CHAPTER 3

SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN POLICY

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1. Background and Legal Framework

1.1 The Children Act 2001 places a duty on local authorities to investigate situations where a
child is at risk of significant harm. Schools have a legal obligation to work with investigating
agencies acting on behalf of children in need.

1.2 Duty is placed on local authorities, the governing bodies of maintained schools and the
governing bodies of Further Education institutions to have arrangements in place to ensure that
they safeguard and promote the welfare of children. This duty is very general but acquires
substance in guidance through CPAN – Child Protection Advocacy Network.

1.3 The responsibility for making sure appropriate arrangements are in place lies with the
governing body. Staff members are responsible for carrying out their duties in compliance with
the arrangements set out by the governing body.

1.4 The School is not an investigating agency. This function will normally be carried out by Social
Services, or other agencies with statutory powers (like the police), as set out in the manual of
safeguarding inter-agency procedures

2.0 The Children Act 2001, and subsequent legislation and guidance, are concerned with the
emotional, physical or sexual abuse or neglect of children, defined as under the age of 18.
However, it is recognized that children acquire degrees of legal capacity (for example, the ability
to give informed consent) and maturity prior to their 18th birthday, and also that there are
adults over 18 who continue to be vulnerable due to a learning difficulty and/or disability.

2. Aim

The aim of this policy is to provide a framework for staff and students to help protect and
safeguard all those who work and learn in the School.

3. Purpose

NJA wants to ensure that all students of the School experience an inclusive, enjoyable and safe
environment, in which they feel respected and valued. All staff share the objective to keep
children, young people and vulnerable adults safe.
The purpose of this policy and related procedures is to:
• promote the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and protect them from
harm
• ensure the safe recruitment of staff and conduct of staff
• identify staff responsibilities in dealing with reports or suspicions of abuse and to provide
clear and robust guidance on how to handle these concerns
• encourage good practice in all aspects of promotion and protection of children, young
people and vulnerable adults

4. Context

The School will carry out its responsibilities under all relevant legislation, regulations and
professional guidelines.

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5. Scope

This policy and related procedures deal with the safeguarding and protection of children and
vulnerable adults from abuse using School services in either regulated or controlled activity.

6. Definitions
• Child
A person under the age of 18.

• Vulnerable Adult
A Vulnerable Adult is a person aged 18 or over, who is or may be in need of community care
services by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness and who is, or may be unable to
take care of him or herself or unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or
exploitation.

• Abuse
 Neglect or acts of omission
 Physical abuse
 Sexual abuse
 Psychological/Emotional abuse
 Financial or material abuse
 Discriminatory abuse
 Institutional abuse

• Regulated Activity
Regulated activity involves contact with children and/or vulnerable adults and is one of the
following:
 of a specified nature* frequently or intensively; or
 in a specified place* frequently or intensively; or
 a defined position of responsibility e.g. Governor, Director
 fostering, childminding and day care provision; or
 manager/supervisor of a worker in regulated activity

Specified nature: teaching, training, instruction, care, supervision, advice, guidance, treatment,
therapy, transport, moderating a chat room

Specified place: school, nursery, children’s hospital, young offender’ institution, children’s
home, childcare premises, residential hone, care/nursing home

Frequently: once per month or more

Intensively: 3 or more days in any 30 day period, or overnight

Controlled Activity
Controlled activity is one of the following:
• Ancillary support in a particular setting: Health Service, Social Care settings e.g.
caretaker, receptionist
• Those working for a specified organisation with frequent access to health, educational,
family court or personal social services records about children

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 Relevant Conduct
Relevant conduct includes;
• conduct which endangers a child or vulnerable adult or if repeated would endanger a
child/vulnerable adult
• conduct involving sexual material relating to children
• conduct involving sexually explicit images depicting violence
• conduct of a sexual nature involving a vulnerable adult

7. General Principles
The policy and related procedures are based on the following principles:
• The School seeks to provide and promote a safe learning environment for all users

• The School recognises that anyone can be the subject of abuse and that all allegations of
abuse will be taken seriously and treated in accordance with the School’s procedures

• This policy and related procedures will be reviewed annually to ensure they reflect current
legislation and best practice

• The School will use best practice in its safe recruitment of staff by undertaking the
appropriate checks as required

• The School will not employ any person in ‘regulated or controlled activity’ who is not
checked for a criminal record. The School also reserves the right to refuse to employ any
person in ‘controlled activity’ who has been barred from working with children and
vulnerable adults. School staff will be monitored for their suitability to continue working
with vulnerable groups and the School will report ‘relevant conduct’ to the proper
authorities.

• The School reserves the right to refuse to enrol any person who has a conviction for the
abuse of a child, young person or a vulnerable adult.

