ASEND - Safety Led Working Practices - Contractors

1. Purpose

This document outlines the safety and safeguarding expectations that ASEND requires all self-employed tutors to observe when delivering educational services to children and young people through our organisation.

These expectations exist because of the nature of the work – direct contact with vulnerable children and young people – and the regulatory framework within which that work takes place. They do not reflect or create a relationship of employment, nor do they seek to direct the manner in which you deliver your professional services beyond what is necessary for safety and safeguarding.

2. Position of Trust

When working with or for children and young people, you are acting in a position of trust and great responsibility. Regardless of your employment status, this position must not be abused. You are likely to be seen as a role model and should act with integrity, professionalism, and respect at all times.

3. Safeguarding and Safety Expectations

The following expectations are non-negotiable and apply to all individuals who deliver services involving direct contact with children and young people through ASEND, irrespective of employment status:

3.1. Core Safety Responsibilities

At all times, you are expected to:

• Put safeguarding at the forefront of all the work you do through ASEND.

• Prioritise the welfare and best interests of children and young people.

• Provide a safe environment for children and young people.

  • This includes ensuring equipment is used safely and for its intended purpose.

  • This includes having good awareness of issues to do with safeguarding and child protection and taking action when appropriate.

  • This includes following our safeguarding and risk assessment policies where our expectations are clearly laid out.

• Stay within the law at all times.

• Report safeguarding concerns or allegations immediately in line with our safeguarding policies.

• Report all allegations or suspicions of abuse following our reporting procedures.

  • This includes abusive behaviour being displayed by an adult or child and directed at anybody of any age.

• Challenge any and all unacceptable behaviour and report any breaches of safeguarding expectations to Senior Management or directly to the Board, in line with the relevant policy. This includes any ‘low-level’ concern as identified in KCSiE 2025 Part 4, Section 2.

  • All response to challenging behaviour should be made in line with our safer touch policy.

4. Professional Boundaries

ASEND will share relevant background information and risk assessments prior to any tuition taking place. You are expected to keep this information confidential and not share it outside of your tutoring capacity.

You should maintain clear professional boundaries, including:

• With parents and carers – keeping communications professional, factual, and respectful.

• With Local Authorities and other professionals – ensuring all engagement is constructive, transparent, and within your professional remit.

• Avoiding any action that could bring ASEND or its services into disrepute.

5. Use of Mobile Phones During Sessions

Personal mobile phones should be kept out of sight and not in use during tutoring sessions, with the exception of logging attendance. Young people must not be permitted to use your mobile phone at any time, except in the case of a genuine emergency. This expectation supports safeguarding and data protection, as personal mobile devices contain personal information and contact details that must not be shared with pupils or young people.

6. The “3R” Framework

ASEND’s Safety Led Working Practices operate within a “3R” framework, which puts the child or young person’s Rights, your Relationship to them, and the Respect that you show them at the centre of good practice. We ask all tutors, regardless of engagement status, to be guided by this framework when working with young people.

6.1. Rights

At all times, you should:

• Treat children and young people fairly and without prejudice or discrimination.

• Understand that children and young people are individuals with individual, often complex needs.

• Respect differences in gender, sexual orientation, culture, race, ethnicity, disability, and religious belief systems.

• Challenge discrimination and prejudice.

• Encourage children, young people, and adults to speak out about attitudes or behaviour that makes them uncomfortable.

6.2. Relationships

At all times, you should:

• Promote relationships that are based on openness, honesty, trust, and respect, maintaining professional boundaries at all times.

• Avoid favouritism, particularly when working with groups of children and young people.

• Act with care and be patient.

• Exercise special caution when discussing sensitive issues with children and young people.

• Ensure your contact with children and young people is appropriate and relevant to the work you are delivering.

  • If a child specifically asks for or needs some private time with you, ensure another appropriate adult is aware and within verbal contact distance.

• Personal care or administration of medications must not be provided under any circumstances.

6.3. Respect

At all times, you should:

• Listen to and respect the children and young people you are working with.

• Take the contribution of children and young people seriously, engaging them actively in discussion and planning where appropriate.

• Respect the right all children and young people have to personal privacy, where possible.

  • In some cases it may be necessary to break confidentiality in order to follow safeguarding procedures; if so, it is important to explain this to the child or young person at the earliest opportunity.

7. Prohibited Conduct

The following conduct is prohibited for all individuals working with children and young people through ASEND, regardless of employment status. These prohibitions exist to protect the safety and welfare of children and young people:

• Allowing concerns or allegations to go unreported.

• Taking unnecessary risks.

• Smoking, consuming alcohol, or using illegal substances during or immediately before sessions.

• Developing inappropriate relationships with children and young people.

• Making inappropriate promises to children and young people.

• Engaging in behaviour that is in any way abusive, including any form of sexual contact with a child or young person.

• Sharing personal contact details (mobile number, email, or home address) with children and young people or having contact with them via a personal social media account.

• Acting in a way that can be perceived as threatening or intrusive.

• Patronising or belittling children and young people.

• Making sarcastic, insensitive, derogatory, or sexually suggestive comments or gestures to or in front of children and young people.

• Acting in an intimidating manner or in any way that could be considered bullying behaviour.

• Sharing sensitive and personal data with third parties (including directly to parents, where the parent is not the referring client). See our data protection policy for further details.

• Taking identifiable photos of children at work on personal phones. Progress monitoring images should show the child's work, hands, or be taken from behind to protect their identity. Always obtain parental consent, even for progress monitoring photos.

• Keeping any electronic information you hold or have downloaded about the assignment or young person after the assignment ends.

• Administering medication or providing intimate care for a young person - these are the responsibility of the primary carer.

8. Consequences of Safety Breaches

This document does not impose employment-based disciplinary procedures. However, safeguarding is non-negotiable. Where a self-employed tutor breaches any of the safety and safeguarding expectations set out in this document, the following actions may be taken:

• Discussion with the tutor to understand the circumstances and agree any remedial steps.

• Suspension of further referrals pending review.

• Termination of the service agreement.

• Referral to statutory agencies, including police, Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), or DBS Services, where applicable.

For the avoidance of doubt, these actions relate solely to safeguarding and safety matters. ASEND does not exercise disciplinary authority over self-employed individuals in respect of the manner in which they deliver their professional services.

9. What This Document Does Not Cover

As a self-employed tutor, you retain control over the manner in which you deliver your professional services. This document does not seek to direct or prescribe:

• The methods, materials, or pedagogical approach you use in your teaching.

• Your lesson planning or reporting formats (beyond any information reasonably required for safeguarding or contractual purposes).

• Your availability, scheduling, or working patterns.

• Your engagement with training or professional development (beyond mandatory safeguarding training required by law or regulation).

• Any other matter that falls within the scope of your independent professional judgement.

These matters may be addressed separately in the terms of your service agreement with ASEND.

10. Points of Reference

The above expectations aim to help protect children and young people from abuse and reduce the possibility of unfounded allegations being made. All of our policies have safeguarding at their core and should be read alongside our core Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy.

ASEND is not registered with Ofsted as a school or provider but adheres to all statutory guidance wherever possible including the Equality Act 2010 in respect of safeguarding of pupils with SEND. We also adhere to the guidance found in:

• Keeping Children Safe in Education (2025)

• Alternative Provision Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities (January 2013, updated February 2025)

• Non-school Alternative Provision Voluntary National Standards (August 2025)