CHILD PROTECTION POLICIES

Introduction 

AtoZ Educational Services LTD (the Company) is a company run for the following purpose:

a) Providing a safe and stimulating environment which ensures equal opportunities for all children, regardless of race, culture, religion, gender, special needs and medical requirements.

b) Teaching 9 to 11-year children by means of our unique methods which we specially developed to provide the optimal educational level to achieve success in the 11+ Examinations.

c) Giving individual emphasis to the development of each pupil’s knowledge and intelligence.

The Company’s registered address is:
20-22 Wenlock Road, London, N1 7GU
Company Number: 10788418

The Company has adopted this safeguarding children policy and expects every adult working or helping at Company to support it and comply with it. Consequently, this policy shall apply to all staff, managers, trustees, directors, volunteers, students or anyone working on behalf of the Company.

Purpose of the Policy
This policy is intended to protect children who receive any service from us, including those who are the children of adults who may receive services from us. Under this policy, the term children shall mean any person who is under eighteen years of age.
The Company believes that no child or young person should experience abuse or harm and is committed to the protection of children and young people. This policy is intended to provide guidance and overarching principles to those who represent us as volunteers or staff, to guide our approach to child protection and safeguarding.

The Risks to Children
Children can be vulnerable to different forms of abuse and harm. It is important to recognise that abuse and harm to children can cover a wide range of circumstances and behaviours. For example, children can be at risk of:
– physical or emotional abuse
– neglect
– sexual abuse
– grooming and exploitation
– trafficking and modern slavery
– exposure to or infliction of domestic abuse
– allegations
– bullying or cyberbullying
– exposure to other inappropriate content or behaviour, such as violence or criminal behaviour
– self-harm
– physical harm when engaging in activities without adequate supervision

The causal factors of any such harm and/or abuse can also be wide-ranging. For example, children can be placed at risk by family members or by members of the community.

Safeguarding Principles
Safeguarding children from harm and abuse is an essential responsibility for our Company. We are committed to ensuring that any child who comes into contact with our services is properly safeguarded. Every person under this policy must ensure that they play an active role in ensuring that children are properly safeguarded.
Every person under this policy holds responsibility for:
– remaining alert and aware of possible safeguarding risks to children
– guarding children against harmful environments with appropriate actions (for example, adequate supervision or ensuring safe environments)
– taking positive steps to maintain the safety and wellbeing of children engaging with us as a Company
– reporting concerns expeditiously and appropriately, in line with child protection procedures
– understanding the duty to report specific concerns (and understanding how this interplays with confidentiality)
– challenging any inappropriate or harmful behaviour of any other adult and reporting this accordingly
– acting appropriately in the presence of children
– not taking any inappropriate risks
– not smoking, drinking or taking any form of illicit substances in the presence of children

Safeguarding Officer
Any question, report or concern in relation to the safeguarding of children should be shared with our Safeguarding Officer:
Name: Mr Bala Sivaraman
Email: bala@atozeducationalservices.com
Telephone: 0208 9355 604

Confidentiality and Data Protection
All personal information we may process relating to children, shall be processed and stored in accordance with our data protection privacy policy which can be located on our website.

Responding to a Safeguarding Concern
Where a child is at immediate risk of serious harm, any adult present should call 999. Thereafter, the Safeguarding Officer should be contacted as soon as is reasonably practicable.
Where there is a safeguarding concern but no immediate risk of serious harm, the adult who has heard or witnessed this concern should consult with the Safeguarding Officer as soon as practicable and by no later than the end of that same day.

Where any child makes a disclosure relating to harm or abuse to an adult, it is important for that adult to:
– listen calmly and carefully, showing that their views are taken seriously
– provide an appropriate and honest level of reassurance
– avoid interrogating children and asking to probe, intrusive and/or leading questions
– avoid making false promises regarding secrets and confidentiality with the child (because any concern of abuse/harm must be shared with the Safeguarding Officer and any subsequent safeguarding referral)
– make a confidential written record of the discussion either during the discussion or immediately afterwards. The record should include the key details of the disclosure together with any relevant times, dates, places and people concerned. Audio and video recordings of children making disclosures should be avoided
– refer all relevant information to the Safeguarding Officer as soon as practicable afterwards, and by no later than the end of the day
Upon receipt of any safeguarding concern, the Safeguarding Officer shall consult with any other relevant persons and will make any appropriate referrals to the relevant authorities, such as the applicable Local Authority Children’s Services department.

