Tooled Up Education Safeguarding Policy - Dec 2024

1. Introduction
2. Relevant legislation
3. Our team
4. Online content
5. Reporting
6. When we review this policy
7. Principles of this policy
   

Appendix A – definitions of abuse, neglect and specific situations
Physical abuse
Emotional abuse
Sexual abuse
Neglect
It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs
Affluent neglect
Indicators of abuse
Specific issues

Appendix B – The designated safeguarding lead

1) Introduction

Tooled Up Education (“TUE”) is a digital resource platform that schools and organisations subscribe to on an annual basis. TUE provides online resources, webinars, talks and conferences for parents and school staff. All schools and organisations who have chosen to work with TUE will have their own internal safeguarding procedures and policies but, given that we work closely with school staff and interact with parents, carers and families, we have devised this policy which outlines our own safeguarding practices and procedures, which are undertaken in line with relevant legislation.

2) Relevant legislation

Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE, September 2023)
Working Together to Safeguard Children (updated 2023)
Prevent Duty Guidance (updated 2023)

3) Our team

Dr Hope Christie is the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) for TUE. This means that she has the lead responsibility for the wellbeing and protection of the wellbeing of children and young people related to TUE. As TUE does not work with children and young people directly, the wellbeing of these individuals will be ensured via conversations and reports with teachers, parents and carers. For example, if a school reports that a child says they are being abused by their parent, if required, they can ask TUE for advice or assistance on how to deal with this matter safely and appropriately. As the DSL, Dr Christie is also responsible for ensuring all staff training is up to date, logging any safeguarding queries or issues, and monitoring any concerns. For more information see Appendix B – The designated safeguarding lead.

Dr Hope Christie can be contacted via email: hope@tooledupeducation.com

Dr Kathy Weston is the deputy safeguarding lead and should be contacted in Dr Christie’s absence: kathy@tooledupeducation.com

**Please note that if you have any concerns about your child’s wellbeing or safety at school, please contact the DSL at your school in the first instance.**

4) Online content

The online content of TUE is available for reference and usage to adults over the age of 18 only. These adult subscribers are advised to familiarise themselves with the content and should make their own judgement regarding age-appropriateness before sharing content or activities with their own children or pupils that they work with.

Videos which feature in TUE are embedded into the site, and not accessible via YouTube or Vimeo. However, TUE cannot control or endorse content that is made available to site users via third party websites such as Audible, TED or the BBC once recommended and approved content on such sites has been accessed. Please note that a useful site link, for example, may lead to other content which may not always be appropriate viewing or factually accurate. We therefore ask users of the site to take responsibility for their viewing beyond anything we provide within TUE and we ask teachers and parents to always supervise children’s online activity.

5) Reporting

Possible signs alerting us to a safeguarding issue may include but are not limited to:

• Any disclosures, comments or behaviours which give cause for concern.
• Comments about changes in behaviour.
• Reference to eating disorders.
• References to problematic sexual behaviour.
• Comments about feeling emotionally isolated.
• Children displaying knowledge of or interest in sexual acts inappropriate to their age.
• Children who use sexual language inappropriate for their age.
• Children referring to physical sexual health problems.
• Indications that children are living in dangerous or neglectful conditions in close proximity to drugs, alcohol or violence.
• References to extremist views or activities linked with extremism and hate.
• Children who reference or give any indication of self-harm or suicidal ideation.

All safeguarding concerns will be reported to the designated safeguarding lead in the school of any pupil about whom we have cause for concern.

We then expect that the school will follow its own Safeguarding and Child Protection Procedures. TUE will report complaints that raise child protection issues either to the school or, if deemed necessary, to other relevant authorities. We undertake to ensure appropriate actions are taken to refer concerns about the welfare of a child or children to the appropriate responsible person or body. This may include sharing information about concerns with relevant agencies and involving children and their parents/carers appropriately. With regard to safeguarding children from potentially harmful and inappropriate online material, we affirm that we are not responsible for online content children may see.

Stages of help, intervention and assistance

Providing early help is more effective in promoting the welfare of children/young people than reacting later. Early help means providing support as soon as a problem emerges, at any point in a child/young person’s life, from the foundation years through to the teenage years.

