Child Protection Policy

1. Science & Humanities Education (from here referred to as the company) child protection policy is designed to be part of the company's approach to provide a safe and caring environment where educational objectives can be achieved. It is not intended to be intrusive, but is intended to set a out a clear framework within which both students and presenters feel secure and are clear about what is expected of them. Specific guidance about working with children is available to presenters in other advice documents and directly from company directors.
2. The company provides educational courses for children from school yrs 5 - 11.
3. This policy operates in conjunction with the code of conduct for presenters.
4. S&HE will only employ those suitably qualified, to run courses.
5. All presenters are CRB checked at the enhanced level. CRB certificates are available, for inspection, from the company's offices. Release of the information contained has been agreed with the presenters.
6. Any person who has any form of conviction in relation to children will not be knowingly employed by S&HE.
7. Second responsible adults who must be present when courses are provided (usually on Saturdays), are not necessarily CRB checked but the lead presenter, who is CRB checked, must be present at all times when a second adult is present. This conforms to the policy of the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth for whom most such courses are presented.
8. The company booking conditions request that a client's teacher(s) be present, at the level required by local supervision policies and out of school supervision ratios at all times for safety and control reasons.
9. The company booking conditions request that local emergency procedures are explained to a presenter before the commencement of a class and an emergency contact number be provided eg caretakers on Saturdays.
10. The company booking condions require that the client provides an emergency out of hours contact even if they or their representatives are not present at the event.
11. The company booking conditions request that presenters be made aware of any special health information about students eg risk from health conditions such as allergies or epilepsy and any special provisions made by the school for such students. The client must take responsibility for providing and special health or disability requirements eg wheel chairs, support or transport systems.
12. The company booking conditions require all public venues eg universities, night clubs, theatres, sports facilities to provide evidence of satisfying local authority safety requirements for numbers accommodated, fire, health and safety regulations and suitability for purpose.
13. All students must provide a parental consent form for out of school activities, either to the company's commissioning client, the company or directly to the presenter if consent form not available before the course. The permission must provide an emergency contact number for parents or other responsible adult known to the child.
14. Risk assessments for all S&HE activities are provided to clients before the event.
15. The company carries Employers Liability Insurance of £10, 000, 000, Public and Products Liability Insurance of £ 5, 000, 000 and Professional Indemnity Insurance of £1,000,000.
16. All presenters receive briefing with respect to child protection issues, health and safety regulations and the company's code of conduct at the commencement of employment with S&HE.
17. All presenters are required to report, to one of the company directors, in confidence if necessary, any unusual or unexpected risk events that happen during a course or immediately before (student arrival) or immediately after (student departure and collection). This includes any apparent health conditions whether physical or psychological affecting the child. The directors may then refer on the issues to the client or relevant official bodies.
18. Depending upon the age of students presenters will not release them from a venue until parents arrive to collect them.
19. Parents are not allowed to stay with their children during courses unless the client and S&HE have agreed this in advance. This is discouraged for educational reasons as well as child protection reasons.
20. An evaluation of the working and effectiveness of this policy is carried out every six months by review with presenters. A teacher evaluation of every course is carried out immediately after the course and the results returned to client. The evaluation invites teachers to comment on any aspect of child protection or health and safety related to the course.
21. Those requiring sight of this policy are invited to comment on its provisions and comprehensiveness.

Code of conduct for presenters

1. Ensure that your CRB disclosure is up to date. You should have a new disclosure each year. If in doubt contact the S&H office.
2. Check the parental permission forms (normally relevant on Saturday sessions) to ensure that activities in the course do represent a particular threat to a student eg nut allergies in the Sweet Science.
3. Be punctual for sessions and if you are delayed please contact the client to give an approximate time of arrival. Try to establish a dialogue with the responsible teacher before an event. We have worked with many of them for a long time and appreciate their views. Contact with them before an event will help you prepare and will help the teacher provide a great experience for the students. The "second responsible adult" who will be preset on Saturday sessions should check-in students and conduct them to the activity room.
4. Clothing should be smart causal, such as a teacher would wear. Wear appropriate protective clothing for practical conditions eg lab work or digging.
5. Always be polite to students, even if they are not polite to you.
6. Never touch a student.
7. If a student becomes distressed, refer the matter to the teacher in charge.
8. Never be left alone in a room with a single student. If you are given a key to a toilet, do not accompany students into the toilet.
9. If a student becomes aggressive back off and do not inflame the situation.
10. Never divulge any personal information about students eg health details, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses to any third party, including other students.
11. Do not divulge any personal information about yourself or other members of staff.
12. We do not allow parents of students to be present during courses.
13. We have a policy of not smoking on our courses. Most schools do not allow students to smoke on their premises; so do not permit students to smoke at break times.
14. Never accept presents from students.
15. If students absent themselves, immediately contact a local responsible teacher or the NAGTY on-duty staff member or science & health and the parent concerned.
16. Health & Safety briefing should be given at the beginning of courses. Points should include:
1. Rules for the laboratory or workroom
2. Location of fire exits, location of toilets, lunch rooms etc
3. If students feel ill ask them to report this to you immediately
17. Student should not be allowed to remove any work materials, especially chemicals except the models and pieces of work they have completed.
18. Accompany students to the reception area and wait with them until they have been collected by parents at the end of a course, especially at weekends when there may be no other adults around.