Reporting Concerns About Other Adults
Where any person has a concern regarding the conduct of an adult connected to the Company, which poses or may pose a safeguarding risk to children such as:
– harming a child either physically or emotionally
– exposing a child to behaviour which may cause physical or emotional harm
– engaging in criminal activity concerning a child
this must be raised in the first instance with the Safeguarding Officer (or where this is not appropriate, a different senior member of the organisation) so that the next appropriate steps may be agreed upon and actioned. We recognise that there could be circumstances where a person may need to report a matter that has taken place in a setting outside of the person’s engagement with the Company.
Usually, any appropriate steps following a safeguarding referral in respect of an individual connected to the Company will include either:
– further initial enquiries
– escalation to the applicable Local Authority Children’s Services department for assessment and/or the police for investigation
– instigation of any appropriate disciplinary, formal investigation processes and suspension of any person concerned within the Company
– a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service, or any other relevant regulatory bodies
Any person within the Company who has allegations made against them shall be informed properly in a formal meeting of the particulars of the allegations and the relevant next steps which shall be taken. Such a meeting should ordinarily be held by the Safeguarding Officer. On certain occasions, such a meeting may not be convened until this has been approved by any authorities involved (such as the police or the relevant Local Authority).
Any person from within the Company who has allegations made against them shall be treated fairly. All enquires, investigations and decisions taken shall be just and fair, with the safety of any child concerned at the heart of the process.
Any person from within the Company who makes an allegation against another person from within the Company shall be listened to, taken seriously and shall be treated fairly and justly throughout the process of enquiries, investigations and decision making.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Checks and Reporting
DBS checks under the appropriate legislation should be undertaken wherever required. The groups of people we will usually undertake DBS checks in relation to are:
Teachers, Teaching assistant and adult volunteers
Wherever we deem it is necessary and appropriate to remove any individual from a position of work in an activity which is regulated under the relevant legislation, we shall also be obliged to make a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Safeguarding Children at Events and Activities
Responsibilities and Planning
Typically, we may arrange the following types of events and/or activities which could involve children:
Teaching English and Maths
The Safeguarding Officer shall hold ultimate responsibility for the safety and appropriateness of the event. They may however appoint a delegate for some responsibilities for the purpose of a specific event.
Although the Safeguarding Officer and any appointed delegates will hold ultimate responsibility for overseeing the safety of events and activities, all individuals under this policy must also play an active role in ensuring the safety of children at all times.
Appropriate background checking shall be undertaken for any adult engaged by us in connection with an event or activity involving children, wherever this is required by law (see the relevant section above).
For certain types of events or activities, we may issue an additional code of conduct, policy, or some specific other requirements which is specific to that occasion. Any such additional documentation will be made available to all those concerned (staff members, parents, guardians etc.) in advance. They should be read carefully and adhered to.

Venues
The location for any events or activities which are held by us shall be risk assessed properly in reference to the suitability and safety for children. Fire and safety procedures and precautions shall be made clear to all those involved.

Arrivals
-Parents/Carers are requested to drop off their child fifteen minutes before the lessons start.
-On arrival Parents/Carers bring their child to the specified entrance and hand over the child to a member of staff.
-On arrival Parents/Carers are solely responsible for dropping their child at the specified entrance and AtoZ Educational services will not be responsible for any accidents and incidents which take place during the process.

Departures
-At the end of the session, the children are all gathered together in the Paper Class centre. Parents/Carers will give their child’s name to a member of staff and wait until the child arrives.
-Any Parent/Carer who wishes to receive feedback should queue up in the ‘Feedback Queue’ and wait for their turn to be called.
-Parents/Carers will notify a member of staff when dropping their child off if there are any changes to the person collecting a child. (e.g. A friend/relative/neighbour collecting their child)
-Parents/Carers are solely responsible for picking up their children after the Paper Classes and AtoZ Educational services will not be responsible for any accidents and incidents which take place during the process.

First Aid
We have the following first aid procedure within the Company:
A First Aid Kit is kept in all our centres.
Any accident or injury concerning a child should be brought to the attention of the nearest first aider and should thereafter be formally reported to the Safeguarding Officer.

Supervision
For most activities and events, our procedure for supervision of children is as follows:
For teaching sessions:
One main teacher and a teaching assistant will be present

For Paper Class sessions:
Up to five teaching assistants and three volunteers
Where we hold any events or activities whereby a child attends alongside their parent or guardian, parents and guardians should ensure that children are properly supervised.

Managing Behaviour of Children Generally
Whenever any adult engaged by us is faced with challenging or inappropriate behaviour from a child or with conflict between children, they must:
– treat each child fairly and equally
– approach the situation in a calm and neutral manner
– only ever use physical restraint/intervention in order to protect the immediate safety of a person, for example to prevent an injury or harm either to the child or others
– wherever it is justified to physically restrain a child or to physically intervene, the amount of force used should be kept to the absolute minimum taking into account the risk posed
– make a written record of the incident and ensure this is reported appropriately to the Safeguarding Officer

Managing Risks Posed by Other Children
It is important for all adults engaged by us to recognise that children can face harm from their peers. This can commonly take the form of bullying. Bullying can be defined as any behaviour which is:
– repeated; and
– has the intention of hurting somebody either physically or emotionally.
Bullying can sometimes be motivated by prejudices based on certain groups, for example, gender, race, religion or sexual orientation. Bullying can often include:
– physical harm perpetrated against another child
– name calling and threats
– cyberbullying (threats and abusive comments made via technology)
Any instance of bullying or concern relating to possible bullying between children at any event or activities arranged by us will usually be dealt with by us in the first instance as follows:
Children involved and relevant staff shall be spoken to individually to ascertain facts. Where appropriate, children will receive the first warning, and parents/guardians will be informed.
Where any behaviour amounting to bullying continues following this, the following steps will be taken:
The child or children who have been found to be responsible for persistent behaviour which amounts to bullying of another child shall be banned from attending our sessions.
All steps in relation to the prevention or management of bullying should be taken in consultation with the Safeguarding Officer.

Photography
We operate a strict no photo policy. We will not take any photographs and ask that members of the public, parents or guardians and children do not take any photographs when attending our premises, activities and/or events.

Other Policies
We have referred within this document to the following other important policies which should be read in conjunction with this policy:
– Our data protection policy
– Our first aid policy
This policy should also be read in conjunction with:
Data protection privacy policy and data security statement
GDPR Commitment
Website terms and conditions
These are available on our website.

Legal Framework
This policy has been drawn up in accordance with all relevant and applicable legislation and guidance available to the Company in the jurisdictions it operates within.
This Policy is approved and robustly endorsed by AtoZ Educational Services Ltd and is due for review every 18 months.

Signed: Mr Bala Sivaraman (Safeguarding Officer)

Date: 1st July 2021