Any child/young person may benefit from early help; however, TUE staff will be particularly alert to any young person who:

• has special educational needs, is disabled or has certain health conditions;
• has a mental health need;
• is a young carer;
• risks being drawn into gang involvement, anti-social or criminal behaviour;
• is frequently missing/goes missing from education, home or care;
  is at risk of modern slavery, trafficking, sexual or criminal exploitation;
• is at risk of being radicalised or exploited;
• has a family member in prison, or is affected by parental offending.

Information sharing

Fears about sharing information cannot be allowed to stand in the way of the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children at risk of abuse or neglect.

As TUE works with adults, our TUE community should note that we will share information internally within our research team, on a need to know basis. This is to ensure that everyone who needs to know information to keep children/young people safe and help them develop, does know.

Sharing information with other agencies:

Where a significant issue arises, the designated safeguarding lead will ensure the parent is contacted within 24 hours, or immediately if required (unless doing so will put a child or adult at risk of harm).

We follow the seven golden rules of Information sharing advice for practitioners:

• The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Data Protection Act 2018 and human rights law are not barriers to justified information sharing, but provide a framework to ensure that personal information about living individuals is shared appropriately.
• We will be open and honest with individuals (and/or family where appropriate) from the outset about why, what, how and with whom information will, or could be shared, and seek their agreement, unless it is unsafe or inappropriate to do so.
• We will seek advice and work with Government organisations including local Multi Agency Safeguarding Hubs, MASHs). These were formed by the UK Government to mitigate the risk of anyone slipping through the safeguarding net.
• We share information with informed consent where appropriate and, if possible, respect the wishes of those who do not consent to share confidential information. We still share information without consent if, in our judgement, there is a lawful basis to do so, e.g. where safety may be at risk. We base judgements on the facts of the case. We are clear why we share or request personal information from someone. We remain mindful that individuals might not expect information to be shared, even with consent.
• We consider safety and wellbeing and base our information sharing decisions on considerations of the safety and wellbeing of the individual and others who may be affected by their actions.
• Necessary, proportionate, relevant, adequate, accurate, timely and secure: We ensure that information we share is necessary for the purpose for which we are sharing it, is shared only with individuals who need to have it, is accurate and up-to-date, is shared in a timely fashion, and is shared securely.
• We keep records of our decision to share (or not to share) and the reasons for it. We record what we have shared, with whom and for what purpose. We will keep a log of all incidents and concerns, including chronologies where relevant. That these records are stored securely and confidentially.

We will share information with the police if we suspect abuse or neglect in line with the *** SCP Child Protection procedures. We will consider contacting the police if we suspect a crime has been committed in line with National Police Chiefs' Council guidance.

Anyone worried about a child/young person must continue to raise the concern until they have a reason not to be worried about the child/young person anymore.

Every member of staff must follow this process. There will be no reprisals for honestly raising a concern. Where an immediate decision is needed, and a particular person is unavailable, you may move to the next stage. The timescale for the process relates to the urgency of the decision, but in any event should not extend beyond one week.
We always listen to concerns raised by children/young people, families, staff, visitors, or other organisations. The whistleblowing process should only be used if there are no clear safeguarding procedures, you are concerned your concern won’t be dealt with properly or will be covered up, your concern has not been acted upon or you are worried about being treated unfairly.

The prescribed organisation for safeguarding children whistleblowing is the NSPCC: 0800 028 0285 or help@nspcc.org.uk

6) When we review this policy

This policy is reviewed annually and updated if required. This is so we can keep up to date with safeguarding issues as they emerge and evolve, including lessons learnt and are available on our website. We have incorporated key changes to government guidance, Keeping Children Safe in Education.

7) Principles of this policy

• We always act in the best interests of each child and young person.
• We listen to any communication from parents, carers and teachers, and always take concerns seriously.
• People must act if they are worried about a child or young person and keep acting until they believe the pupil/student is safe.
• We are open in our decisions and let parents and local authorities know about concerns.
• We make it easy to raise a concern and anyone raising concerns will be kept safe.

Appendix A – definitions of abuse, neglect and specific situations

Physical abuse

A form of abuse which may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child.

Emotional abuse

The persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development. It may involve conveying to a child that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. It may include not giving the child opportunities to express their views, deliberately silencing them or ‘making fun’ of what they say or how they communicate. It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children.

