Schools’ Commissioning Support Toolkit
Activities/Service Provision
3) KEEPING CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE SAFE– Safer Recruitment & Safeguarding
Schools will have varying roles when commissioning, procuring or organising activities / services for children and young people. Where school staff have duty of care, schools should follow existing guidance in “Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education “ for both staff and volunteers.
When providing access to Extended Services, schools could be:
- Employing their own staff to organise, lead and run activities
- Commissioning providers to run activities or services and handing over duty of care for pupils to a provider
- Managingexternal providers on a school site to run activities
- Letting their premises to local providers
- Providing activities or services offsite in community settings
Within these roles, schools will be responsible for the following unless the activity is signposted (please see Signposting 1):
- Who has access to the children (including adults who use community facilities)
- What the children do
- Where the children are sent and how they are transported
- Who takes them there
- What happens to the children when they get there
Where a contracted provider is responsible for running the services or activities and has duty of care there should be clear lines of accountability and written agreements setting out roles and responsibilities. Child and user safety is paramount. Guidance for safeguarding when commissioning services can be found in the Extended Services pages of the “Safeguarding children and safer recruitment in education” document (see link below).
Published by Schools Children & Families 1 of 7Last Update March 2011
Schools’ Commissioning Support Toolkit
Activities/Service Provision
Schools should only work with providers who can demonstrate that they have effective procedures, training and vetting arrangements for their staff, appropriate child/adult ratios and contingency arrangements in place for emergencies or the unexpected eg arrangements for managing in the event that a child is not picked up after a session run by a provider. Schools should seek reassurance from providers that they are competent to deliver the service or activity.
When in doubt, or if you have any concerns please use the following –
“Would I let my child access the activity or service”!
Published by Schools Children & Families 1 of 7Last Update March 2011
Guidance for establishing proven competency for duty of care, safer recruitment and safeguarding
3 possible Scenarios to consider:
Scenario 1Where school staff provide duty of care (in loco parentis) & activities themselves on the employing school site (see guidance 4) / Scenario 2
Where school Staff provide duty of care (in loco parentis) and use providers (not in loco parentis) to deliver activities (see guidance 4, 5) / Scenario 3
Where school staff hand over duty of care / in loco parentis to a Commissioned / contracted provider who has full responsibilities for pupils safety, welfare and wellbeing (see guidance 6)
A proven competent member of staff delegated by the head / senior person of the establishment to have the responsibility to establish competence in staff to take duty of care whilst running activities.
Competence could be verified by experience, training, qualifications & assessment.
In brief, school’s safer recruitment and employment policies should apply when recruiting these staff.
These should include:
- Appointment
- Induction
- Training
- Pre-employment safeguarding checks
- Reporting incidents
- Supervision to ensure that procedures are followed
Volunteers should be subject to the same recruitment and vetting processes as in place for paid staff
All staff and volunteers details should be held on single central record / Proven competent member of staff delegated by the head / senior person of the establishment to have the responsibility to establish competence in staff to take duty of care and manage the use of providers. The member of staff delegated the responsibility should have experience of managing similar complex events.
School staff checks as in scenario 1
(Competence could be verified by experience, training, qualifications & assessment)
As school staff have responsibility/duty of care for the activity they should remain with providers at all times and sufficient staff should be available to relieve staff should the situation arise. Staff taking this responsibility should be briefed appropriately.
