Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy

1. Safeguarding Children Policy:

The Tuition Pod believes that it is always unacceptable for a child or young person to experience abuse of any kind and recognises its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all children and young people, by a commitment to practice, which protects them.

We recognise that:

the welfare of the child/young person is paramount
all children, regardless of age, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation or identity, have the right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse
working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

The purpose of the policy:

to provide protection for the children and young people who receive The Tuition Pod services.
to provide guidance on procedures for staff in the event that they suspect a child or young person may be experiencing, or be at risk of, harm.

This policy applies to all staff or anyone working on behalf of The Tuition Pod.

We will seek to safeguard children and young people by:

valuing them, listening to and respecting them
adopting child protection guidelines through procedures and a code of conduct for staff
ensuring all staff are DBS checked
sharing information about child protection and good practice with children, parents and staff
sharing information about concerns with agencies who need to know, and involving parents and children appropriately

2. Child Protection Policy

This policy applies to all staff and anyone working on behalf of The Tuition Pod.

The purpose of this policy:

to protect children and young people who receive The Tuition Pod services.
to provide staff and volunteers with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection;

The Tuition Pod believes that a child or young person should never experience abuse of any kind. We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people and to keep them safe. We are committed to practice in a way that protects them.

Legal framework

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of law and guidance that seeks to protect children, namely:

Children Act 1989
United Convention of the Rights of the Child 1991
Data Protection Act 1998
Sexual Offences Act 2003
Children Act 2004
Protection of Freedoms Act 2012
Relevant government guidance on safeguarding children

We recognise that:

the welfare of the child is paramount, as enshrined in the Children Act 1989
all children, regardless of age, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation or identity, have a right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse
some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues
working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

valuing them, listening to and respecting them
adopting child protection practices through procedures and a code of conduct for staff and volunteers
developing and implementing an effective e-safety policy and related procedures
providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support and training
sharing information about child protection and good practice with children, parents, staff and volunteers
sharing concerns with agencies who need to know, and involving parents and children appropriately.

3. E-Safety Policy

This policy and the procedures that it underpins apply to all staff and anyone working on behalf of The Tuition Pod.

To protect children and young people who receive The Tuition Pod services and who make use of information technology (such as mobile phones, Tablets and the Internet) as part of their involvement with us;
To provide staff with the overarching principles that guides our approach to e-safety;
To ensure that, as an organisation, we operate in line with our values and within the law in terms of how we use information technology.

We recognise that:

The welfare of the children/young people who come into contact with our services is paramount and should govern our approach to the use and management of electronic communications technologies.

All children, regardless of age, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation or identity, have the right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse;

Working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare and in helping young people to be responsible in their approach to e-safety;

The use of information technology is an essential part of all our lives; it is involved in how we as an organisation gather and store information, as well as how we communicate with each other. It is also an intrinsic part of the experience of our children and young people, and is greatly beneficial to all. However, it can present challenges in terms of how we use it responsibly

and, if misused either by an adult or a young person, can be actually or potentially harmful to them.

We will seek to promote e-safety by:

Developing a range of procedures that provide clear and specific directions to staff on the appropriate use of ICT;

Supporting and encouraging the young people using our service to use the opportunities offered by mobile phone technology and the internet in a way that keeps themselves safe and shows respect for others;

Supporting and encouraging parents and carers to do what they can to keep their children safe online and when using their mobile phones and game consoles;

Use our procedures to deal firmly, fairly and decisively with any examples of inappropriate ICT use, complaints or allegations, whether by an adult or a child/young person (these may include breaches of filtering, illegal use, cyberbullying, or use of ICT to groom a child or to perpetrate abuse);

Informing parents and carers of incidents of concern as appropriate;

Reviewing and updating the security of our information systems regularly;

Providing adequate physical security for ICT equipment;

Ensuring that user names, logins and passwords are used effectively;

Using only official email accounts provided via the organisation, and monitoring these as necessary;

Ensuring that images of children, young people and families are used only after their written permission has been obtained, and only for the purpose for which consent has been given;

Any social media tools used in the course of our work with children, young people and families must be risk assessed in advance by the member of staff wishing to use them;

Providing effective management for staff and volunteers on ICT issues, through supervision, support and training;

Examining and risk assessing any emerging new technologies before they are used within the organisation.

We are committed to reviewing our Safeguarding, Child Protection and e-safety policies and associated good practice annually.