1. Introduction and Scope

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Teaching Tomorrow is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and to maintaining practices that reflect statutory responsibilities, current government guidance, REC Audited Education req uirements, the RM6376 Supply Teachers and Education Recruitment Framework and recognised safeguarding good practice. This policy applies to Teaching Tomorrow’s internal staff, directors, candidates, temporary workers, contractors, work placements and volunteers where relevant. It also sets out the safeguarding expectations that apply to candidates supplied or introduced by Teaching Tomorrow to schools and other education settings. Teaching Tomorrow recognises that schools and colleges retain their own safeguarding duties in relation to agency and third-party staff. Teaching Tomorrow will work openly and promptly with clients and relevant agencies where safeguarding concerns arise. This policy should be read alongside Teaching Tomorrow’s PP011 Safer Recruitment Policy, PP015 Recruitment, Selection and Vetting Policy, Allegations Policy, Whistleblowing Policy, Code of Conduct, Complaints Policy and relevant Data Protection procedures. Where legislation, statutory guidance, KCSIE, REC requirements or RM6376 introduce a higher safeguarding standard, Teaching Tomorrow will apply the higher standard and update its processes accordingly.

2. Safeguarding Principles and Definitions

A child is anyone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday. A child’s entitlement to protection does not change because they are aged 16 or 17, live independently, are in further education, are in hospital, are in custody or are otherwise living away from home. Harm includes ill-treatment or impairment of a child’s physical or mental health or development. Abuse, neglect and exploitation may be perpetrated by adults or by other children, can occur inside or outside the home or education setting, and may take place wholly or partly online. The four commonly recognised categories of abuse remain:

• physical abuse;
• emotional abuse;
• sexual abuse; and
• neglect.

Safeguarding concerns may overlap and may also include, among other matters, domestic abuse, child criminal exploitation, child sexual exploitation, county lines, modern slavery, serious violence, financial exploitation, stalking, radicalisation, harmful sexual behaviour, bullying and cyberbullying, online abuse, child-to-parent or carer abuse, and the making or sharing of nudes or semi-nudes. Teaching Tomorrow recognises that some children can face additional barriers to being recognised, heard or protected, including children with special educational needs or disabilities, children with medical conditions, young carers and children who may be socially isolated or particularly dependent on adults for care or communication.

3. Teaching Tomorrow’s Safeguarding Commitment

Teaching Tomorrow will maintain a culture in which safeguarding concerns can be raised, taken seriously and acted upon. In particular, Teaching Tomorrow will:

• maintain robust safer recruitment and vetting processes designed to prevent unsuitable people from gaining access to children;
• ensure staff and candidates understand their safeguarding responsibilities and receive appropriate training and updates;
• promote professional boundaries, safe working practices and a culture of vigilance;
• provide clear routes for raising concerns about children, candidates, staff, clients or unsafe practice;

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• maintain clear, detailed and secure safeguarding records, including decisions and the rationale for those decisions;
• work in partnership with schools, colleges, local authority children’s social care, the police, the LADO and other safeguarding partners where appropriate;
• act promptly where information indicates that a candidate may no longer be suitable to work with children; and
• review safeguarding policies and processes at least annually and sooner where guidance, legislation or contractual requirements change.

4. Roles of the Designated Safeguarding Lead and Deputy

Teaching Tomorrow’s Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is Victoria Shulman. The Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead is Stephen Belcher. The DSL leads on safeguarding and child protection within Teaching Tomorrow and acts as a source of support, advice and expertise for internal staff and candidates. The DSL, supported by the Deputy DSL where required, will:

• receive and respond appropriately to safeguarding concerns raised by staff, candidates, clients or partner organisations;
• ensure safeguarding concerns, discussions, decisions, actions and referrals are accurately and securely recorded;
• liaise with school or college DSLs and other relevant professionals;
• support staff and candidates who are involved in safeguarding incidents or who need advice about reporting unsafe practice;
• refer matters to local authority children’s social care, the police, the LADO, DBS, TRA or another relevant body where the applicable threshold is met;
• ensure relevant staff and candidates receive appropriate safeguarding information and training;
• keep senior management informed of significant safeguarding issues and outcomes on a need-toknow basis;
• maintain suitable arrangements for safeguarding cover when the DSL is unavailable; and
• keep safeguarding knowledge and skills up to date through formal training and regular safeguarding updates.

5. Safeguarding Training, KCSIE and Prevent

Teaching Tomorrow requires candidates to have appropriate safeguarding knowledge and to complete its mandatory safeguarding requirements before being cleared for work.

