Third Space Learning Safeguarding Policy and Procedures

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Contents

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Third Space Learning Safeguarding Policy Statement
  • 2.1 The purpose and scope of this policy statement
  • 2.2 Legal framework
  • 2.3 Core beliefs
  • 2.4 Definition, signs and symptoms of categories of abuse
  • a) Physical Abuse
  • b) Neglect
  • c) Sexual Abuse
  • d) Emotional abuse
  • e) Domestic Abuse
  • f) Bullying and Cyberbullying
  • g) Other forms of abuse
  • 2.5 TSL-specific safeguards:
  • 2.6 TSL Commitment to best practice safeguarding measures
  • Recruitment
  • Training
  • Accessibility of information
  • Making everyone feel comfortable to raise concerns about safeguarding
  • Commitment to regularly review safeguarding measures, including asking for the views of children and young people
  • 2.7 Role and responsibilities
    • Role and responsibilities of school’s Timeslot Supervisor
    • Role and responsibilities of tutors during a session
    • TSL as a Company (Non-tutors)
  • 2.8 Related policies and procedures
  • 2.9 Designated Safeguarding Lead: Role and Contact details
• 3. Third Space Learning Safeguarding Procedures
  • 3.1 Procedure 1: Child is in immediate danger
    • Introduction to procedure
    • Immediate actions
    • Follow up actions
    • Maintenance of records
  • 3.2 Procedure 2: Children at possible risk of abuse
    • Introduction to procedure for dealing with direct disclosure
    • Recognising and Responding to an indication of child abuse
    • Interacting with the Timeslot Supervisor
    • Reporting/recording the child protection issue
    • Maintenance of records
  • 3.3 Procedure 3: Dealing with allegations made against an employee/volunteer
    • What to do if an allegation is made or information is received
    • Reporting an allegation or concern
    • When to involve the local authority designated officer or team
    • Dealing with a criminal offence
    • Talking to parents about the allegation or concern
    • Talking to the person who is the subject of the allegation
    • Taking disciplinary action
    • Checking other recordings and further risks
    • Keeping a record of the investigation
    • Useful contact details

1. Introduction

Our safeguarding policy and procedures have been created in line with the NSPCC’s safeguarding checklist. This version was updated in November 2020. The next update is due in October 2021.

This document covers the following safeguarding areas:

• Our safeguarding and child protection policy including what then main elements to ensure we protect the children we work with
• The procedures for responding to child protection concerns, including:
• Child in immediate danger
• Child suspected of being abused or at risk of abuse
• Allegations of abuse are made against a member of staff or tutor
• The individuals who have responsibility for safeguarding and child protection within the organisation
• An overview of the child protection training for your staff and volunteers
• Link to our written behaviour code
• Our commitment to (and links to where) staff, volunteers, families and children easily access information about how you keep children safe
• Our commitment to make sure that everyone feels comfortable about raising concerns including link to our whistleblower policy
• How often we audit our safeguarding arrangements

2. Third Space Learning Safeguarding Policy Statement

2.1 The purpose and scope of this policy statement

Third Space Learning (TSL) works with children, teachers and schools through one-to-one online maths tuition.

The purpose of this policy statement is:

• to ensure TSL protect the children and young people who receive our services.
• to provide staff, tutors and schools with the overarching principles and specific measures that guide our approach to child protection.

This policy statement applies to anyone working on behalf of Third Space Learning, including senior managers and the board of trustees, the tutors we employ through our subsidiary, Third Space Global and third party tutor centres, paid staff, volunteers, sessional workers, agency staff and students.

2.2 Legal framework

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in the UK and internationally, namely:

• Children Act 1989
• United Convention on the Rights of the Child 1991
• Data Protection Act 1998
• Human Rights Act 1998
• Sexual Offences Act 2003
• Children Act 2004
• Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
• Protection of Freedoms Act 2014
• Children and Families Act 2014
• Special educational needs and disability (SEND) Code of Practice; HM Government 2014
• Working together to safeguard children: a guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children: HM Government 2018(and the 2019 and 2020 updates that include working safely online due to the Coronavirus).
• Keeping Children Safe in Education 2020

2.3 Core beliefs

We believe that:

• children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind;
• we have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, to keep them safe and to practise in a way that protects them.

