicted or knowingly not prevented.

Neglect: the persistent or severe neglect of a child that results in serious impairment of the child’s health or development (both physical and mental).

Emotional Abuse: the persistent or severe emotional ill-treatment of a child which has severe adverse effect on the behaviour and emotional development of that child.

Sexual Abuse: the involvement of dependent, developmentally immature children and adolescents in sexual activities they do not truly comprehend, to which they are unable to give informed consent.

Extremism: A vocal or active opposition to fundamental human values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs.

Grooming: When someone builds an emotional connection with a child or a young person to gain their trust for the purposes of sexual abuse or exploitation.

Self-Abuse: Any means by which a child or young person seeks to harm themselves. This can take lots of physical forms, including cutting, bruising, scratching, hair-pulling, poisoning, overdosing and eating disorders.

STC Procedure for Safeguarding

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 Slough Tuition Centre Designated Safeguarding officer Mandeep who can be contacted on 01753318318 or via email on m.dhaliwal@sloughtuition.com and/or allocated school child protection and safeguarding lead/s.

In the event of Slough Tuition Centre’s Designated Safeguarding Officers being contacted the following protocol will be followed by STC:

  1. The information will immediately be passed on to the school’s child protection and safeguarding lead/s.
  2. The school shall follow the school’s procedure for contacting the local Police Child Protection Unit or the Social Services Department of the relevant Local Authority (the Authorities). Slough Tuition Centre shall support the school with any action that the school deems appropriate and shall undertake reasonable endeavours to provide the school with any assistance or documents.
  3. Slough Tuition Centre shall not, under any circumstances, undertake any independent investigation or questioning (as this may jeopardise any enquiry) unless or until Slough Tuition Centre is given authorisation by the school or the Authorities. Following authorisation, Slough Tuition Centre may independently follow up on the allegation.
  4. All allegations or suspicions shall be referred to the school 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 Police Child Protection Unit or the local Social Services within 24 hours or as soon as shall be reasonably practicable.

In the event that a young person discloses abuse to an employee of Slough Tuition Centre or a volunteer tutor

Employees of Slough Tuition Centre and volunteer tutors shall:

  1. Allow the young person to speak without interruption, encouraging them to tell you only what they feel comfortable telling you, and be accepting and be non-judgemental about what is said.
  2. Do not ask investigative or leading questions of any kind.
  3. Advise the young person that you will offer support, but that you MUST pass what they tell you and are not able to keep anything they tell you confidential.
  4. If they refuse to tell you anything unless you promise to keep it a secret, inform them that you want to help and that there is one person you have to tell. If they then refuse to tell you any more, please respect their decision and report this incident.
  5. Ensure that the young person is not immediately at risk of any further abuse.
  6. Immediately after a disclosure, contact the Designated Safeguarding Officer at Slough Tuition Centre.
  7. Report the facts as you know them/ or understand them, including the pupil’s name and the account given to you by the young person using the words that they used as well as including any other information your feel is relevant.
  8. Provide this detailed information to the Designated Safeguarding Officer at Slough Tuition Centre as soon as you are able.
  9. Slough Tuition Centre will retain a copy of all such notifications in accordance with GDPR guidelines.

In the event that a volunteer tutor suspects abuse, but it has not been disclosed by the young person,

Employees of Slough Tuition Centre and volunteer tutors shall:

  1. Do not discuss your suspicions with the young person in question or conduct any form of investigative work.
  2. Report the facts as you know them/ or understand them, including the pupil’s name and the account given to you by the young person using the words that they used as well as including any other information your feel is relevant.
  3. Provide this detailed information to the Designated Safeguarding Officer at Slough Tuition Centre as soon as you are able.
  4. Slough Tuition Centre shall retain a copy of all such notifications in accordance with GDPR guidelines.