• The School reserves the right to refer serious ‘relevant conduct’ and concerns to the proper
authorities about individuals behaviour, including staff, students and visitors

• The School will collaborate with regional policies and procedures in full partnership with
other local agencies.

• The School’s staff will listen, record and report all concerns, disclosures and allegations of
abuse in accordance with current procedures in a empathic, prompt and secure manner

• The School will NOT investigate instances of abuse as this is the role of other statutory
agencies.

• The School will inform all School users (including students, trainees, nursery children, staff)
and parents/guardians/carers of under 18’s about the School’s policy and procedures and
that this may mean cases are referred to investigative agencies in the interest of the child,
young person or vulnerable adult

• The School is committed to supporting, resourcing and training those who work with, or
come in contact with children, young people and vulnerable adults and to provide
appropriate supervision

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 • The policy will be implemented in the following ways;

o All staff, including temporary agency workers, are required to follow the staff
code of behaviour for Child and Vulnerable Adult Safeguarding

o All staff must refer all concerns, allegations or suspicions to a designated

safeguarding member of staff promptly using the appropriate recording
methods

o Designated “safeguarding” members of staff will report these concerns,

allegations or suspicions to the appropriate statutory agency promptly

o Statutory investigations will always take priority over any possible internal staff
or student disciplinary investigation

8. Responsibilities

• All staff
It is the responsibility of ALL staff working in the School to record and report abuse. This
responsibility extends to all staff, not just those specifically working with children, young people
and vulnerable adults. Therefore it is the responsibility of all staff to;
• Adopt safeguarding guidelines including the code of behaviour for staff

• Act upon any concern, no matter how small or trivial it may seem, in accordance
with the School procedures

• Promote safe practice and challenge poor and unsafe behaviour

• Ensure all health and safety procedures are adhered to

• Ensure they are aware of safeguarding procedures and are appropriately trained

• Designated Safeguarding Governor (DSG)

The designated member of the governing body with responsibility for child, young people and
vulnerable adult safeguarding issues is a member of the Board of Directors. The designated
governor is responsible for liaising with the Principal and Business Manager over these matters
including:
• Ensuring that the School has procedures and policies which are consistent with the
legal procedures

• Ensuring that the Board of Directors reviews this policy on child protection each year

• Ensuring that each year the governing body is informed of how the School and its
staff have complied with the policy, including but not limited to a report on the
training that staff have undertaken.

The designated governor is responsible for overseeing the liaison between Social Services and in
connection with allegations against the Director or the Principal. This will not involve
undertaking any form of investigation, but will ensure good communication between the parties
and provide information to assist enquiries. To assist in these duties, the designated governor
will receive appropriate training.

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• Child Protection Officer (CPO)
The School shall have a designated member of staff, who is assigned to act upon child, young
people and vulnerable safeguarding concerns. As NJA is a large organisation it has a Child
Protection Officer [School Nurse] to oversee and co-ordinate all strategic and operational School
safeguarding matters. To support this role there are also a number of Designated Safeguarding
Officers across School sites to deal with the day to day operations of child, young people and
vulnerable adult safeguarding. The Child Protection Officer is the Head of School Health Service.

The Child Protection Officer’s role is to;

• Know how to identify the signs and symptoms of abuse, when to make a referral and
provide support and advice on these matters

• Liaise with the local child protection organisation regarding procedures and their role
within them

• Liaise with and know the role and responsibilities of the all the appropriate investigating
agencies

• Liaise with the Designated Safeguarding Governor on all protection matters relevant to
School governance

• Report serious ‘relevant conduct’ and concerns to the proper authorities about
individuals behaviour, involving staff, students and/or visitors

• Liaise with Schools which send pupils to the School ensuring appropriate arrangements
are made for these pupils

• Liaise with employers and training organisations that receive young people from the
School on long term placements ensuring that appropriate safeguards are put in place

• Review this policy and related procedures annually

• Oversee and monitor the security of record keeping

• Develop and monitor a Safeguarding Action Plan

• Review information about events that are planned in the School that may involve
children, young people or vulnerable adults and plan how safeguarding will be covered.

• Manage, support and supervise all DSO’s

• Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO)

Across School sites the following staff are Designated Officers who can be contacted for
information, advice and reporting of concerns, disclosures or allegations of abuse

o ____________________ – Primary Education

o ____________________ – Secondary Education
o ____________________ – Upper Secondary Education
o ____________________ – Other Education

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 The role of the Designated Safeguarding Officer is to:

• Receive information from any staff, volunteers, children, parents or carers who have
safeguarding concerns and record it

• Advise staff on protection policy, procedures and record keeping

• Assess the information promptly and carefully, clarifying and obtaining more
information about the matter as appropriate

• Initially consult with a statutory child safeguarding agency to test out any concerns

• Make a formal referral to the appropriate statutory protection agency or the police