5.1 Safeguarding and Child Protection Training

Candidates must complete current safeguarding and child protection training appropriate to working in an education setting. Teaching Tomorrow requires safeguarding training to be refreshed at least annually unless a shorter period is required by a client or another applicable requirement. Internal staff with safeguarding responsibilities will receive training appropriate to their role and will receive safeguarding updates as required and at least annually.

5.2 Keeping Children Safe in Education

All candidates are provided with the current version of Part One of Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE). At initial registration, candidates are required to confirm that they have been provided with, have read and understood the current Part One of KCSIE. The declaration and date of completion are retained as part of the candidate’s compliance record. When KCSIE is updated for a new academic year, Teaching Tomorrow provides existing compliant candidates with the updated Part One. Completion of the annual KCSIE update is electronically recorded and time/date stamped to provide an auditable record. Candid ates registering after an

24082026 5 updated version has been introduced receive the current version through the initial registration and declaration process.

5.3 Prevent

Candidates are required to complete appropriate Prevent training before being cleared for work. Candidates should understand that preventing radicalisation is part of safeguarding and should report concerns in line with the procedures of the education setting and Teaching Tomorrow.

5.4 Allergy and Anaphylaxis Training

Candidates are required to complete Allergy and Anaphylaxis training before being cleared for work in accordance with Teaching Tomorrow’s mandatory training requirements. Suitable existing training may be accepted where it falls within the period accepted by Teaching Tomorrow. Evidence of completion is retained on the candidate’s compliance record.

6. Recognising Safeguarding Concerns

Staff and candidates should remain alert to signs that a child may be experiencing abuse, neglect or exploitation. Concerns may arise from something a child says, a change in behaviour, an injury, information from another person, online activity, a pattern of attendance or absence, a disclosure, or professional observation. Staff and candidates must not assume that someone else will take action. Any concern about a child’s welfare should be acted upon in accordance with the procedures of the school or education setting and this policy. Safeguarding concerns should be considered in context. Staff and candidates should be conscious that vulnerability may be increased by factors such as disability, SEND, medical conditions, domestic abuse, caring responsibilities, exploitation, mental health concerns, social isolation or discrimination.

7. Responding to Concerns and Disclosures

Where a candidate has a concern about a child while on assignment, they should report it immediately to the Designated Safeguarding Lead or appropriate safeguarding contact at the school or education setting and follow that setting’s safeguarding procedures. Where the concern relates to the way a setting has responded, where the candidate believes the concern has not been acted upon appropriately, or where the concern relates to an adult working at the setting, the candidate should also seek advice from Teaching Tomorrow’s DSL without delay. If a child makes a disclosure, the candidate or staff member should:

• listen carefully and take the child seriously;
• avoid promising confidentiality;
• avoid asking leading or investigative questions;
• reassure the child that they have done the right thing by speaking;
• make an accurate written record of what was said and what action was taken; and
• report the concern promptly through the appropriate safeguarding route.

Where there is an immediate risk of serious harm, emergency services or local authority children’s social care should be contacted without delay. Staff and candidates should not delay appropriate safeguarding action because the DSL is unavailable. Teaching Tomorrow will support appropriate referrals to universal services, community -based early help, Family Help, local authority children’s social care, the police or other safeguarding partners where required.

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8. Child-on-Child Abuse, Harmful Sexual Behaviour and Online Harm

Teaching Tomorrow recognises that children can abuse other children and that child-on-child abuse is a safeguarding issue for both the victim and the child or children displaying harmful behaviour. It can occur inside or outside an education setting and online or offline. Child-on-child abuse may include bullying, prejudice-based or discriminatory bullying, physical abuse, sexual violence, sexual harassment, harmful sexual behaviour, upskirting, initiation or hazing -type violence, abuse within intimate relationships, and the making or sharing of nudes or semi-nudes. Sexual harassment, sexual violence and harmful sexual behaviour must never be dismissed as banter, part of growing up or otherwise normalised. All incidents involving the sharing of nudes or semi-nudes require a safeguarding response, whether the sharing i s consensual or non -consensual, with a proportionate response based on the age, development, circumstances and vulnerabilities of the children involved. Candidates should report any such concerns immediately in accordance with the setting’s safeguarding procedures and seek support from Teaching Tomorrow’s DSL where appropriate.

