DBS POLICY Adopted by the FGB: To be reviewed: Next review: Autumn 2018 Signed by the Chair of Governors: Date signed by the Chair of Governors:
DBS POLICY October 2015 Hillyfield Primary Academy is committed to the fair treatment of its staff and pupils and no individual will be unjustifiably discriminated against on the basis of race, colour, nationality, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, age, and disability, political or religious or socio- economic class. As an organisation using the Disclosure and Barring Service, Hillyfield Primary Academy complies fully with the DBS Code of Practice. Disclosure and Barring Service Update From 28 May 2012, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), formerly known as the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), introduced new identity (ID) checking guidelines. These new guidelines will apply to all applications for a DBS check. This enhancement has been introduced so that the DBS identity checking process is strengthened to improve public protection. In particular, the changes will make it more difficult for individuals to conceal previous criminal records by changing their name. These changes are part of an on- going improvement process that will enable easier detection of undeclared changes of name in the future. With effect from 1 December 2012 the Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) merged with the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) to become the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). Following a review the Government has announced the following changes: A large reduction in the number of positions requiring checks to just those who work most closely and regularly with children and vulnerable adults. Portability of criminal record checks between jobs to cut down on bureaucracy. An end to a requirement for those working or volunteering with vulnerable groups to register with the Vetting and Barring Scheme and to be continuously monitored by the Independent Safeguarding Authority. stopping employers who knowingly request criminal record checks on individuals who are not entitled to them There is no official expiry date for a DBS check. Each DBS check carries the date on which it was printed. DBS checks continue to cover staff until the school carries out a new check.
H I L L Y F I E L D From June 2013, applicants and employers can use the DBS Upd ACA SEMe rvice t o ke certificate up- to- date or to carry out checks on a potential empl yee s certificate. The photocopying of any DBS disclosure is strictly forbidden. a NEWLY APPOINTED STAFF : The Department for Education regulations for schools contain a statutory duty that schools must obtain a barred list check with an enhanced DBS check for newly appointed staff. The DBS check is only for staff who, within the three months before their appointment, have not worked in: A school in England in a post which brought them into regular contact with children or any post they were appointed to since 12 May 2006; or An FE college in England in a position which involved the provision of education and regularly caring for, training, supervising or being in sole charge of children or young people under the age of 18. A school or FE college must NOT request a barred list check on a worker who is not in regulated activity as such a check would be unlawful. All new staff are enhanced DBS Checked as part of the recruitment process. Where a staff member is recruited but the Schools own enhanced DBS clearance is not yet received (but application made) for the start date, the individuals previous enhanced DBS clearance will be viewed and recorded and proof of identity verified, references sought, employment history checked and a risk assessment completed. All will be recorded on the SCR (Please also see recruitment of individuals who have lived or worked abroad and recruitment record keeping and checks) EXISTING STAFF If a school or FE college has concerns about the suitability of an existing staff member to work with children, or a person moves to work in regulated activity and for their previous work they were not checked, then the school or FE college should carry out all relevant checks as if the person was a new member of staff.
If the school had any concerns then a full DBS would be sought and school policy & procedure followed regardless of the time lapse since the last enhanced DBS check H I L L Y F I E L D In addition, every October, ALL Staff members are requir AeDEdM Yto compl e a declaration from to verify their address and record changes to circumstances over th e last year which is kept in their personnel file. The school will undertake to subscribe to the DBS update service in 2015 in order for information to be kept up to date for all staff. Until this time, DBS checks will be carried out every three years. CHECKS ON INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE LIVED OR WORKED ABROAD Newly appointed staff who have lived or worked abroad must first undergo the same check as for all other staff in schools or FE colleges. In addition schools andcolleges must make such further checks as they consider appropriate due to the person having lived outside the United Kingdom and take extra care when taking up references. Any Staff member who joins the school having lived or worked abroad for a period of 6 months or more in a period of the past 5 years will be required to also undertake the relevant enhanced checks from the country they resided. CONTRACTORS : Schools and FE colleges should have arrangements in place with contractors to make sure that for any of the contractor s staff working regularly in the premises with the opportunity for contact with children, the contractor has obtained a barred list check and an enhanced DBS check. For contractor s staff who do not work regularly at the school but may have contact, is up to headteachers and principals to use their professional judgement to decide whether to request a DBS check and how far to supervise these workers. Generally, contractors who have not been checked by their employers should be supervised. ALL contractors are required to provide verification of ID and sign our contractor s handbook having had a briefing with the Site supervisor or School Business Manager.