We recognise that:

• the welfare of the child is paramount;
• all children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation have a right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse;
• some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues;
• working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

• valuing, listening to and respecting them;
• designing our online classroom with safeguarding front of mind;
• appointing a nominated child safeguarding lead, a deputy child safeguarding lead and a lead board member for safeguarding;
• developing child protection and safeguarding policies and procedures which reflect best practice;
• using our safeguarding procedures to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving children, young people, parents, families and carers appropriately;
• creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment and ensuring that we have a policy and procedure to help us deal effectively with any bullying that does arise;
• developing and implementing an effective online safety policy and related procedures;
• sharing information about child protection and safeguarding best practice with our school customers;
• recruiting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made;
• providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support, training and quality assurance measures;
• implementing a code of conduct for staff and tutors;
• using our procedures to manage any allegations against staff and tutors appropriately;
• ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in place;
• recording and storing information professionally and securely.

2.4 Definition, signs and symptoms of categories of abuse

There are 10 categories of abuse of children and young people, these are defined below, along with signs and symptoms. We have limited the signs and symptoms of abuse to those that a TSL tutors will encounter through our verbal-only interactions with children. (I.e., many of the signs require the adult to be able to see the child: we don’t allow this in our tuition.) For a complete list of signs, suitable if a member of staff were to regularly sees a child, please see this webpage:https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/media/1188/definitions-signs-child-abuse.pdf

a. Physical Abuse

Physical abuse is when a child is deliberately hurt. Examples include hitting, kicking, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or suffocating. More subtle forms of physical abuse are where a parent or carer makes up or causes the symptoms of illness in children.

The signs are usually visual and so are harder for a TSL online tutor to notice as they do not see the pupil during their interaction. However, an online tutor could become suspicious that physical abuse is happening if the child complains of any of these:

• Bruises or pain in softer tissue areas like cheeks, ears, palms, arms, feet, back, buttocks, tummy, hips and backs of legs
• Burns, especially backs of hands, feet, legs, genitals or buttocks
• Multiple complaints about bruising over a period of several weeks and months
• Explanations that don’t make sense for the injury complained of
• Delays in getting medical attention

b. Neglect

Neglect is not meeting a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs. It is the most common type of abuse and is often found together with other types of abuse. Neglect includes: not having adequate food, clothing or shelter, not supervising a child or keeping them safe from harm or danger(including leaving them with unsuitable carers), not getting appropriate health care, dental care or suitable education. Neglect can also be from ignoring a child’s basic emotional needs (see Emotional abuse, below).

For TSL online tutors, who can’t see the child during their interactions, can still suspect neglect and report it through what the child tells them. Signs include:

• The child seems hungry for multiple sessions or reveal they have no lunch money
• The child explains that they are left alone or unsupervised at home for long periods at a young age
• The child describes untreated injuries, health or dental problems
• The child describes an unsuitable home environment.

c. Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse is forcing or enticing a child to take part in sexual activities. It doesn’t necessarily involve violence and the child may not be aware that what is happening is abuse. Child sexual abuse can involve contact abuse and non-contact abuse. Contact abuse happens when the abuser makes physical contact with the child. Non-contact abuse involves non-touching activities, e.g., encouraging or forcing a child to watch or hear sexual acts, making a child touch their privates while others watch and sexting (the exchange of sexually explicit images or conversations on mobile phones and other electronic devices).

The most obvious sign for a TSL tutor would be a direct disclosure, where a child reveals they have been sexually abused. Other signs that a TSL tutor might notice include:

• The child complains about their privates or anus
• The child makes sexual comments that are inappropriate for their age, for example using sexual language or know things about sex that you wouldn’t expect them to

d. Emotional abuse

Emotional abuse is persistently trying to demean and belittle a child. The child might be repeatedly humiliated, criticized, shouted at, threatened, called unpleasant names, mocked, made to perform degrading acts, scapegoated for things which are not their fault, not recognising their individuality, not being allowed to have friends, being pushed too hard or exposed to distressing events. Emotional abuse can include emotional neglect, e.g., through persistently ignoring a child, being cold and emotionally unavailable during interactions with a child and not being positive or encouraging to a child or praising their achievements.

The most obvious sign for a TSL tutor of emotional abuse is through the child disclosing something that fits with the definition above. Other signs a tutor may pick up on their verbal-only interaction are if the child struggles to control strong emotions or have extreme outbursts, or they fear making mistakes, or react strangely to praise.

e. Domestic Abuse

Domestic abuse is any type of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between people who are, or who have been in a relationship. It can include physical, sexual, psychological, emotional or financial abuse. While normally associated with adults, a child living in a home where domestic abuse occurs between adults is also a victim of abuse as the child can be directly involved or may be harmed by seeing or hearing abuse happening. (Note children in homes where there is domestic abuse are also at risk of other types of abuse or neglect.)

