Safer working for Candidates

We take the safeguarding of all children very seriously whilst also ensuring that our candidates are also well protected. School staff are integral within a school as they can identify any concerns early and provide a safe space for children to receive the help that they need.

This is why we ask that all candidates should:

• listen to the child without over-questioning them or taking a statement from them
• report your concerns immediately to the Nominated Person for Safeguarding or the headteacher
• make a record of the disclosure including what was said (word for word if possible); the date and time of the incident and disclosure details; and the author’s name.

Don’t put yourself in a vulnerable position

Under normal circumstances, you should never be on your own with a pupil, however, if you cannot avoid it, don’t leave yourself vulnerable. Make sure the classroom door is open and try to seek the attention of other teachers or staff, Ensure that you don’t black any exits and don’t place yourself between the child and the door. In no situation should there be any physical contact with a child, as even a hand on the shoulder could be misconstructed by some children.

Manage behaviour carefully

Whenever you work in a new school, familiarise yourself with the school’s behavioural policy and stick to it. The policy is likely to remind you that you should deal with the behaviour as the issue and not the child. If for whatever reason you need to send a child out of the classroom, don’t speak to them alone in the corridor, safety can be maintained if you make sure there are witnesses to your conversation and the actions that you have undertaken. Remember to speak quietly, calmly and with professionalism at all times.

Protect your personal details and your social networks

You should never give out your personal details to pupils or request them from students. This includes telephone numbers, personal email addresses and any social network account names. You should not try to contact or respond to messages via social networks from pupils and report any attempts to contact you to the school or ourselves immediately. One simple way in which you can protect yourself is to restrict who can view or contact you via the privacy settings on your social media profile(s).
Even with these settings in place, you must always assume that any information that you post online is posted into the public domain and is viewable by anyone, so with that in mind, please act accordingly. This also applies to any comments you make on pages or posts on social networks too.

Understand the definitions of misconduct

Harassment/verbal misconduct includes any action(s) and practice(s) by an individual or group which are directed at others, and which may comprise remarks or actions associated with a person’s gender, race, disability, sexuality, class, age, medical status, personality or other aspects of them. Humiliation and belittlement towards a student with comments or actions are also included under harassment/verbal misconduct.

Every Child Matters

We encourage all our candidates to adopt the principles from the government’s Every Child Matters document on the reform and improvement of child care and promote safer working. By following these guidelines, together, we can ensure all pupils are given the opportunity to enjoy school, achieve academically and grow personally as well as socially.