These may include interactions that are beyond a child’s developmental capability, as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction. It may involve seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another. It may involve serious bullying (including cyberbullying), causing children/young people frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children/young people. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, though it may occur alone.

Sexual abuse

Involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example, rape or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside of clothing. They may also include non-contact activities, such as involving students in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging students to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse. Sexual abuse can take place online, and technology can be used to facilitate offline abuse. Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children. The sexual abuse of children by other children is a specific safeguarding issue (also known as peer-on-peer abuse) in education and all staff will follow these child protection procedures.

Neglect
The persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s mental and physical health or development. Neglect may occur during pregnancy, for example, as a result of maternal substance abuse. Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to:

• provide adequate food, clothing and shelter (including exclusion from home or abandonment);
• protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger;
• ensure adequate supervision (including the use of inadequate care-givers);
• ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment.

It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs.

Affluent neglect

Where parents provide their children with a lot of material resources, but very little emotional support or connection. Affluent neglect is also often associated with an extreme pressure to achieve academically. Two UK case studies found that safeguarding professionals were intimidated by the parents’ social position, and that this significantly impacted how they interacted with the families and on their ability to successfully intervene to secure the children’s safety.

Indicators of abuse

Physical signs define some type of abuse, for example, bruising, bleeding, or broken bones resulting from physical or sexual abuse, or injuries sustained while a child/young person has been inadequately supervised. The definition of physical signs is complicated, as children/young people may go to great lengths to hide injuries, often because they are ashamed or embarrassed, or their abuser has threatened further violence or trauma if they ‘tell’. It is also quite difficult for anyone to categorise injuries into accidental or deliberate with any degree of certainty. For these reasons it is vital that staff are also aware of the behavioural indicators of abuse and report any concerns to the safeguarding team.

It is the responsibility of staff to report their concerns. It is not their responsibility to investigate or decide whether a child/young person has been abused.

A child/young person who has been abused or neglected may:

• Have bruises, bleeding, burns, fractures or other injuries.
• Show signs of pain or discomfort.
• Keep arms or legs covered, even in warm weather.
• Be concerned about changing for PE, swimming or in the residential areas for bathing/ bed
• Look unkempt and uncared for – present as smelly.
• Change their eating habits.
• Have difficulty in making or sustaining friendships.
• Appear fearful.
• Be reckless with regard to their own or others safety.
• Self-harm.
• Frequently be absent or arrive late.
• Show signs of not wanting to go home.
• Display a change in behaviour – from quiet to aggressive, or happy go lucky to withdrawn.
• Challenge authority.
• Become disinterested in lessons.
• Be constantly tired or preoccupied.
• Be wary of physical contact.
• Be involved in, or particularly knowledgeable about drugs or alcohol.
• Display sexual knowledge or behaviour beyond that normally expected for their age.

Individual indicators will rarely, in isolation, provide conclusive evidence of abuse. They should be viewed as part of a jigsaw, and each small piece of information will help the safeguarding team and other agencies decide how to proceed.

Specific issues

Staff must be mindful of the following issues:

A. Domestic violence and abuse

We recognise that domestic abuse has a significant impact on a child/young person’s development and emotional wellbeing and should always lead to a child protection referral. Domestic abuse is very widespread and where staff have concerns for other staff members, they should talk to their supervisor. The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 recognises children/young people as victims in their own right if they see, hear or experience the effects of abuse.
Domestic abuse is defined as any incident or pattern of incidents of physical emotional, economic or sexual abuse, controlling, coercive, or violent or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality.

The setting will talk to parents, children/young people and other agencies about such issues where required.

B. Bullying

Bullying between children/young people is a very serious issue that can cause considerable anxiety and distress. At its most serious level, bullying can have a disastrous effect on a child or young person’s mental and physical wellbeing and in very rare cases has been a feature in the suicide of some children/young people.

All incidences of bullying including cyber bullying and prejudice-based and discriminatory bullying should be reported to the school.

C. Child on child sexual violence and sexual harassment and other harmful sexual behaviour.

This is a form of peer-on-peer abuse. Children/young people may be sexually harmed by other children/young people inside or outside of education settings and online. The setting has a zero-tolerance approach to sexual violence & sexual harassment and all reports will be taken seriously.