The most obvious sign for a TSL tutor of emotional abuse is through the child disclosing something that fits with the definition above, e.g., revealing that they are tired because their parents were fighting the previous night (especially if this happens more than once).

f. Bullying and Cyberbullying

Bullying is when individuals or groups seek to harm, intimidate or coerce someone who is perceived to be vulnerable. It includes verbal abuse (e.g., name calling), non-verbal abuse (e.g., glaring), emotional abuse (see above), exclusion from a group, constant criticism, spreading rumours, racial, sexual or homophobic bullying, physical assaults, such as hitting and pushing and making silent, hoax or abusive calls.

Bullying can happen anywhere – at school, at home or online. Bullying online (cyberbullying) can involve sending abusive text messages, creating and sharing embarrassing images or videos, ‘trolling’ (sending menacing or upsetting messages on social networks), excluding children from online activities or groups, setting up hate sites , encouraging young people to self-harm, etc.

The most obvious sign for a TSL tutor of emotional abuse is through the child disclosing something that fits with the definition above, e.g., revealing that they are being picked on in school, or are upset by something someone has posted online, or have had a phone or other valuable stolen.

g. Other forms of abuse

The remaining 4 categories of abuse are much less likely to be encountered by a TSL tutor owing to the nature of our interactions with them (online only, for 1 hour a week with no way to see the child in person, just speak to and hear them). It is still important to know the definitions and be able to recognise them in case a child discloses them during a tuition session. The are:

• Child Trafficking: recruiting and moving children who are then exploited. Many children are trafficked into the UK from overseas, but children can also be trafficked from one part of the UK to another. The reason for trafficking, also called modern slavery, can be for benefit fraud, forced marriage, forced labour, criminal exploitation and sexual exploitation
• Radicalisation is the process of causing a child to adopt extreme positions on political or social issues that can lead to support for terrorism, persecution of minority groups (e.g., based on their ethnic or religious background or sexual orientation) or curtailment of civil liberties.
• Female genital mutilation (FGM) is the partial or total removal of external female genitalia for non-medical reasons. It’s also known as female circumcision or cutting and can happen at a range of ages. There are no medical reasons to carry out FGM. It’s dangerous and a criminal offence in the UK.
• Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) is a type of sexual abuse. Young people may be coerced or groomed into exploitative situations and relationships. They may be given things such as gifts, money, drugs, alcohol, status or affection in exchange for taking part in sexual activities. Young people may be tricked into believing they’re in a loving, consensual relationship. They often trust their abuser and don’t understand that they’re being abused.

2.5 TSL-specific safeguards

Alongside adhering to best practice safeguarding measures, TSL is set up to provide additional built-in safeguards compared to most teaching, and organisations working with children:

• Tutors never physically meet up with the children: our tutors are based remotely in other countries and are not told the child’s surname or school name (or address, etc);
• Platform access to any given child is narrow, tightly controlled and monitored:
• the only way children and tutors can interact online is through the TSL platform at the times agreed between the school and TSL. They can only access this through unique usernames, and passwords for each child and each tutor that are secure and regularly changed;
• the interaction is voice only (the visual component is a shared whiteboard, there is no mechanism for a camera to send images, or video);
• All sessions are recorded by TSL (and available for the school to view), and as explained above, monitored in real time by the Timeslot Supervisor who is in the room with the child;
• Our live session monitoring team can listen in to any session providing additional real-time monitoring
• A quality assurance team (trained and led by a UK-qualified teacher) check a randomly-selected sample of recordings for every tutor.

We recognise that these additional safeguards do not mean that TSL can ignore or be complacent about other elements of safeguarding best practice. The rest of this document highlights these other elements of safeguarding best practice.

2.5 TSL Commitment to best practice safeguarding measures:

• Recruitment – We commit to checking that every TSL tutor has no criminal record (using the equivalent of the UK’s DBS check in each country we work with), has references taken and checked and is deemed, through interviews, suitable for working with children.
• Training – We commit that every TSL tutor should have safeguarding training, tailored to people providing online tuition and that they will undertake this every year. The tutor training will include the following learning outcomes:
• Identify what is meant by safeguarding and child protection
• Understand the signs and indicators of abuse and neglect
• Know how to respond appropriately to concerns about the safety and welfare of children
• Identify the correct procedures for reporting a concern and know who to report to and how
• Recognised the importance of recording and the principles of good recording practice
• Understand that safeguarding children is the responsibility of all staff working in an education setting

The training will use examples, wherever possible, from both teachers at schools in the UK and anonymised recordings from our own tuition sessions.

We are committed to regular child protection training for all other staff (non-tutors), and have a regular feedback process to allow for opportunities to reflect on practice. We hold an annual training session with all staff after every annual review of our safeguarding policies and procedures.

