It goes without saying that at Vision for Education, we take the safeguarding of all children very seriously. We also take the protection of our staff seriously too. That’s why we’ve put together this short guide, with advice you can follow, to help keep yourself safe, as well as keeping your pupils safe, in school. 

Don’t put yourself in a vulnerable position 

Under normal circumstances, you should never be on your own with a pupil. However, if you cannot avoid it, don’t leave yourself vulnerable by making] sure the classroom door is open and try to seek the attention of other teachers or students. Ensure you don’t block any exits and don’t place yourself between the student and the door. Additionally, under normal circumstances, there should not be any physical contact with students, as even a hand on the shoulder could be misconstrued by some pupils. 

Manage behaviour carefully 

Whenever you work in a new school, familiarise yourself with the school behavioural policy and stick to it. The policy is likely to remind you that you should deal with the behaviour as the issue and not the pupil. And if you do need to send a student out of the class, don’t speak to them alone in the corridor. Safety can be maintained if you make sure there are witnesses to your conversation and the actions you have taken. Remember to speak quietly, calmly and with professionalism at all times, to help calm the student and keep student/teacher confidentiality. With this advice we hope for no incidents, but should anything happen when you are in a school, the first thing you should do is make notes of the event and what happened. This will help as a reference later on, should you need it. Then immediately report the incident to the school, and then to us. 

Protect your personal details and your social networks 

You should never give out your personal details to students or request them of students. This includes telephone numbers, email addresses and social network account names. You should not contact or respond to pupils via social networks, and you should report any attempts of contact to the school and to us immediately. Simple ways you can help protect yourself on social media is to control who can see your account details and content. And even with these settings in place, you should assume that all information you post is public, and act accordingly with this in mind. This also applies to comments you make on a friend’s page/post - the comment may be public if their profile settings are different to yours. 

Understand the definitions of misconduct 

Harassment/verbal misconduct includes any action(s) and practice(s) by an individual or group which are directed at others, and which may comprise of remarks or actions associated with a person’s gender, race, disability, sexuality, class, age, HIV/Aids status, personality or other aspect of them. Humiliation and belittlement towards a pupil with comments or actions are also included under harassment/verbal misconduct. 

A few other things to remember… 

• If you are required to use the internet during your time at a school, ensure you know and follow the school internet policy. 
• Do not take photographs (via any method including phone cameras) of pupils, pupils’ work, events or any part of a school’s premises.

Your duty of care 

You have a duty of care to your students. If a student discloses information that indicates that they or another child are at risk of significant harm and in need of protection, you must: 

• listen to the child without over-questioning them or taking a statement from them 
• report your concerns immediately to the Nominated Person for Child Protection or Head teacher 
• make a record of the disclosure including: what was said (word for word if possible); date and time of incident and disclosure details; and the authors name.

We can make a difference 

We encourage all our staff to adopt the principles from the governments Every Child Matters document on the reform and improvement of child care. By following these guidelines, together, we can ensure all pupils are given the opportunity to enjoy school, to achieve academically and to grow personally and socially. We can keep them safe and help them foster positive relationships. Together we can make a difference to children and young people’s lives. 

We’re here for you

We are here to support you whenever you need us. If you have any questions, concerns or queries regarding your placement, give your local consultant a call and they’ll be happy to offer you the advice you need.