Safeguarding Learner Policy

Introduction

All staff working with children and vulnerable adults have a legal duty to work together to protect them from harm or abuse. The UpSkill Advantage Safeguarding lead has overall responsibility for the safeguarding of learners, and is responsible for ensuring the effectiveness of all work done to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people on programme.

The UpSkill Advantage Safeguarding Policy covers:

• The recruitment and employment of staff working with vulnerable adults and the provision of a safe learning environment under the requirements of this act.
• The Training & Development Manager and HR department are responsible for ensuring that UpSkill Advantage follows safer recruitment procedures. This includes carrying out Disclosure and Barring checks on all staff working with vulnerable learners every three years. This also applies where staff have already been checked by a previous employer.

Statement of Intent

UpSkill Advantage's first priority is to ensure the safety and protection of all learners taking part in learning. In order to protect young people and vulnerable adults from harm we will act in accordance with the following legislation and guidance: 'No Secrets' DH 2000.

Scope

This policy statement applies to all learning provided by UpSkill Advantage, and includes:

• All learning provision for adults delivered directly by employed staff.
• All learning provision for adults commissioned through partnership arrangements.

Definitions: Safeguarding

The term “safeguarding” describes the broader preventative and precautionary approach to planning and procedures that are necessary to protect children, young people and vulnerable adults from any potential harm or damage.

Safeguarding means:

• Protection from abuse and neglect.
• Promotion of health and development.
• Ensuring safety and care relating to the environment and activity.
• Ensuring optimum life chances.

Definitions: 'Child' or 'Young Adult'

An individual is considered to be a child or young person up to their 18th birthday.

Definitions: 'Vulnerable Adult'

A vulnerable adult is any person aged 18 or over “who is, or may be in need of, community care services by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness and who is, or may be, unable to take care of him or herself or protect him or herself against significant harm or exploitation” ('No Secrets' DH 2000).

The list below is not exhaustive, but a vulnerable adult may be someone who:

• is elderly and frail
• has a mental disorder
• has a physical or sensory disability
• has a severe physical illness
• is a substance misuser
• is homeless
• has a learning disability

Definitions: 'Abuse'

“Abuse” is “a violation of an individual's human and civil rights by any other person or persons” ('No Secrets' DH 2000). Abuse may consist of a single act or repeated acts, may happen intentionally or unintentionally, and can take place in any relationship or setting. Examples of abuse that could occur in a learning environment include:

• Physical abuse — shoving, hitting, slapping.
• Sexual abuse — involvement in any direct or indirect activity (for example innuendo or pornography) against the learner's will or knowledge.
• Emotional or psychological abuse, for example intimidation, bullying or humiliation.
• Discriminatory abuse, for example racial, sexual or religious harassment.
• Financial or material exploitation, for example coercing money or goods.
• Institutional abuse, for example failure to ensure privacy, dignity, or to uphold individual human and civil rights.
• Neglect or acts of omission, for example ignoring physical or medical needs, failure to access appropriate health, social care or educational services, or withholding medication.

Definitions: An abuser

An abuser may be anyone, including relatives, friends, professional staff, other learners and service-users, neighbours, care workers, volunteers, and strangers.

Policy Statement

UpSkill Advantage is committed to promoting safeguarding through the provision of an inclusive, supportive and safe environment for its learners, staff and others closely associated with its work, and affirms the rights of individuals to be treated fairly and with respect.

UpSkill Advantage intends to pursue this commitment by:

• Promoting a culture of value and respect for all within a supportive and safe learning environment.
• Ensuring that all internal tutoring staff, and learning and personal support staff in contact with learners, have a current Disclosure and Barring check for working with adults and/or children.
• Providing accessible information for learners, tutoring staff and subcontracting providers on equality, diversity, bullying, harassment, dignity and respect in the learning environment.
• Providing opportunities for adults and young people to voice any concerns they may have regarding inappropriate behaviour, abuse, harassment or misconduct, and providing strong sanctions to deter victimisation or cover up of malpractice.
• Supplying information to learners on UpSkill Advantage procedures for following up complaints relating to the conduct of tutoring staff and/or other learners.
• Requiring all tutoring staff and others associated with the delivery of our provision to carry and produce appropriate identification on request.
• Ensuring that premises used to deliver learning activities are risk assessed by appropriately trained staff.
• Ensuring that learning activities are risk assessed by appropriately trained staff.
• Ensuring that care and safety issues and concerns are reported.

Information, Training and Briefings

We provide information, training and briefings on safeguarding vulnerable adults and children, which include the following:

• Information on safeguarding as part of learner induction.
• Information for tutoring staff and learners about the standards we expect with regard to confidentiality and disclosure.
• Appropriate training for tutoring staff on safeguarding, disclosure and diversity matters.
• Information distributed to all internal staff on the signs of abuse and the action to take if or when abuse is reported.
• Accessible information for learners and tutoring staff on the complaints procedure.
• Headline information for learners on safeguarding, e-safety, bullying and harassment, equality of opportunity and diversity.
• The name of the designated safeguarding contact, and the procedure to be followed in the case of any alleged case of bullying or harassment.

Monitoring and Review

• Gathering and analysing information from learners on matters related to feeling safe in the learning environment.
• Generating questions on the feedback form to elicit how safe learners feel in the learning environment.
• Analysing the information obtained and acting on the results.
• Monitoring the effectiveness of this Safeguarding Policy and reviewing it annually.
• Monitoring the safeguarding practices within provision.
• Identifying and sharing good practice in safeguarding with subcontracted providers.
• Reviewing the UpSkill Advantage safeguarding policy on an annual basis.
• Linking with learning networks and the local authority safeguarding unit to ensure that information on safeguarding is current and up to date.

Who to Contact

All enquiries relating to safeguarding issues should be addressed in the first instance to the designated safeguarding officer for UpSkill Advantage, at admin@upskilladvantageai.com.

Reporting an Incident

After direct or indirect disclosure, or signs of abuse are spotted, please inform the Training & Development Manager in the first instance, with the following information:

• What your concerns are.
• Where, when, who from, and how you got the concerns.
• What you have done.
• Whether the parents, carers and learner are aware of this referral.
• Any additional information about the learner (use the registration form), and contact information for anyone involved.

Write a report within 48 hours. Include all details of the disclosure, including who was present and the reasons for your decision to make a referral. Ensure this is stored in a secure file. If there is immediate danger, call 999.

Send all reports to the Safeguarding Officer at admin@upskilladvantageai.com.