• Accessibility of information
  We are committed to making our safeguarding information easily accessible to multi academy trusts, schools, parents and staff. We will host our latest safeguarding policies and procedures on our website (https://thirdspacelearning.com) via the footer on our website.
• Making everyone feel comfortable to raise concerns about safeguarding
  We are committed to creating an open and supportive working environment where employees feel able to speak up about any suspected wrongdoing. This is reinforced in staff training, and in our whistleblowing policy which all staff are required to read.
• Commitment to regularly review safeguarding measures, including asking for the views of children and young people
  We align with government guidance and regulation on safeguarding and child protection. We also work with third parties such as the NSPCC who work extensively with children and young people and make sure to include their views in their guidance documents such as the checklist we have aligned our safeguarding policy with. Our policies and procedures are checked and updated annually and will take into account new guidance, regulation or legislation that is coming into force for the new academic year.

2.7 Role and responsibilities

The vast majority of TSL’s interactions with children come through our online one-to-one maths tuition. These sessions have a teacher or staff member present in the room at the same time as the sessions, in a role TSL call the Timeslot Supervisor. As such, TSL’s services do not fall under the definition of a ‘regulated activity’ (as defined by the UK government’s Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) document).

There can be exceptions where a teacher or member of staff is not present: for example if a pupil is asked to study from home as a measure to manage Coronavirus infection. In these cases, the parent or carer would be the Timeslot Supervisor and, as an additional measure, we train our tutors and have procedures that allow us to react in the event that a safeguarding issue arises and we can’t contact the Timeslot Supervisor.

Role and responsibilities of school’s Timeslot Supervisor

The Timeslot Supervisor has the primary responsibility for the welfare and safety of a child during sessions. This is in-line with most schools’ policies and makes the most sense (they are, unlike our tutors, physically present in the room and better know how to bring help in the event of danger.)

There are 3 scenarios where the Timeslot Supervisor might be involved in a child safeguarding issue during a tuition session are:

• The child is upset by something the tutor has said or done and the pupil asks for help or the member of staff notices something is wrong.
• The child is upset by something unrelated to the tutor (e.g., another child in the room) and requests helps
• The tutor believes that there is a safeguarding issue and asks the pupil to fetch the Timeslot Supervisor.

In each case, we expect the Timeslot Supervisor to follow their own safeguarding policy and procedures and, in the event, an allegation is made against a tutor, that they notify Third Space Learning as soon as practical. Third Space Learning will then follow our procedure to deal with an allegation made against a staff member/tutor.

Role and responsibilities of tutors during a session

Should a child disclose, during a session, information that leads the tutor to reasonably believe that the child may be a victim of abuse, the tutor will record everything said and “Red Flag” the incident immediately for action by our UK Support team/Designated Safeguarding Officer and follow the guidelines given to the tutor during safeguarding training. (This training, in line with UK safeguarding guidance, is not to be judgemental/sound shocked/display emotion but to allow the child to explain in their own words whatever is upsetting them). The UK Support team will then follow the Procedure for children at possible risk of abuse.

“Red Flag” is a system whereby a tutor notifies the UK Support Team that a session being delivered requires review and sign-off. Reasons for a tutor to raise a “Red Flag” include the tutor suspecting a potential safeguarding incident; but also having issues or concerns about child behaviour (i.e. uncooperative, rude etc) or that the tutor has made a mistake in teaching the lesson. When a Red Flag incident is related to child protection then it acts as ‘our cause of concern’ form.

TSL as a Company (Non-tutors)

Once received from the Tutor (via the Red Flag process), TSL will report a child protection issue concern first to the pupil’s class teacher (as indicated on the TSL platform) as soon as practical and normally within 24 hours of the incident. We commit to working with that teacher, or a designated contact from the school, to provide any information we have that relates to child protection issues. We will not, ordinarily, make our initial contact with social services, or the police, about safeguarding concerns.

We believe this school-first approach is best, in most circumstances, because the pupil’s teacher is much better placed to investigate any child protection concerns. They have a better relationship with the pupil, have lots more context than a tutor can gain over a voice-only internet connection and will be better able to provide the child an encouraging environment in which to talk. Furthermore, in the event that the school decides the local authority or police need to be involved, then they are likely to already know the best people to contact.

The exceptions where we might not deal with the school in the first instance include:

• Child is in immediate danger and we can’t contact the school (for example, the child is doing the sessions from home in response to a Coronavirus shutdown)
• TSL is not satisfied that the school can or are dealing with the issue and that the child remains in danger as a result.

TSL will ensure a written record is made and kept of the incident and our actions, alongside a digital copy of all relevant online tuition sessions. This will be done in accordance with our Child protection records retention and storage policy. The school involved in the incident will be given a copy of these records.

Furthermore, TSL is responsible for reviewing and updating, where necessary, our safeguarding policies and procedures to ensure it is in line with latest safeguarding advice and legislation. In addition TSL will ensure we have a written behaviour code and that all staff have read and agreed to.

