FLUENT TUTORS SAFEGUARDING POLICY

 

Introduction

 

At Fluent, we understand the importance of online safety and we recognise that all children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation have an equal right to protection from all forms of abuse, neglect or exploitation. The Safeguarding policy applies to anyone working on behalf of Fluent Tutors which includes, paid staff, volunteers, part-time workers, agency staff and students. All adults involved in our activities have a duty of care to safeguard and promote the welfare of the students we work with. All staff and volunteers receive training in safeguarding and child protection before being accepted to work for Fluent Tutors. This includes understanding why safeguarding matters and being able to identify different types of abuse and knowing how to respond to a suspicion or allegation.

 

Rationale and context

Safeguarding is a much wider subject and no single tutor can have a full picture of a students’ needs and circumstances. We view safeguarding and promoting the welfare of students as everyone’s responsibility. If students and families are to receive the right help at the right time, everyone who comes into contact with them has a role to play in identifying concerns, sharing information and taking prompt action. In order to fulfil this responsibility effectively, all tutors should make sure their approach is student-centred. This means that they should consider, at all times, what is in the best interests of the student. We support the students within our care and protect them from maltreatment. In our setting we strive to protect students from the risk of radicalisation and we promote acceptance and tolerance of other beliefs and cultures.

 

Legal framework and definition of safeguarding

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England and Wales

• Children Act 1989 and 2004

• Childcare Act 2006

• Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006

• Children and Social Work Act 2017

• Working together to safeguard children 2018

• Keeping children safe in education 2016

• What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused 2015

• Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015.

 

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, in relation to this policy is defined as:

• Protecting children from maltreatment.

• Preventing the impairment of children’s health or development.

• Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care.

• Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

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Aims:

• To understand what is meant by child protection and be aware of the different ways in which children can be harmed, including by other children through bullying or discriminatory behaviour.

• To ensure parents are fully aware of child protection policies and procedures when they register with Fluent Tutors and are kept informed of all updates when they occur.  

• To provide a safe and secure environment in which children can learn and develop.

• To practise safe recruitment in checking the suitability of staff and volunteers to work with children.

• To ensure staff are trained right from induction to understand the child protection and safeguarding policy and procedures, are alert to identify possible signs of abuse.

• To ensure that all staff are familiar and updated regularly with child protection training and procedures and kept informed of changes to local/national procedures.

• To be aware of the increased vulnerability of students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and other vulnerable or isolated families and children.

• To be aware that some students are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency and communication needs.

• To raise awareness of child protection issues and equip students with the skills needed to keep them safe, both online and offline.

• To develop and implement procedures for identifying and reporting cases, or suspected cases of abuse.

• To ensure that all staff feel confident and supported to act in the best interests of the child, share information and seek the help that the child may need.

• To make any child protection referrals in a timely way, sharing relevant information as necessary in line with procedures set out by the DfE.

• To ensure that information is shared only with those people who need to know in order to protect the child and act in their best interest.

• To take any appropriate action relating to allegations of serious harm or abuse against any person working with children or working with/for Fluent Tutors.

• To regularly review and update this policy with staff and parents where appropriate and make sure it complies with any legal requirements and any guidance or procedures issued by DfE and Essex County Council.

• To develop a culture where staff are confident to raise concerns about professional conduct.

• To promote tolerance and acceptance of different beliefs, cultures and communities.

• To help students to understand how they can influence and participate in decision-making and how to promote Humane values through, discussion and role modelling.

• To always listen to children.

• To record, store and use information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance (GDPR).

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The main elements of Fluent Tutor’s safeguarding policy are:

 

Prevention:

We safeguard children whether they are at risk of maltreatment or abuse or in need of specific local authority or inter-agency care. Our safer recruitment procedures include checking and recording the suitability of staff and volunteers developing procedures to deal with safeguarding issues. All communications between tutors and students take place via the official Fluent Tutors email and all online lesson are recorded and made available for play back to parents and students.

 

Protection:

Fluent Tutors have a Designated Safeguarding Lead to offer support and training to all staff and volunteers involved in Fluent Tutors work. The DSL act as the main point of contact in the event of any allegation or disclosure. If there is an allegation or signs and indicators of abuse are identified or if at any point an adult involved with Fluent Tutors work fails to comply with any element of our policy this information must be passed immediately to Fluent Tutors DSL, Cavin Selukwe. It is the DSL’s responsibility to collect all relevant information and make decisions on how to proceed. Staff are trained and supported to respond appropriately and sensitively to all safeguarding concerns following our agreed procedures. All  our staff have a duty of care to pass on all relevant information regarding any allegations of abuse or identified signs and indicators of possible abuse. The Designated Safeguarding Officer can be contacted on: 07902 513898. In the event of the Designated Safeguarding Officer being unavailable please email to: email@fluent-tutors.com

 

Support:

We support children who may have been at risk of significant harm (which includes the way staff respond to their concerns and any work that may be required) or children who have been abused, in accordance with their agreed child protection plan. The most common reason for children becoming looked after is as a result of abuse and/or neglect. Fluent Tutors will ensure that staff have the skills, knowledge and understanding necessary to keep looked after children safe. In particular, they should ensure that appropriate staff have the information they need in relation to a child’s looked after legal status (whether they are looked after under voluntary arrangements with consent of parents or on an interim or full care order) and contact arrangements with birth parents or those with parental responsibility. They should also have information about the child’s care arrangements and the levels of authority delegated to the carer by the authority looking after him/her. The DSL has details of the child’s social worker and the name of the virtual school head in the authority that looks after the child.

 

Tutor Registration.

Every tutor who signs with us is thoroughly checked and references are collected. Fluent Tutors conducts thorough in depth interviews as part of the selection process. We only transfer payments to tutors holding UK personal bank account. We ensure tutors are DBS checked shortly after being interviewed. Feedback is collected every time a tutor signs up with a student to ensure highest quality of tutoring.

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GDPR
All personal details about the student and parents, including contact address, phone number and email, will remain private and confidential. All data held by Fluent Tutors is in accordance with the GDPR.

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Online lessons:

• All online lessons require a password and the lesson is locked once a student or groups of students join in.

• Waiting rooms are used to prevent students joining before the tutor.

• All students are required to use their real names and only approved real names enter from the waiting room. Students are not allowed to change their real names during the online lessons.

• All students have their camera on at the beginning so they can be identified.

• All students should be fully dressed and so are the tutors.

• Private chat is disabled so students can send messages which can be seen by tutor and other students if it’s a group session. All learners in breakout rooms will be supervised.

• Students must report to parents immediately if they are worried about someone or something, they have witnessed in an online classroom.

• Students must not make any improper suggestions to the tutor.

• Parents must report any unsolicited communications between the tutor and student to the DSL.

 

This policy statement came into force on 01/01/2019 and we are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually. This policy statement and accompanying procedures were last reviewed on 01/01/2023.

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