• Record statements from any member of staff who feels a person has indulged in
inappropriate behaviour or made sexually suggestive comments or approaches

• Store all information and recording in a secure manner and in accordance with
relevant legislation

• Human Resources
The Human Resources Department will;
• Ensure the safe recruitment and induction of all staff including all appropriate checks

• Advise management on the conduct staff disciplinary investigations if any concerns,

disclosures or allegations of abuse by a staff member are made

• Plan, deliver and monitor in partnership with other School departments the appropriate
level of training required by all staff

• Report serious ‘relevant conduct’ and concerns to the proper authorities regarding staff
behaviour, where appropriate

• Regularly review and update its own policies to reflect child, young people and
vulnerable adult safeguarding needs

9. Confidentiality
Confidentiality and trust should be maintained as far as possible, but staff must act on the basis
that the safety of the person is the overriding concern. The degree of confidentiality will be
governed by the need to protect the individual and therefore complete confidentiality cannot be
guaranteed. In general the following guidelines should be used:
• The person should be informed at the earliest possible stage of the disclosure that the
information will be passed on and where possible their permission to disclose sought

• All conversation regarding a child should always be held in private. Staff must not discuss
the case with anyone other than those involved in the case.

• If staff have any concerns about the progress of the case or have any other concerns these
must be discussed with the CPO or the DSO dealing with the case.

• In all cases the main restrictions on disclosure of information are:

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 The School complies with the requirements of the authorities, which allows for disclosure of
personal data where this is necessary to protect their vital interests. Other statutory provisions
may also be relevant, but in general, legislation does not prevent sharing of information if:

• those likely to be affected consent; or

• the public interest in safeguarding the person’s welfare overrides the need to keep the
information confidential; or

• it is considered the person is a danger to themselves or others; or

• disclosure is required under court or other legal obligation

Whatever happens, staff should always be open and honest with the individual if it is intended
to take the case further

10. Photography, Images and video

NJA recognises the need to ensure the welfare and safety of all students and therefore the
School will not permit photographs, video or other images of children, young people or
vulnerable adults to be taken without the consent of the person and their parents/those with
parental responsibility where appropriate.

11. What is abuse?

Defining abuse is complex and rests on many factors. The term “abuse” can be widely
interpreted. However, “abuse” is defined as the “violation of an individual’s human and civil
rights by any other person or persons.” Abuse may happen as the result of deliberate intent,
negligence or ignorance.
In dealing with a child or young person with a disability it is important to remember that they
may be unable to recognise abusive behaviour because if they have learning difficulties, a lack of
education or information, and/or because they may have reduced exposure to the norm of
adult/child interactions, for example a disabled child may have difficulty in differentiating
between appropriate and inappropriate touching.

Here are some examples of abuse.

• Physical abuse
This includes hitting, slapping, pushing, kicking, misuse of medical/chemical restraint or
inappropriate sanctions.
• Sexual abuse
This includes rape and sexual assault or sexual acts to which the vulnerable adult has not, or
could not, consent and/or was pressured into consenting.
• Psychological/emotional abuse
This includes emotional abuse, threats of harm or abandonment, deprivation of contact,
humiliation, verbal or racial abuse, forced marriage, isolation or withdrawal of services or
supportive networks.

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 • Financial or material abuse
This includes theft, fraud, exploitation; pressure in connection with wills, property,
inheritance or financial transactions; or the misuses or misappropriation of property,
possessions or benefits.
• Neglect and acts of omission
This includes ignoring medical or physical care needs; failure to provide access to
appropriate health, social care or educational services; the withholding of the necessities of
life, such as medication, adequate nutrition and heating.
• Institutional abuse
This is repeated instances of poor care of individuals or groups of individuals. It can be
through neglect or poor professional practice as a result of structures, policies, processes
and practices within an organisation. While this in no way condones the abusive practice on
the part of individuals, it recognises the powerful influence that organisational culture has
on individual behaviour.
The above should not be considered an exclusive or even exhaustive list of the types of abuse
which can be experienced by vulnerable adults.

12. Staff Code of Behaviour

NJA wants to ensure that all students of the School experience an inclusive, enjoyable and safe
environment, in which they feel respected and valued. All staff share the objective to keep
children, young people and vulnerable adults safe and are committed to:
• promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and safeguarding
them from harm

• respecting the rights, wishes and feelings of children, young people and vulnerable adults

• encouraging inclusive practices and not tolerating any form of discriminatory practice

• keeping up to date with safeguarding policies, procedures and training

• responding to all incidents of suspicious poor practice and allegations of abuse swiftly and
appropriately

Staff can reduce likely situations for abuse of children and vulnerable adults and help protect
themselves from false accusations by making sure that they are aware that, as a general rule, it
doesn't make sense to...
• spend excessive amounts of time alone with children or vulnerable adults away from others;

• take children or vulnerable adults alone in a car on journeys, however short;

• take children or vulnerable adults to your home

When it is unavoidable that these things do happen, they should only occur with the full
knowledge and consent of the Principal and the young person’s parent / person with parental
responsibility where appropriate.