ALL contractors who work in the school during core hours or who undertake regular work in the school are required to provide evidence of a clear DBS Any contractors working on an ad hoc basis will as far as possible not be in school during core hours/and or will be escorted at all times H I L L Y F I E L D All Contractors are required to sign in and out at recepti on a ACAaDrEeM Yrequired to ear both their company ID badge and a schools contractors badge All staff are aware of school procedures, the badges that contractors wear and their obligation to ensure vigilance VISITORS : School and FE colleges cannot undertake barred list or enhanced DBS checks on visitors e.g. MPs or relatives on sports day. Headteachers and principals should use their professional judgement about escorting and supervising visitors. All visitors are asked to sign in and a visitors badge is issued & briefing given Visitors will be escorted at all times. All staff are aware of School procedures, the badges that visitors wear and their obligation to ensure vigilance SUPPLY STAFF : Schools must ensure that the supply agency provides written confirmation that therelevant checks have been completed. Vetting & clearance information is received on all supply staff prior to their commencement with us All supply staff are asked to provide verification of their identification on arrival at the school All supply staff wear a relevant badge alongside their agency identification All supply staff receive a briefing via the head, deputy head or year group leader on arrival. The briefing will include among other items, (fire, health & Safety, and notification of key pupil information such as going home permissions, medical information etc.) All agency s that regularly provide supply staff to the school are asked to send us company information relating to their safer recruitment practices and vetting procedures and this information is checked and kept on file to ensure best practice.
EXISTING VOLUNTEERS : Schools do not need to DBS check volunteers continuing in the posit ion, unless the H I L L Y F I E L D school or college has cause for concern they should not reque st a b ArDrEeMdY list ch eck n enhanced DBS check because they should already have been checked. Volunteers working in the School prior to September 2013 would have had a list 99 check undertaken. Volunteers are asked to sign our volunteers helpers handbook and sign the agreement after a short briefing a NEW VOLUNTEERS Volunteers who regularly teach or look after children on an unsupervised basis are working in regulated activity; the school should obtain a barred list check and an enhanced DBS check. If the volunteer is not in regulated activity the headteacher should undertake a risk assessment and use their professional judgement and experience when deciding whether to require an enhanced DBS check. The headteacher should consider: what the school community already knows about the volunteer, including formal and informal information from staff, parents and other volunteers and; if the volunteer has other employment or voluntary experience that is likely to produce suitable references any other relevant information about the volunteer or the work they are likely to do School procedure: Where a volunteer is working on a regular basis in school or will be required to undertake regulated activity a full DBS check will be sought along with verification of identification prior to commencement. Where regulated activity is to be undertaken references will also be sought. Where volunteers are in on an ad- hoc basis and working with other members of staff, they are given a briefing and asked to read and sign our volunteers handbook/agreement and will be supervised at all times All volunteers are required to sign in and out at the office on arrival and departure and wear a volunteer s badge. All staff are aware of School procedures, the badges that volunteers wear and their obligation to ensure vigilance, including politely challenging anyone seen
on site without an identity badge. GOVERNORS H I L L Y F I E L D A C A D E M Y It is not a statutory requirement for all governors to have an enhanced DBS check. However, anyone working as a governor of a maintained school or FE college, which involves regular work in the presence of, or care for, children, or training, supervising or being in sole charge of children must have an enhanced DBS check. In addition, any governor giving cause for concern should also be asked to obtain an enhanced DBS check. All others should be asked to sign a declaration confirming their suitability to fulfil the role. All Governors are expected to undertake a full DBS check to enable them to be able to work in and around the school freely to carry out Governance tasks Until Full DBS clearance is sought Governors will be escortedwhen in the school during core hours All Governors are required to sign in and out at the office on arrival and departure and wear a governors badge. All staff are aware of School procedures and the badges that governors wear WORK EXPERIENCE STUDENTS AND LONG- TERM TRAINING PLACEMENTS It is not necessary to obtain a DBS enhanced disclosure for secondary pupils undertaking voluntary work or work experience in other schools. However, it is good practice to ensure that visitors sign in and out, and are escorted while on the premises by a member of staff or appropriately vetted volunteer. Students who are required to work with children as a necessary part of a training course, e.g. student teachers, nursery nurses, etc., will need ot apply for a disclosure when they are accepted onto the course. Clarification on ALL visitors sign in and out at reception and are issued with a relevant badge All work experience students and students on long term placements are given abriefing with the Deputy Head and are assigned a mentor/member of staff during their time with us Any student on a long term placement will be required to provide their DBS information and verification of their ID SPECIALIST EXTERNAL INSTRUCTORS Where a school arranges for an external specialist or instructor to come into school and have unsupervised or regular contact with children, the school should ask him or her to apply for an enhanced DBS disclosure.
