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Safeguarding Policy

Last updated: March 2026

Safeguarding Children and Child Protection Policy and Procedures

Setting: Bournville Primary School — XTND Out of School Club

Statement of intent

At XTND-Improving Futures we work with children, parents and the community to ensure the safety of children and to give them the very best possible start in life.

XTND out of school clubs are an integral part of Bournville Primary School and will abide by and follow Bournville Primary School policies and procedures alongside our own safeguarding procedures outlined below.

The Safeguarding Children and Child Protection Policy will be highlighted to parents when they register their children.

XTND safeguarding procedures

Staffing and volunteering

Our designated practitioner takes the lead responsibility for safeguarding children in the setting. Our designated practitioner is: Alice Wheatley, XTND Co-ordinator.

Our designated officer who oversees this work is Fiona Bennett.

  • The designated practitioner will provide support, advice and guidance to XTND staff on an ongoing basis, and on any specific safeguarding issue within the setting as required.
  • The designated practitioner will undertake the appropriate level of child protection training to equip them to identify, understand and respond appropriately to signs of possible abuse and neglect and take the lead in the setting in responding to safeguarding concerns.
  • We provide adequate and appropriate staffing resources to meet the needs of children.
  • Volunteers do not work unsupervised.
  • All staff will be required to read this policy and North Somerset’s Safeguarding procedures.
  • We take all reasonable security steps to ensure we have control over who comes into the setting so that no unauthorised person has unsupervised access to the children.

Procedure for checking the identity of visitors

  • If the visitor or prospective parent is unknown to the setting, we check their credentials and reason for visit before allowing them to enter the setting.
  • We ask for at least 1 form of identification to verify who they are and, if appropriate, which organisation they work for (e.g. official identity badge, driving licence, bankcard which shows signature).
  • If we require further verification, we will contact the main landline telephone number of their organisation and ask to be put through to the visitor’s manager.
  • We ensure that the visitor or prospective parent is supervised whilst we are carrying out these checks, and throughout their visit.
  • We record that ID has been checked, together with the visitor’s name, reason for visit, time and date in our Visitor’s book/log. The Visitor or prospective parent is required to sign the book/log and their signature is then checked against their identification.
  • If the visitor or prospective parent is known to the setting, we check that they have a valid reason to enter. They are then required to complete the visitor’s book/log and will not be left unsupervised in the setting.

Responding to suspicions of abuse

  • Where there is evidence of suspected abuse, or other concerns, the member of staff who notes the concern will make a dated record of the details of the concern and discusses what to do with the setting designated practitioner. A copy of the information is stored on the child’s personal file and the original is held by the designated safeguarding officer in the main school building. The practitioner will follow North Somerset’s Safeguarding Procedure.
  • Staff in the setting take care not to influence the outcome either through the way they speak to children or by asking questions of children.

Allegations against staff

  • We ensure that all parents know how to complain about staff or volunteers within the setting, including an allegation of abuse.
  • All staff and volunteers are made aware of the role of North Somerset DOFA (Designated Officer for Allegations) — Alice Wheatley 01275 888244.
  • We will follow the Whistle blowing policy, which can be found on the school website.

Training

  • All staff will attend regular training in line with North Somerset Children’s Safeguarding Board recommendations every 3 years.
  • All staff will attend annual refresher training.
  • Advanced Inter-agency Child protection (2 days) is undertaken by senior leaders including the Head teacher, deputy head teacher, assistant head teachers and Senco.
  • In line with North Somerset’s Child Protection Training Pathway for staff working in childcare settings, all staff are trained to understand and implement our safeguarding policy and procedures i.e. at least to Basic Awareness level.

Disclosures

Where a child makes a disclosure to a member of staff, that member of staff:

  • Offers reassurance to the child
  • Listens to the child
  • If appropriate, gives reassurance that she or he will take action

The member of staff does not question the child but may use TED procedures if appropriate:

  • Tell me what happened
  • Explain
  • Describe

Recording suspicions of abuse and disclosures

Staff make a record of:

  • The child’s name
  • The date and time of the observation or the disclosure
  • An objective record of the observation or disclosure
  • The exact words spoken by the child as far as possible
  • The name of the person to whom the concern was reported, with date and time
  • The names of any other person present at the time
  • Action taken and by whom

These records are signed and dated and a copy is kept in the child’s personal file. If necessary the original record can be transcribed and the original is attached, this is then passed to the Designated Safeguarding officer at the earliest opportunity and no later than the end of the following working day, where it is held in the main school building.

Copies of essential information may be kept securely in the XTND office for reference. All originals must be kept centrally in the main school building. XTND files should contain no information that is not also in the central school files.

Making a referral to the local authority Referral and Assessment Team

  • We follow the schools Safeguarding Procedure when contacting North Somerset Children’s Social Care with any concerns.
  • If a referral is to be made to North Somerset’s Children Social Care Referral and Assessment Team, we act within North Somerset’s Safeguarding Procedure in deciding whether we must inform the child’s parents at the same time.

Informing parents

  • Parents are normally the first point of contact.
  • If a member of staff has a concern about a child, then parents should be informed at the first opportunity unless to do so would put the child at risk of further harm.
  • In usual cases any referrals would be made by the Designated officer. If XTND staff believe a child may be at immediate risk of serious harm and the designated officer is unavailable, they should:
    • Seek advice from other senior staff with appropriate training, or
    • Seek advice from the out of hours social work team on 01275 888808

Confidentiality

All suspicions and investigations are kept confidential and shared only with those who need to know. Any information is shared under the guidance of the North Somerset Safeguarding Children Board.

The legal framework for this policy

Primary legislation: Data Protection Act 2018, UK GDPR, The Children Act 1989 (s47), The Children Act 2004 (Every Child Matters), Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, Protection of Freedoms Act 2012

Guidance: Working Together to Safeguard Children (revised 2013), What to Do if You are Worried a Child is Being Abused (revised 2006), North Somerset’s Safeguarding Procedure for Early Years and Play Providers 2014

Secondary legislation: Sexual Offences Act (2003), Criminal Justice and Court Services Act (2000), Human Rights Act (1999), Equality Act 2010, Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974

Policy date: November 2025 Review date: November 2026

If you have any safeguarding concerns or questions about this policy, please contact Alice Wheatley at alice.wheatley@xtnd.extendlearning.org or call 01934 427130.

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