Safeguarding

We take a comprehensive and pro-active approach to safeguarding and child protection for the pupils we support.

Data Protection

We collect data on the learners referred to us and all relevant school and local authority staff, to enable us to deliver our services. All the information we gather is used solely for the delivery of our services or to allow us to provide relevant information and news to our clients. This may include, but is not limited to using data for the following purposes:

1. Safeguarding

We request and collect contact information on the designated adult as a safeguarding lead for every learner that is referred to our provision. Our designated safeguarding lead may need to contact school or local authority officers in the event of any cause for concern.

2. Learner Engagement & Progression

We request information at referral that may support educational decision making, which includes placing learners into appropriate ability groups and generating individual timetables. We typically request baseline assessment data or historical progress and background information, that will ensure our teachers are aware of any issues that might impact learner engagement and progression.

3. Administering Finance

Services are payable in advance and at the point of commissioning. Where a school or a local authority is commissioning this service, we ask for finance team contact information. This is so we can send them any subsequent invoices and as a key point of contact should any finance queries arise.

4. Parent & Carer Contact

When our service is commissioned, we ask for family contact information.

Internet Security

When accessing web sites and before entering any personal information you can ensure the link to that site is secure if:

• There is a padlock symbol in the browser window frame, that appears when you try to log in or register.
• The web address begins with ‘https://’. (The ‘s’ stands for ‘secure’).

Assuming these are in place you have accessed a site where the owners have been issued with a digital certificate by a trusted third party. This suggests that information being transmitted is encrypted and protected from being intercepted by their parties. However, a certificate is no guarantee that the owner of the site you are communicating with is who you intended to communicate with so always carefully check the web page address to confirm its authenticity.

A skilled developer can easily clone a real web site and use it for malicious or fraudulent. Here are some simple tips to follow if your common sense tells you something doesn’t feel right about a site you are accessing:

• Check there is a padlock in the browser window or ‘https://’ at the beginning of the web address, if not do not enter personal information
• Check for an email, contact number and/or postal address – if in doubt contact them directly to ensure they are authentic
• Check the web site address – look for typo’s, misspellings, digits and characters that are incorrect
• Web search any site you are suspicious about to see if others have identified it is fraudulent or malicious

This is by no means an exhaustive list of things you should be on the look out for or steps you can take to protect yourself. Seek advice if you have any doubts!

Legislation and statutory guidance

This policy is based on the Department for Education's statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education (2023), and the Governance Handbook. We comply with this guidance and the arrangements agreed and published by our 3 local safeguarding partners.

This policy is also based on the following legislation:

• Part 1 of the schedule to the Non-Maintained Special Schools (England) Regulations 2015, which places a duty on non-maintained special schools to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils at the school
• The Children Act 1989 (and 2004 amendment), which provides a framework for the care and protection of children
• Section 5B(11) of the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003, as inserted by section 74 of the Serious Crime Act 2015, which places a statutory duty on teachers to report to the police where they discover that female genital mutilation (FGM) appears to have been carried out on a girl under 18
• Statutory guidance on FGM, which sets out responsibilities with regards to safeguarding and supporting girls affected by FGM
• The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, which outlines when people with criminal convictions can work with children
• Schedule 4 of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, which defines what ‘regulated activity’ is in relation to children
• Statutory guidance on the Prevent duty, which explains schools’ duties under the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 with respect to protecting people from the risk of radicalisation and extremism
• The Childcare (Disqualification) and Childcare (Early Years Provision Free of Charge) (Extended Entitlement) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 (referred to in this policy as the “2018 Childcare
• Disqualification Regulations”) and Childcare Act 2006, which set out who is disqualified from working with children

E-Safety

Any computer or mobile device that is spending time online should be protected by Internet Security software which should include:
Virus Scanner, Firewall, Spyware Scanner, Phishing Filter and Identity Protection

It’s always important to keep your software up to date so that it can spot the latest threats to your security. Most programs will generally run a daily update when the computer is switched on.

While security software will monitor and check the data going through your Internet connection it is always a good idea to run a scan at least once a week, at a time when the computer is not being used for lessons or any other work.

ThinkUKnow Scheme

We recommend their nationally-acclaimed ThinkUKnow scheme, which highlights the importance of online safety and promotes use of the “Report Abuse” button to report illegal or inappropriate behaviour encountered online.
https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/

Internet Matters

A not for profit service that aims to empower parents and carers to keep their children safe in the digital world.
https://www.internetmatters.org/