H I L L Y F I E L D A disclosure is not necessary for visitors "who have brief co ntact w ithem Y children with a member of staff present", for example, if they give a talk a wo r or run. School Procedure Hillyfield Primary Academy s Sponsor, REACH2 and LA support teams, e.g. Educational Psychologists, Behaviour Support and the Music Support all have enhanced DBS disclosures. Enhanced Disclosures are sought as much is practically possible for all specialist staf. Where an enhanced DBS is not available a risk assessment is carried out and the instructor will always be accompanied by a member of staff. All Specialist staff will wear the relevant badge (either red for visitor where theycannot be on their own or green for enhanced clearance received to signify to all in the school staff) VISITORS AND VOLUNTEERS WHO DO NOT NEED DBS CHECKS people visiting the headteacher or other staff or who only have brief, supervised contact with children visitors or contractors who carry out emergency repairs or service equipment, and who will not be left unsupervised on the premises volunteers who accompany staff and children on one- off outings or trips that do not involve overnight stays or who help at one- off events, such as a sports day, school fete or open day people on site before or after the school day, when children are not present; e.g. school cleaners secondary school- age children on work experience placements Clarification on All Visitors sign in and out at reception and are issued with a relevant badge No visitor attending school for a meeting or who will only have brief supervised contact is left unsupervised Volunteers who accompany staff and children on outings or trips are given a briefing and asked to sign our volunteers handbook People on site before or after the school day (i.e. cleaners) do have DBS checks carried out and are required to show identification upon first arrival. They are also required to wear the relevant badge throughout the duration of their visit Secondary School age children are given a briefing and allocated a mentor, all will also wear the relevant badge during their stay with us All staff are aware of School procedures, the badges that volunteers wear and their
ADDITIONAL CHECKS ON NEW APPLICANTS The following checks are also necessary for new appointees. Some will apply only to paid employees. The checks are: identity checks qualifications checks where relevant; e.g. qualified teacher status, registration with the National College for Teaching and Leadership (National College) and medical fitness requirements checks to confirm the applicant s right to work in the UK further checks that are recommended if an individual has lived outside the UK, because a DBS disclosure may not be sufficient to determine if he/she is suitable to work with children professional and character reference checks checks on previous employment history All checks must be complete before an individual starts work, with the exception of adbs check. It is preferable for an enhanced DBS check to have been completed before employment commences. In certain circumstances, a person may start work while an application is being processed, providing they are appropriately supervised and all other checks have been completed. This decision is at the discretion of the headteacher or principal and the local authority. Clarification on Hillyfield Primary Academy adhere to all of the above. Risk assessments are completed where there are any perceived possible risks to children. SCHOOL RECORD KEEPING OF RECRUITMENT AND VETTING CHECKS At Hillyfield Primary Academy we maintain a single central record. This is a legalrequirement in the recruitment and vetting process for all schools. The single central record includes: all staff who are employed to work at the school all staff who are employed as supply staff to the school, whether employed directly by the school or local authority or through an agency. The single central record shows whether or not the following checks have taken place: o identity checks o a check was made to establish that the person is not barred from regulatedactivity relating to children o qualification checks for any qualifications legally required for the job o checks on an individual s right to work in the United Kingdom o DBS enhanced disclosure (number & date of issue) o overseas records check (where appropriate) The record shows the date on which each check is completed or the relevant certificate obtained. It also shows who carried out the check H I L LY F I E L D A C A D E M Y. C O M
Signed by: L L Y F I E L D C A(Roger Pryce Chair of Governors) Next Review Date: Autumn 2018 Related documents for reference: Parent Helpers & Volunteers handbook, Contractors handbook, Agency Safer recruitment practice request, Staff one year declaration, Staff information about visitors to the school, Template CRB risk assessment