If you receive an allegation about any adult or about a volunteer tutor (including the person hearing the allegation)

Employees of Slough Tuition Centre and volunteer tutors shall:

  1. Immediately after receiving an allegation or disclosure, contact the Designated Safeguarding Children Officer at Slough Tuition Centre.
  2. Report the facts as you know them/ or understand them, including the names of relevant adults and/or young people and the account given to you using the words that they used as well as including any other information your feel is relevant.
  3. Provide this detailed information to the Designated Safeguarding Children Officer at Slough Tuition Centre as soon as you are able.
  4. Slough Tuition Centre shall retain a copy of all such notifications in accordance with GDPR guidelines.

If you deal with the personal data of young people (including names, grades and school)

Employees of Slough Tuition Centre and volunteer tutors shall:

  1. Handle all information with sensitivity and confidentiality and in accordance with GDPR guidelines.
  2. The information should be kept securely and not be made available to others without the authority of Slough Tuition Centre.

Recruitment and Training 

Slough Tuition Centre maintain a high standard in recruiting staff and volunteers. All Slough Tuition Centre employees and volunteers are subject to an enhanced DBS check before they can begin work at STC or within our partner schools. Every volunteer and employee must be able to fulfil one of the following:

  • Have an existing enhanced DBS check not more than 2 years old verified by a member of Slough Tutoring staff, with the disclosure number and date of issue recorded, along with photographic ID.
  • Arrange with Slough Tuition Centre to have a new enhanced DBS check processed by Slough Tuition Centre.

Slough Tuition Centre staff and volunteers receive training on the contents of this this policy as part of their induction, this policy is made available to all adults involved in Slough Tuition Centre’s activities and all volunteers confirm they have received safeguarding training when they sign up to a programme, confirming that they have received safeguarding training and understand their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding.

EduCare online Training

All Tutors will complete training via EduCare;

EduCare is the UK’s leading provider of essential Safeguarding and Duty of Care training.

STC will use EduCare’s e-learning service that has been designed specifically for the education sector. The service combines a broad range of online courses with a robust reporting suite that can evidence learning to inspectors.

These courses are designed to impart essential information and give advice on how to act if someone suspects something is wrong – whatever their role or responsibility.

Slough Tuition Centre’s ‘Recruitment of ex-offenders’ policy’ is available on request.

The Code of Conduct

All adults coming into contact with children and young people through Slough Tuition Centre’s work must comply with this Child Protection and Safeguarding Children Policy and this Code of Conduct.

You must:

  • Act in accordance with the STC and partner school’s policies and procedures regarding child protection and safeguarding.
  • Treat all young people with respect.
  • Avoid being alone with a young person or cause someone else to be alone with a young person because of your actions e.g. being late. If alone in a room with young people keep the door open at all times.
  • 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.
  • 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 young people would not be able to access your online profiles and be privy to any information you would not want in the public domain.
  • Block any young people that approach you online and inform Slough Tuition Centre’s Designated Safeguarding Officer immediately.
  • Recognise that special caution is required when discussing sensitive issues with young people.
  • Challenge unacceptable behaviour and report all allegations/suspicions of abuse to the Slough Tuition’s Designated Safeguarding Officer.
  • Operate within Slough Tuition Centre’s procedures in the event of any disclosure/concern.
  • Raise any questions or concerns about child protection and safeguarding with Slough Tuition Centre’s Designated Safeguarding Officer, or if unsure of a school’s procedure, information should be sought from school staff.

You must not

  • Promise confidentiality to young people in any situation.
  • Seek out or add young people on any social networking site.
  • Respond to any online communication from a young person, for example on a social networking site.
  • Share any personal contact details (including email address, telephone number or address) with young people, or, seek out their personal contact details.
  • Arrange to meet a young person outside of the allocated tutoring time, unless on the school premises and with the prior knowledge of a member of staff.
  • Act in a manner that excludes the young people you are working with.
  • Make suggestive or derogatory remarks in front of young people.
  • Have inappropriate physical contact or verbal contact with young people.
  • Show favouritism to any individual.
  • Be under the influence of alcohol or other substances when working on activities involving young people.
  • Take photographs of young people.