2.8 Related policies and procedures

This policy statement should be read alongside our organisational policies and procedures, including:

• 3 safeguarding procedures (attached in section 3 of this document):
• Procedure for dealing with a child in immediate danger
• Procedure for children at possible risk of abuse
• Procedure for managing allegations against staff and tutors
• Role of the Designated Safeguarding Officer
• Safe recruitment policy and procedures
• Code of conduct for staff and tutors
• Child protection records retention and storage policy
• Whistleblowing policy

Whistleblowing policy

Designated Safeguarding Officer

2.9 Designated Safeguarding Lead: Role and Contact details

We have a Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSL) and a deputy DSL. They take lead responsibility for safeguarding and child protection. The DSL should be the first person responsible for the following, with the deputy DSL capable of and expected to step in where needed:

• Manage referrals to schools and, if required, local authorities
• Support staff who make referrals
• Refer cases where a person is dismissed or left due to risk/harm to a child to the Disclosure and Barring Service as required; and
• Refer cases where a crime may have been committed to the Police as required.
• Liaise with the rest of the management team to inform him or her of issues and changes in safeguarding policy
• Ensure staff (especially tutors) are trained and aware of safeguarding issues, this policy and procedures
• Act as source of support, advice and expertise for all staff with respect to safeguarding issues.
• Undergo training to provide them with the knowledge and skills required to carry out the role. This training should be updated at least every two years.
• Ensure the school’s or college’s child protection policy is reviewed annually (as a minimum) and the procedures and implementation are updated and reviewed regularly, and work with governing bodies or proprietors regarding this;
• Ensure the child protection policy is available publicly.
• Act as a champion for the rights of children where relevant in the general management of the company.
• Champion the experience that children have during their interactions with us

Name: Jenni Hoy

Phone/email: 0203 771 0096 / jenni.hoy@thirdspacelearning.com

Deputy child safeguarding lead

Name(s): Bryan Tookey

Phone/email: 0203 771 0094 / 07926 223 751 / bryan.tookey@thirdspacelearning.com

Senior lead for safeguarding and child protection

Name: Tom Hooper

Phone/email: 0203 771 0095

NSPCC Helpline: 0808 800 5000

We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually.

This policy was last reviewed on: 07th September 2020

3. Third Space Learning Safeguarding Procedures

There are 3 main procedures that cover the most likely scenarios where Third Space Learning could become involved in a child protection issue:

• The child is in immediate danger
• The child makes a direct disclosure of abuse during a tuition session or says or writes something that gives the tutor reason to believe that the child is a victim of abuse
• A TSL tutor (or other members of TSL staff) is the subject of an accusation of abuse of a child

This document includes procedures for all three of these scenarios. The procedures outlined are not an exhaustive list; therefore, if a potential incident occurs that is not covered in this document you are advised to contact the TSL Designated Safeguarding Officer.

Procedure 1: Child is in immediate danger

Introduction to procedure

Almost all interactions with children are through online 1-2-1 tuition, where a teacher or other member of staff is physically present in the room with the child. It is therefore extremely unlikely that a TSL tutor will encounter a child who is in immediate danger. However unlikely, there are plausible circumstances in which a child doing tuition may be in immediate danger, for example:

• The responsible adult has had to leave the room (e.g., to attend another emergency) and a critical safeguarding issues arises (e.g., one child in the room becomes violent towards another child)
• The responsible adult is unable to help (e.g., the school become the target of an armed attack)
• The child is doing the sessions from home (e.g., as a result of coronavirus) and there is a child protection issue there

Immediate actions

The tutor should try to establish either through the child or, the responsible adult the following:

• a) The nature of the threat
• b) If the responsible adult (Timeslot Supervisor) can help

The tutor must then immediately contact the dedicated in-session TSL Support Team and report the emergency. The tutor must then try to stay in contact with the child (unless this puts them in more danger) and provide updates to the child / responsible adult and to the TSL Support Team .

The in-session TSL Support Team must contact either the school directly, or, if appropriate call 999 for the police or an ambulance, making sure they have the details of the school name and address, the child’s name, and year group, as well as the nature of the emergency (the tutors do not have the school information and hence the need to use the in-session TSL Support Team ).

Where possible, the TSL Support Team must then report what they are doing to the tutor and

They should also make sure the Designated Safeguarding Officer is made aware of the incident (or, in their absence, Deputy child safeguarding lead or the member of TSL’s board who has responsibility for safeguarding.)

