Safeguarding and
Child Protection Policy

Safeguarding U18 students

Currently students U18 join our school under circumstances: students can join mixed adult groups from the age of 16 or a closed group of U18s, with group leaders at appropriate ratios, can study together as a group, if the parent, legal guardian of the student or a member of college staff  is in the room at all times.

To insure the safety of all U18s attending the school, red colour lanyards will be allocated to all such students. Lanyards must be worn at all times while on school premises. Students who forget or lose their lanyard must obtain a temporary replacement from reception upon arrival.

All U18 students will also have an ID card with a name and surname of the student. It will also have the contact details for the school (address, emergency telephone number and email address).

School 24 hour Emergency   074 0512 4421
School Office            020 7734 7774
Emergency Services       999 or 112
NSPCC                    0808 800 5000
ChildLine                0800 1111

Class registers

The names of U18s are highlighted in red on class registers in mixed groups. Furthermore, they are required to sign in and out at front desk when they arrive and leave the school. Lateness is responded to immediately. If the student has not signed in at the front desk within half an hour of his / her class, their parent or guardian will be called to check their whereabouts.

In order to authorise an absence for U18s, their parent or guardian will need to inform front desk by email before the lesson.

The Office Administrator will check completed attendance registers shortly after the class start times and ensure all U18 are in class or their parents/guardians are contacted accordingly.

For closed groups, the group leader must report any non-attendance of students to front desk before class begins on a daily basis.

Parental Consent Forms

All students under 18 must submit a completed Parental Consent Form before they start their course:

U18s in Mixed-age groups

(Where students aged 16 or over join a normal adult class) Included with the form is our Risk Assessment for Under 18s in Mixed Groups, so that parents / guardians can decide whether this is adequate and make any further suggestions. It also provides the School emergency number and asks for the parent’s/guardian’s contact details.

When U18s are staying in accommodation arranged by us, they and the host families must abide by a curfew, 10.30pm on Sunday to Thursday, and 11.30pm on Friday and Saturday. Failure to observe the curfew will lead to phone calls to the students’ parents / guardians.

Closed groups

The form outlines our travel and curfew rules. It states that although care is taken to make sure that U18 students are not left alone while on school premises – including having a group leader escort students for comfort breaks – and on excursions with their group leaders, there are moments when they will be unaccompanied. Because students are lodged with separate host families, there will be a short period of unsupervised time when they are travelling between the meeting point and their accommodation. To mitigate this, the host families and group leaders have expected times of arrival which will lead to calls to each other, the DSL and ultimately to the students’ parents if exceeded by an unreasonable amount of time.

The host families, group leaders and accommodation agency must all make sure that students abide by a curfew, 10.30pm on Sunday to Thursday, and 11.30pm on Friday and Saturday. Failure to observe the curfew will lead to phone calls to the DSL and ultimately to the students’ parents / guardians.

Advice forms

U18s in mixed groups are offered advice about appropriate use of the internet, namely the prohibition on accessing pornographic, gambling or radical material, as well as promoting awareness of self-protection against internet fraud and cyber bullying and are asked to sign a form confirming receipt of this advice. They are also advised of the safest routes to and from the school and reminded that they need to look right first when crossing roads in the UK and sign to confirm receipt of this advice. Closed groups receive this advice during their induction, and will be asked to sign the advice forms.

Group Leader Forms

Group leaders must sign a declaration on their form which confirms their understanding of rules for them and their group, namely respecting curfews and ratios of U18s to adults, as well as the emergency contact number and procedures for raising concerns.

Supervision Ratios

Closed groups must abide by a ratio of 2 adults to 15 U18s

Leisure activities

U18s can only come on social programmes with adults, if they are accompanied at all times by their legal guardian or parent, and the risk assessment of the social programme allows it.

Security measures

All PCs and student Wi-fi networks at Eynsford College are protected by secure firewalls that prevent access to websites of an unsuitable nature.

Recruitment of staff

Recruitment requires the following checks for new staff:

1. References will be followed up
2. All gaps in CVs must be explained satisfactorily
3. Proof of identity and qualifications
4. Reference requests will ask specifically whether there is any reason that they should not be engaged in situations where they have responsibility for, or substantial access to, persons under 18.
5. Appropriate suitability checks will be required prior to confirmation of appointment (DBS check enhanced)

Recruitment Procedures

In addition to the recruitment policies stated above, applicants will also be asked a specific question to assess their suitability for working with Under 18s, namely ‘How do you feel about social media contact with students?’ In addition, applicants themselves will be required to affirm that there is no reason why they should not be employed in situations where they have a responsibility for, or substantial access to, persons under 18. During induction, newly appointed staff will be given Eynsford College Employee Handbook and be given and made aware of all college policies and procedures to ensure he/she is aware of the duties and responsibilities associated with the safeguarding of persons under 18.

Meetings

Once a month, safeguarding and PREVENT issues are brought up and discussed in staff and teachers’ meetings.