D. Peer on peer/child on child abuse

This covers any kind of physical abuse (such as hitting, kicking, shaking, biting and hair pulling), sexual abuse (such as rape, assault by penetration and sexual assault, making someone strip or engage in sexual activity with another), emotional or financial abuse or coercive control exercised between children/young people. It may occur within or out of an education setting and can sometimes be linked to gang involvement. It includes bullying, prejudice-based bullying, discriminatory bullying, cyberbullying, consensual and non-consensual sharing of nude and semi-nude images and/or videos, abuse in intimate personal relationships between peers, sexual violence, harassment (sexual comments, remarks, jokes and online sexual harassment which can be standalone or part of a broader pattern of abuse).

E. Racist and other hate incidents

We are committed to equality of opportunity for all staff, students and visitors, and to meeting the requirements of the Equality Act 2010. Equality does not mean treating everyone the same; it means treating people fairly, with respect, having regard for their rights and wishes. All hate incidents, including for example jokes, name-calling or excluding someone on the basis of race, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender fluidity, etc. will be taken seriously and must be reported to the school’s head teacher.

F. Radicalisation and extremism

Radicalisation refers to the process by which a person comes to support terrorism and forms of extremism leading to terrorism. Extremism is defined by the UK Government in the Prevent Strategy as:
Vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. We also include in our definition of extremism calls for the death of members of our armed forces, whether in this country or overseas.

Extremism includes, for example, far right views, animal rights activism and religious fundamentalism.

There is no such thing as a “typical extremist”: those who become involved in extremist actions come from a range of backgrounds and experiences, and most individuals, even those who hold radical views, do not become involved in violent extremist activity.

Children/young people may become susceptible to radicalisation through a range of social, personal and environmental factors - it is known that violent extremists exploit vulnerabilities in individuals to drive a wedge between them and their families and communities.

G. Online or internet use

For many adults, there is a separation in their minds between ‘real life’ and the ‘online world’. The connected world embraces both online and offline and is the norm for most children/young people, having grown up with the use of mobiles phones, tablets and computers on a daily basis. While mobile devices are a source of fun, entertainment, communication and education, we know that some adults and children/young people will use these technologies to harm children/young people. Our policy states they may not be used in school time. The harm might range from hurtful and abusive texts and e-mails, to enticing children/young people to engage in sexually harmful conversations, webcam photography or face-face meetings. In many cases, abuse will take place concurrently via online channels and in daily life. Children/young people can also abuse their peers online via abusive, harassing, and or misogynistic messages, the non-consensual sharing of indecent/sexual images, especially around chat groups and the sharing of abusive images and pornography to those who do not wish to receive such content. Our online safety policy explains how we try to keep children/young people safe in the home. The setting follows UK Council for Internet Safety and Department for Education Guidance around ‘sharing nudes and semi-nudes’ – staff will immediately report concerns to the Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Social networking sites are the more obvious sources of inappropriate and harmful behaviour. TUE can work with parents and teachers to ensure they have all available resources when it comes to keeping their children and young people safe online.

Appendix B – The designated safeguarding lead

TUE has taken steps to ensure that their designated safeguarding lead (DSL) is fully trained and qualified for this role. They will have the following responsibilities:

• Ensure that the wellbeing of children and young people are at the centre of the company.
• Ensure all relevant staff members at TUE are familiar with safeguarding procedures and the safeguarding policy.
• Understand the relevant procedures that need to be undertaken should an issue of concern present about a child or young person.
• Be the first point of contact for any member of staff worried about a child/young person and provide advice and support to resolve that concern.
• Maintain oversight and hold ultimate lead responsibility (which cannot be delegated) for any concern about a child/young person.
• Keep a detailed log of any concern noted for a child or young person, including details specific to the case, relevant bodies contacted and whether the matter was resolved.
• Ensure that this log is kept secure and confidential.
• Refer cases as necessary to other agencies, including the Channel programme where there is a concern about radicalisation, the Police where a crime may have been committed and the Disclosure & Barring Service.
• Ensure the Safeguarding Children policy is reviewed at least annually, is available publicly and that parents are aware of the role of the setting in safeguarding children/young people including referral to other agencies.
• Ensure staff training is up to date and is updated annually.