Follow up actions

Once any immediate danger has been resolved the tutor and the in-session Support Team will complete a written report, based on the standard Record of Concern Form (newly introduced at the end of Autumn 2020 term) submitted as part of the Red Flag Process. A blank Record of Concern Form can seen below and an electronic copy can be found here:

Once submitted, this form, plus any recordings, will then be made available to the school and any UK authorities as directed by the school or TSL’s Designated Safeguarding Officer.

Maintenance of records

The record of the incident shall be stored in accordance with TSL’s Child protection records retention and storage policy.

Procedure 2: Children at possible risk of abuse

Introduction to procedure for dealing with direct disclosure

The entirety of our interactions with children is through 1-2-1 online tuition and therefore the most likely way Third Space Learning will become involved in a potential safeguarding issue is to be told something directly by the child that indicates they are being abused or at risk of being abused. Other procedures deal with cases where the child is in immediate danger.

Recognising and Responding to an indication of child abuse

As per our safeguarding training, when the tutor recognises a child protection issue, they should:

• Allow the child to talk about it to them, by asking open and encouraging questions
• Record what the child is saying, as accurately as possible, and in their own words
• Reassure the child that they have done nothing wrong and that, in telling the Tutor about their concerns, they have done a good thing
• Tell them you have to let their teacher know about these concerns and that we will try to help out.

Interacting with the Timeslot Supervisor

The Tutor should decide whether the child is so upset that they can’t continue the tuition or that they need the responsible adult in the room (the Timeslot Supervisor) to help calm them down. (If the child is in immediate danger, please follow procedure 1.)

Mostly this is done by asking the child to get the responsible adult and telling them that the child is upset and might not be able to continue. The tutor would communicate this to the Timeslot Supervisor through the TSL platform (rather than phone them). If the child is unable to get the Timeslot Supervisor, then the tutor should contact the TSL Support Team, who can then contact the school directly.

The Tutor should tell the Timeslot Supervisor about the child protection incident at the time, with the following exceptions:

• If the child is not especially upset and is talking openly about the issue to you, then do not interrupt the flow of the child and continue the tuition session, but remember to flag the issues a Red Flag and provide notes on the issue, so that we can contact the school.
• If the issue is about the responsible adult in the room (timeslot supervisor) then do not tell them the nature of the accusation but make sure you include this information in the Red Flag report.

Reporting/recording the child protection issue

The Tutor must complete the standard Record of Concern Form (newly introduced at the end of Autumn 2020 term) submitted as part of the Red Flag Process. A blank Record of Concern Form can seen below and an electronic copy can be found here:

Once submitted, this form, plus any recordings, will then be made available to the school and any UK authorities as directed by the school or TSL’s Designated Safeguarding Officer

Maintenance of records

The record of the incident shall be stored in accordance with TSL’s Child protection records retention and storage policy.

Procedure 3: Dealing with allegations made against an employee/volunteer

The aims of this procedure are:

• to ensure that children who attend Third Space Learning sessions, and any other children who may come to our attention, are protected and supported following an allegation that they may have been abused by an adult from within Third Space Learning
• to ensure that there is a fair, consistent and robust response to any allegations made, so that the risk posed to other children by an abusive individual is managed effectively
• to facilitate an appropriate level of investigation into allegations, whether they are said to have taken place recently, at any time the person in question has been employed by/volunteered with Third Space Learning, or prior to the person’s involvement with Third Space Learning
• to ensure that Third Space Learning continues to fulfil its responsibilities towards members of staff, volunteers or trustees who may be subject to such investigations
• to ensure that individuals are able to continue in their role if they have been at the centre of allegations that are unfounded or deemed to be malicious in origin.

This procedure applies to:

• any tutor, member of staff, volunteer or trustee to whom an allegation of abuse has been made, that involves another member of staff, volunteer or trustee
• anyone in a managerial position (including the Designated Safeguarding Officer, line managers, supervisors and trustees) who may be required to deal with such allegations and manage investigations that result from them.

What to do if an allegation is made or information is received

If the person who is the subject of the accusation is still working with children, then the concern needs to be discussed immediately with a manager and the Designated Safeguarding Officer. One of these (either the manager or Designated Safeguarding Officer) should then, in a sensitive manner, remove the staff member involved in the allegation from direct contact with children

It should then be explained to the person, in private, that there has been a complaint made against him/her, although the details of the complaint should not be given at this stage. The person should be informed that further information will be provided as soon as possible but that, until consultation has taken place with the relevant agencies and within the organisation, they should not be working with children. It may be best, under the circumstances, for the person to return home (if working from a Third Space Learning office) on the understanding that the manager or Designated Safeguarding Officer will telephone him/her later in the day.

The information provided to him/her at this stage will need to be very limited. This is because discussions need to take place first with other agencies who may need to be involved, such as the local authority children’s social care department or the police.