Schools will need to consider how regularly this provider is on site. If they provide services on a regular basis then school staff should assure themselves that the provider has a safer recruitment and safe guarding policy in place and follows these policies if employing additional staff. This will mean that the member of staff managing the event will check that the provider:
- Ensures their personnel are CRB checked
- Ensures that they are appropriately qualified for the activities
- Ensures that any agreement to use the school premises includes a commitment to work within the school’s child protection policy and procedures
- Ensures there is a written agreement/contract depending on the nature of the activity
- Ensures there is a communication route to the school through which concerns can be reported, by children, parents or staff
If the activity is a one off and the provider is with a member of staff at all times the school needs to give consideration to the circumstances to determine the level of checking. The school needs to reassure themselves that they know the identity of the individual and the organisation from which they come. The nature of the activity needs to be considered. Consideration should be given to the frequency and regularity of the visits. If the individual could begin to form relationships with C&YP then full checks should be completed. Consideration should be given in all situations to the particular circumstances of the activity. / The member of staff at the commissioning establishment/ school - who has the delegated duty of care, responsibility (& proven competence) – must satisfy themselves that the provider has a robust approach to the safeguarding of young people. This must be a senior person with proven competence to oversee duty of care (competence which could be verified e.g. experience, training, qualifications & seniority)delegated by the head of the commissioning establishment
The provider would need therefore to satisfy the commissioning staff above that
- They have the competence and the expertise to look after young people in loco parentis (on behalf of the commissioning establishment) (Point B on previous page)
- This might require the commissioner to undertake all or some of the following approaches for checking, as appropriate –
- Inspection of all paperwork identified below
- Inspect the company at other locations before contracting
- Spot monitoring at the beginning of contracts
- Ask for references
- There is a named proven competent individual responsible for overseeing the duty of care (competence which could be verified e.g. experience, training, qualifications & seniority)
- Follows both the letter and the spirit of all statutory guidance i.e. for safeguarding, duty of care and safer recruitment.
- Has a safeguarding and safer recruitment policy in place and can show evidence of recent training, qualifications and experience.
- That all members of staff are suitable to be in loco parentis and have satisfactory enhanced CRB checks within the last 3 years (this must be stated in writing)
- That if the provider recruits volunteers that all appropriate checks have been made in line with employed staff
- Can confirm the names of all the staff who will deliver the service, that all checks have been done (confirmed in writing)
- Understands the need for photographic ID for all members of staff
- Insures all individuals appropriately
- Provides a detailed contract which explicitly outlines roles, responsibilities and programme of work (see contract pack)
- Has a communication route to the school through which concerns can be reported by children, parents, staff & the provider
- Has a agreed complaints procedure in place
Published by Schools Children & Families 1 of 7 Last Update March 2011
School staff running activities across a number of sites
Where activities are being delivered across a number of sites by staff employed by one school on behalf of a group of schools it would be good practice to:
- Reach a common protocol between all schools involved, including a common child protection policy
- Have an agreement to exchange information on participating children who may be at risk, making parents / carers aware that this information is being shared
- Ensure that there are opportunities for inter-school checks to be made to satisfy each school that what is being offered is safe and appropriate
- Ensure there are compatible procedures for reporting and recording incidents, including reporting to Governors.
Before, After & During Activities
- Arrangements are in place for children to be supported and looked after if an incident occurs during a session (ie adequate leader / children ratios)
- Arrangements in place for later return of buses or delays in pick-ups by parents
- If an open access provision is running eg playscheme (where the activity is not pre-booked), parents need to be aware of, and sign up to, the open agreement
- There should be a written agreement with parents which may include a statement that children will only be allowed to participate if parents pick up children on time (with allowance for emergencies)
Family Activities
When running activities for families, parents remain responsible for their children. Make this clear as part of the briefing and ensure parents understand their roles and responsibilities. If running coach trips provide each parent with a slip confirming the departure time and explain that the coach will not wait. Provide an emergency contact number for parents.
Further Guidance
Schools must read this document alongside Section.175 of the Education Act (2002) and in conjunction with the following documents attached to this guidance.
Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education (
What to do if you’re worried
(
What to do if an allegation is raised against a member of staff
(
For the most up to date information on safeguarding and safer recruitment, guidance can be found on the SET Safeguarding pages. The link for these pages can be found on the schools info link.
For an exemplar child protection policy please see 3a
Published by Schools Children & Families 1 of 7 Last Update March 2011