Bichard inquiry into child protection measures
Following the Soham murder case, the Home Secretary asked Sir Michael Bichard to lead an independent inquiry into child protection measures, record keeping, vetting and information sharing.
The report of Sir Michael's inquiry was published in June 2004. He made 31 recommendations, 8 of which fell to the Department to take action on. Sir Michael published the final version of his inquiry report on 15 March 2005.
Safer recruitment: online training for head teachers, governors and local authority staff
In response to recommendation 16 of the report, which relates to training for head teachers and school governors to ensure that interviews to appoint staff reflect the importance of safeguarding children, The Department asked NCSL to design and develop an online training package.
The online training package, which is password protected, is located on NCSL's learning gateway within their Talk2Learn online community site. It has been rolled out to all head teachers and one governor from every maintained school in England, plus two relevant staff in each local authority. Full details regarding the safer recruitment online training can be found on NCSL's website.
The training package looks at best practice that should be adopted when recruiting and selecting adults to work with children in schools. It sets out procedures and strategies to help those involved in the recruitment process in schools deter, identify, and reject applicants who are unsuitable to work with children. It also seeks to strengthen safeguards for children in schools by helping to deter and prevent abuse; with the aim of creating an environment where concerns can be raised on poor or unsafe practice.
One person in every maintained school should now have had the opportunity to successfully complete the online training. Training takes approximately 4-5 hours to complete.
How will head teachers get onto the course?
Head teachers who have either undertaken, or are undertaking a course
with NCSL and have a Talk2Learn ID need take no action. They were enrolled
automatically and advised when they could access the training.
Head teachers who do not have a Talk to Learn ID should complete the registration form on NCSL's website.
School Governors
The governing bodies of schools have the sole responsibility for
deciding which governor is given access to the training. Once a school has
decided which governor should undertake the training, the head teacher should
complete the online registration form on their behalf.
How will local authority staff access the
training?
Local authorities were asked to identify staff to undertake the
training and NCSL will then contact the nominees and enroll them for
training.
Guidance
The Department has published guidance to accompany and
support the online training. The guidance originally contained in
Safeguarding Children: Safer Recruitment and Selection in
Education Settings has now been consolidated into new guidance Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment. It aims to assist all staff with educational
responsibility to review and, where appropriate, modify their practise and
procedure in ways that will strengthen safeguards for children.
