Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy Objective

At EduBridge, we are committed to safeguarding the children and young people that we work with. 

We actively work to ensure that all adults working with us and especially those who come into contact with children understand that they have a duty of care to safeguard and promote their welfare. 

All adults working with us have a responsibility to ensure that their conduct is at all times appropriate, and that they understand the steps to take in the event of a safeguarding concern. 

This policy and the procedures contained within it exist to ensure we are doing everything we can to prevent abuse and is intended for all EduBridge staff, tutors, students and parents. 

Recognising Different Forms/Definitions of Child Abuse

We understand the importance of recognising the main forms of child abuse: 

Physical abuse - deliberate harm to a child (everyone under the age of 18) which can cause (but is not limited to) bruises, cuts, burns or broken bones.

Emotional abuse - ongoing emotional maltreatment. It can involve (but is not limited to) deliberately trying to scare or humiliate a child. It can also involve isolating or ignoring a child.

Sexual abuse - the involvement of children and young adults in sexual activities they do not truly comprehend, to which they are unable to give informed consent. Sexual abuse can take place online, and technology can be used to facilitate offline abuse. 

Neglect - the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs. It can include (but is not limited to) not providing adequate food, clothing or shelter, including exclusion from home; failing to protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger; failure to ensure adequate supervision including the use of inadequate caretakers; or the failure provide appropriate medical care or treatment. It may also include a failure to meet a child’s basic emotional needs.

Bullying/Peer on Peer - the abuse of children by other children, this can include (but is not limited to): bullying (including cyberbullying and discriminatory bullying); abuse within intimate partner relationships; physical abuse; sexual violence and sexual harassment; consensual and non-consensual sharing of nude and semi-nude images and/or videos; causing someone to engage in sexual activity without consent; upskirting and initiation/hazing type violence and rituals.

Significant harm - abuse that is not categorised under another definition, but can be considered depending on professional judgement, based on known facts. 

As well as subforms of the main abuse types listed above: 

Sexual harassment, grooming, trafficking, female genital mutilation, self abuse, child on child abuse, bullying and cyber bullying

We also understand the importance of recognising mental health concerns and encourage our team to escalate any concerns they have relating to the mental health of a student.

Safer Recruitment Procedures 

All tutors take part in a two-stage hiring process. The first stage is a telephone interview. If successful after this, all of our tutors must provide us with a valid DBS check, or reference number if they are waiting for the paper certificate, before progressing to the video interview. EduBridge will retain a copy of the certificate for 6 months. 

The second stage video interview must take place successfully before any tutor is onboarded onto our platform. This interview includes a discussion of qualifications and previous employment history. 

Some tutors are also required to provide a pre-recorded video demonstration as part of the interview process. 

All tutors are provided a copy of our safeguarding policy, and our DSO is readily available for any questions or concerns. 

We monitor all tutor chat groups and regularly check in with families to ensure that our safeguarding policy is being followed wherever appropriate. 

Lesson Recordings and Online Safety

For safeguarding reasons, we start recording lessons when students and tutors enter their lesson spaces. These recordings are securely stored internally for 90 days before being deleted. To help ensure that safeguarding practices are being upheld recordings may be watched by our DSO.

We constantly strive to protect staff, tutors and students in their use of technology whilst working with us. The platforms we work with help to ensure that lessons take place in a safe environment through their features, policies and procedures. We also have established processes to identify, intervene in and escalate any concerns where appropriate, in line with the standards set out by the DfE and KCSIE 2023 (para 136), which have been categorised into the following four areas:

• content: being exposed to illegal, inappropriate or harmful content, for example: pornography, fake news, racism, misogyny, self-harm, suicide, anti-Semitism, radicalisation and extremism

• contact: being subjected to harmful online interaction with other users; for example: peer to peer pressure, commercial advertising and adults posing as children or young adults with the intention to groom or exploit them for sexual, criminal, financial or other purposes’

• conduct: personal online behaviour that increases the likelihood of, or causes, harm; for example, making, sending and receiving explicit images (e.g., consensual and non-consensual sharing of nudes and semi-nudes and/or pornography, sharing other explicit images and online bullying)

• commerce: risks such as online gambling, inappropriate advertising, phishing and or financial scams

Staff and tutors at EduBridge should not upload any content on to social media sites that:

• Is confidential to the Company or its staff

• Amounts to bullying

• Amounts to unlawful discrimination, harassment or victimisation

• Brings the Company into disrepute

• Contains lewd, sexually explicit, threatening or similarly inappropriate or offensive comments, images or video clips

• Undermines the reputation of the Company and/or individuals

• Is defamatory or knowingly false

• Breaches copyright

• Is in any other way unlawful

Staff and tutors should be aware of both professional and social boundaries and should not accept or invite requests from students or ex-students under the age of 18, or from parents on their personal social media accounts. All communication with parents should be through the platforms used by EduBridge.

Any content or online activity which raises a safeguarding concern must be reported in accordance with the EduBridge safeguarding policy.

Following any report of inappropriate use of social media, EduBridge will conduct an investigation, which may lead to removal or disciplinary action taken.

Procedure for Safeguarding Concerns 

It is important for staff and tutors to take all cases seriously and handle them in strict confidence. It is important that any safeguarding concerns are reported to EduBridge as quickly as possible to be investigated. 

If a student is telling you something which you believe may be a safeguarding concern you should encourage them to speak and listen uninterrupted. Don’t push them to tell you anything they aren’t comfortable with, and remain non-judgmental about what is said. Try in particular to remember key words or phrases used. Try to assess and understand the situation without asking leading questions or making any promises (that you will solve the problem, or that you won’t tell anyone what the student is telling you). Instead, advise the young person that you are able to support, but that you have to pass on what they tell you and are not able to keep anything they tell you confidential. If they refuse to tell you anything, please respect their decision and report this incident.

Escalate all the information directly to the DSO, preferably via an initial email (support@edubridge.org.uk) and, if necessary, a follow up call (+447868778221). Report the facts as you understand them, using the words the student used, as well as any additional information you feel relevant. If there is anything to make you believe the student is in immediate risk of further abuse, include this in your escalation. 

The DSO will complete a safeguarding report and undertake any actions deemed necessary within EduBridge. If escalation to the local authority is deemed necessary, all information will be passed to the local Police Child Protection Unit or the local Social Services within 24 hours or as soon as shall be reasonably practicable.

EduBridge will retain a copy of cases in accordance with GDPR guidelines. 

EduBridge has a legal duty to make a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) where they consider an individual has engaged in conduct that harmed (or is likely to harm) a child; or if a person otherwise

poses a risk of harm to a child.

If you suspect abuse, but it has not been disclosed to you by a student, you should not discuss your suspicions with the student in question or conduct any

form of investigative work. Instead, report the facts as you understand them to the DSO, including the pupil’s name and any information you feel is relevant.

EduBridge shall retain a copy of all such notifications in accordance with GDPR guidelines. 

​​All EduBridge staff and tutors must comply with the safeguarding policy when performing their role in order to promote safer working practices.

Allegations of abuse against staff or tutors can be made by either a child or an adult and should be made immediately to the DSO. 

Allegations made against the DSO should be made to an alternative member of the leadership team who will inform the other team members. A different suitable senior member of staff will then be appointed to take the place of the DSO to handle the allegation.

Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO) 

Amber Mitchell

The role of the DSO is:

• To collect all relevant information and investigate all escalated safeguarding concerns

• To provide company safeguarding training