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 Staff should never…
• engage in rough physical games - apart from structured sports activities [and only with
young people over age 16yrs].

• engage in sexually provocative games;

• allow or engage in inappropriate touching of any form;

• allow the use of inappropriate language to go unchallenged;

• make sexually suggestive comments about or to anyone even in fun;

• let allegations made go unchallenged or unrecorded;

• do things of a personal nature that they can do themselves.

It may sometimes be necessary for staff to do things of a personal nature for young people or
vulnerable adults, particularly if they have disabilities, these tasks should only be carried out
with the full understanding and consent of the parent / person with parental responsibility. In
an emergency situation which requires this type of help, parents / those with parental
responsibility should be fully informed, as soon as reasonably possible. In such situations, it is
important that all staff are sensitive to the individual and undertake personal care tasks with the
utmost discretion.

Inappropriate actions in relation to any of the above may invoke the staff disciplinary
procedures.

13. Responding to an allegation of abuse

Any member of staff who has knowledge of, or a suspicion that, a child is or has been suffering
significant harm must refer their concern to the designated member of staff as soon as possible. All
allegations or suspicions must be taken seriously. The student must be advised that this information
cannot be kept confidential and will be passed on to the designated member of staff in School in the
first instance.

Any staff who receive an allegation or disclosure of abuse should make an immediate written record
of the conversation, including the following information:
- date and time of report
- date, time and place of alleged abuse
- your name and name of complainant
- name of child alleged to have been abused, if different from above
- nature of alleged abuse
- description of any injuries observed, if any
- any other information given, including siblings if relevant
- confirmation that the student has been advised of the next steps

Questions should be kept to the minimum required for clarity, and leading questions must be
avoided.

If abuse is suspected but not disclosed, it may be appropriate to remind the student about the
availability of the School Counselling Service or external help lines.

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14. Safe recruitment of staff
The School undertakes best endeavours to ensure that its employees are fit to work with children. It
also reserves the right to refuse admission to any person whom it believes may pose a risk to
children.

The Further Education (Providers of Education) (England) Regulations 2006 place on Schools a duty
to undertake an Enhanced Criminal Records Bureau Disclosure for all new staff who are providing
education, training or care to young people under 18.

The School accordingly has the following systems in place to prevent unsuitable people from
working with children and young people and promote safe practice:
• references are required for all new staff
• checks are made on the identity, nationality, residency and right to work status for all new
staff
• evidence of qualifications are required for all new staff
• all staff providing education or working in a one-to-one situation with students are required
to provide a valid Police Clearance Certificate (Good Conduct)
• Good Conduct certificate are reviewed every two years
• all staff sign a Child Protection agreement
• International Disclosures are required for relevant overseas staff
• all job descriptions and person specifications contain statements relating to safeguarding the
welfare of children and young people.

In accordance with the regulations, a central record is kept of all checks carried out on staff.

15. Training staff

Designated staff will receive training in safeguarding children and interagency working to standards
approved by the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board, and refresher training every 2 years.

All other staff who work with young people under 18 will receive training through the School staff
development programme to ensure they are aware of their responsibilities for safeguarding children
and of the School’s policies and procedures. Refresher training will be held every 3 years.

16. Allegations of Abuse Against staff

All allegations and concerns must be taken seriously and dealt with according to the guidance given
in ‘Safeguarding Children and Safer recruitment in Education’.

Where an allegation of abuse is made against a member of staff, the relevant disciplinary procedures
may be invoked as well as reporting the case to the appropriate authorities. Any investigation taken
under Local Safeguarding

Any such allegation should be reported to the designated member of staff as soon as possible. The
designated member of staff will inform the Principal and Human Resource Specialist and report the
matter to the appropriate statutory agency as above.

If an allegation of abuse is made against the designated member of staff, the allegation must be
reported directly to the Principal and Human Resource Specialist.

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Where an allegation is made by a student aged 18+, it will be investigated through internal School
procedures.

If it is subsequently found that a student has made a false allegation, or that the allegation was
prompted by inappropriate behaviour, the matter will be investigated through the student
disciplinary procedures.

17. Support for staff

This policy document is available to all staff via the staff intranet or from Student Services. Where a
member of staff finds a disclosure particularly distressing, they may wish to seek support through
the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). Details of the EAP are available on the School intranet or
from Human Resources. Alternatively, they may talk through their concerns with the designated
member of staff.

18. School EYFS

Separate procedures are in place for children in the Early Years section. The designated staff
member is the Head of EYFS.

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