If the person is a member of a trades union or a professional organisation, he/she should be advised to make contact with that body. Arrangements should also be made for the member of staff or volunteer to receive ongoing support in line with the responsibilities the organisation has towards his or her welfare.

Conducting an investigation

Once any urgent necessary steps have been taken, attention can be given to dealing with the full implications of the allegations.

There are up to three possible lines of enquiry when an allegation is made:

• a police investigation of a possible criminal offence
• enquiries and an assessment by the local authority children’s social care department / local authority for children residing outside of the UK about whether a child is in need of protection
• investigation by an employer and possible disciplinary action being taken against the person in question. This includes implementing a plan to manage any risk posed by the individual to children and young people in the workplace until the outcome of the other investigations and enquiries is known. If the individual is a volunteer, then they are unlikely to be subject to the disciplinary procedure, but nonetheless the organisation will need to consider whether the person can continue in their role and, if so, what steps should be taken to manage any risk that they may pose.

Reporting an allegation or concern

If the allegation is made by a child or family member to a member of staff/tutor, or if a member of staff observes concerning behaviour by a colleague at first hand, this should be reported immediately to the staff member’s manager and the Designated Safeguarding Officer; Third Space Learning’s lead on handling the allegation.

If a staff member has received an allegation or observed something of concern about their own manager, the staff member should report the allegation or concern to the person more senior to their manager.

If the person who is the subject of the concern is a Designated Safeguarding Officer, the matter should be reported to the designated officer’s manager.

Issues that will need to be taken into account are:

• the child’s wishes and feelings
• the parent’s right to know (unless this would place the child or someone else in danger, or would interfere with a criminal investigation)
• the impact of telling or not telling the parent
• the current assessment of the risk to the child and the source of that risk
• any risk management plans that currently exist.

This procedure assumes the child is not in immediate danger. In the event that the child is in immediate danger, follow Procedure 1.

When to involve the local authority designated officer or team

TSL will report the allegation to the school in the first instance (assuming the school did not inform us). Where the accusation is serious (see below for a definition), TSL expect’s the school to either contact the designated officer or team (formerly known as the LADO) at the local authority where the child goes to school (within one working day) or instruct TSL to do so. In the event that this does not happen, TSL will contact the local authority directly. A serious accusation would be where the person in question:

• may have behaved in a way that has harmed or may have harmed a child
• has possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child

The local authority designated officer or team may be told of the allegation from another source. If this is the case, then the first information received by TSL may be when the local authority makes contact in order to explain the situation.

Whoever initiates the contact, there will be a discussion between the local authority designated officer or team and the TSL Designated Safeguarding Officer to share information about the nature and circumstances of the allegation, and to consider whether there is any evidence to suggest that it may be false or unfounded.

TSL will cooperate fully with schools, local authorities and police, including offering to have the TSL Designated Safeguarding Officer take part in local authority strategy discussion.

Dealing with a criminal offence

If there is reason to suspect that a criminal offence may have been committed (whether or not the threshold of ‘significant harm’ is reached), the local authority designated officer or team will contact the police and involve them in a similar strategy discussion. (Note that the relevant police might be the police forces of India or Sri Lanka.)

The Designated Safeguarding Officer and any other representative from Third Space Learning should cooperate fully with any discussion involving the police and should ask for similar cooperation from the police in terms of the sharing of information relevant to the person’s employment.

Discussions with the police should also explore whether there are matters that can be acted on in a disciplinary process while the criminal investigation takes place, or whether disciplinary action must wait until the criminal process is completed.

Talking to parents about the allegation or concern

If the child’s parents/carers do not already know about the allegation, TSL’s Designated Safeguarding Officer will discuss with the school and the local authority designated officer whether TSL needs to be involved in this process.

Talking to the person who is the subject of the allegation

The person at the centre of the allegation should be informed as soon as possible after the initial consultation with the local authority designated officer or team. However, if a strategy discussion within the local authority children’s social care team or the police is needed, this might have to take place before the person concerned can be spoken to in full. The police and children’s social care department may have views on what information can be disclosed to the person.

Only limited information should be given to the person in question unless the investigating authorities have indicated that they are happy for all information to be disclosed or unless there is no need for involvement from these statutory agencies.

The Designated Safeguarding Officer will need to keep in close communication with the local authority designated officer or team and the other agencies involved in order to manage the disclosure of information appropriately.

Taking disciplinary action

If the initial allegation does not involve a possible criminal offence, the Designated Safeguarding Officer and manager of the person at the centre of the allegation should still consider whether formal disciplinary action is needed.