9. Allegations and Low-Level Concerns Relating to Candidates

Teaching Tomorrow recognises the shared safeguarding responsibility between education settings and third-party organisations where concerns or allegations relate to supply staff, temporary workers, trainee teachers, contractors or other personnel supplied by Teaching Tomorrow. Where an allegation or concern indicates that a candidate may have:

• behaved in a way that has harmed a child, or may have harmed a child;
• possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child;
• behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates they may pose a risk of harm; or
• behaved or may have behaved in a way that indicates they may not be suitable to work with children, Teaching Tomorrow will work with the client and the relevant safeguarding authorities to ensure the concern is managed appropriately. The LADO will be contacted within the required timescale where the applicable threshold is met.

Teaching Tomorrow will not cease involvement simply because the candidate is removed from an assignment, resigns, is archived or otherwise stops providing services. Safeguarding enquiries and statutory referral considerations will continue where required. Detailed arrangements for allegations that meet the harms threshold and low -level concerns are set out in Teaching Tomorrow’s Allegations Policy, which should be read alongside this policy.

10. Information Sharing, Confidentiality and Record Keeping

Effective safeguarding depends on appropriate information sharing. Data protection legislation is not a barrier to sharing information where it is necessary and proportionate to safeguard a child. Teaching Tomorrow will share safeguarding information on a need -to-know basis with those who require it to protect children, assess suitability, manage an allegation or comply with a legal or contractual obligation. Information will be handled securely and in accordance with applicable data protection requirements. Teaching Tomorrow will maintain detailed, accurate and secure records of safeguarding concerns, discussions, decisions and actions. Records should include the rationale for key decisions and, where relevant, why a referral was or was not made to another agency. Candidates must understand that they should not promise confidentiality to a child and should only discuss safeguarding information with people who have a legitimate safeguarding need to know.

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11. Recruitment, Vetting and Ongoing Suitability

Teaching Tomorrow’s detailed recruitment, selection, vetting and ongoing compliance requirements are set out in PP011 Safer Recruitment Policy and PP015 Recruitment, Selection and Vetting Policy. These policies form part of Teaching Tomorrow’s safeguarding arrangements and must be applied consistently. Teaching Tomorrow will maintain documentary evidence that required pre -employment and safeguarding checks have been completed and will review ongoing compliance at least annually, including changes that may affect a candidate’s suitability or the accuracy of their compliance record. Where Teaching Tomorrow receives information that gives reasonable grounds to believe a candidate is unsuitable for a position in which they are being supplied, the affected client will be informed immediately and appropriate safeguarding action will be taken.

12. Duty to Refer and External Reporting

Teaching Tomorrow recognises its legal duty as a personnel supplier to make a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service where the statutory referral conditions are met. This may include circumstances where a candidate has harmed a child, placed a child at risk of harm, engaged in relevant conduct or satisfied the harm test and has been removed from regulated activity, or would have been removed had they not resigned or otherwise ceased working. A resignation, withdrawal, settlement discussion or the ending of an assignment will not be used to avoid or prevent a required safeguarding investigation or DBS referral. Teaching Tomorrow will also consider whether referral or notification to the Teaching Regulation Agency, LADO, police, local authority children’s social care or another relevant body is required. Where applicable under REC Audited Education arrangements, Teaching Tomorrow will promptly inform the REC Compliance Team of an investigation into a supplied worker where the matter may bring Teaching Tomorrow, REC or the GCA Framework into disrepute.

13. Whistleblowing

Teaching Tomorrow is committed to an open culture in which staff and candidates can raise concerns about unsafe practice, safeguarding failures or the conduct of colleagues, managers, clients or others without fear of inappropriate treatment. Teaching Tomorrow’s Whistleblowing Policy sets out the routes available for raising concerns internally and, where appropriate, with external organisations. A person should use safeguarding or emergency reporting routes rather than wait for the whistleblow ing process where a child is at immediate risk of harm.

14. Policy Communication and Review

Teaching Tomorrow will make this policy available to relevant staff, candidates and clients through appropriate communication channels, including the company website and internal systems. All staff and candidates are expected to understand that safeguarding may require relevant information to be shared with schools, other recruitment businesses, safeguarding partners or statutory bodies where this is lawful, necessary and proportionate to protect children. This policy will be reviewed at least annually and sooner where there is a material change to legislation, statutory guidance, KCSIE, REC Audited Education requirements, RM6376 or Teaching Tomorrow’s safeguarding arrangements. Teaching Tomorrow will ensure that relevant changes are communicated to staff and candidates and that procedures, training and supporting documents are updated where necessary.

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