If the local authority children’s social care department has undertaken any enquiries to determine whether a child or children are in need of protection, the Designated Safeguarding Officer should take account of any relevant information from these enquiries when considering whether disciplinary action should be brought against the person at the centre of the allegations.

The following timings should be kept to wherever possible, depending on the nature of the investigation:

• If formal disciplinary action is not needed, other appropriate action should be taken within three working days.
• If disciplinary action is required, and can be progressed without further investigation, this should take place within 15 days.
• If Third Space Learning decides that further investigation is needed in order to make a decision about formal disciplinary action, the Designated Safeguarding Officer should discuss with the local authority designated officer or team the possibility of this investigation being done by an independent person to ensure that the process is objective. Whether or not the investigation is handled internally or independently, the report should be presented to the Designated Safeguarding Officer within 10 working days.
• Having received the report of the disciplinary investigation, the Designated Safeguarding Officer should decide within two working days whether a disciplinary hearing is needed.
• If a hearing is needed, it should be held within 15 working days.
• The Designated Safeguarding Officer should continue to liaise with the local authority designated officer or team during the course of any investigation or disciplinary proceedings and should continue to use the local authority designated officer or team as a source of advice and support.

If a criminal investigation is required, it may not have been possible to make decisions about initiating disciplinary proceedings or about the person’s future work arrangements until this is concluded. The police are required to complete their work as soon as reasonably possible and to set review dates, so the Designated Safeguarding Officer should either liaise with the police directly or via the local authority designated officer or team to check on the progress of the investigation and criminal process.

The police are also required to inform the employer straight away if the person is either convicted of an offence or acquitted or, alternatively, if a decision is made not to charge him/her with an offence or to administer a caution. In any eventuality, once the outcome is known, the Designated Safeguarding Officer should contact the local authority designated officer or team to discuss the issue of disciplinary proceedings.

If the allegation is substantiated and if, once the case is concluded, Third Space Learning dismisses the person or ceases to use their services, or the person ceases to provide his/her services, the Designated Safeguarding Officer should consult with the local authority designated officer or team about referral of the incident to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). This should take place within a month.

Checking other recordings and further risks

Where an investigation concludes that a tutor has caused a child to be abused, then TSL will review all recordings of tuition between that tutor and other pupils at any school that the tutor may have taught in the past.

If this review finds further incidents of potential or actual abuse, then these will be flagged and shared with the local school, local authority and police, as appropriate, and a fuller investigation into those other occasions will be carried out.

If no other further incidents are detected in this review, then, TSL will contact the schools who have had sessions with the tutor and inform them that:

• a tutor who has, in the past, provided tuition to the school has been accused of an abuse act or acts and an investigation concluded that the accusation is substantively true
• The tutor is no longer carrying out tuition
• That we have reviewed the recordings of the tutor’s past sessions pupils at their school and found nothing obviously abusive there
• We are telling them for completeness, and are happy to share the recordings of those tuition sessions with them.

Keeping a record of the investigation

All those involved in dealing with the allegation should keep clear notes of the allegations made, how they were followed up, and any actions and decisions taken, together with the reasons for these.

These notes should be compiled gradually as the situation unfolds, with each entry being made as soon as possible after the event it describes. The notes should be signed and dated by the person making them, and the person’s name should be printed alongside.

The notes should be kept confidentially on the file of the person who is the subject of the allegation. Discussion should take place with the local authority designated officer or team to determine whether any aspects of the notes may not be shared with the person concerned. If there are no reasons not to do so, a copy of the records should be given to the individual.

The notes should be held on file indefinitely, whether or not the person remains with Third Space Learning for this period.

Useful contact details

Designated Safeguarding Officer: Jenni Hoy

Contact Number: 0203 771 0096

Contact Email: jenni.hoy@thirdspacelearning.com

Designated Safeguarding Officer: Bryan Tookey

Contact Number: 0203 771 0094

Contact Email: bryan.tookey@thirdspacelearning.com

Designated Safeguarding Officer: Tom Hooper

Contact Number: 0203 771 0095

Contact Email: tom@thirdspacelearning.com

NSPCC Helpline: 0808 800 5000 – help@nspcc.org.uk

Child line: 0800 1111(textphone 0800 400 222) 0808 800 5000 or help@nspcc.org.uk

Local Authority Contact Details

Third Space Learning is physically located in the Tower Hamlets local authority and the contact details of the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), who can deal with allegations against professionals is: melanie.benzie@towerhamlets.gov.uk on 0207 364 0677 or 07903 238827.

Where the allegation is based in another local authority (likely), then please search for the “LADO” or “Local Authority Designated Officer” and the name of the local authority to find the relevant contact details. If you do not know the local authority, then please use this website and enter the postcode: https://www.gov.uk/find-local-council