Conference presentations from Dr Pooky and Jo Bradley are below
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LADO Briefing KCSIE 2020

Keeping Children Safe in Education 1 September 2020 – ‘the fourth bullet point’

Please note that there has been a significant revision around ensuring schools and colleges have processes in place to manage all concerns about staff and volunteers including agency staff members and in Part 4, the LADO threshold of harm has been extended by a fourth bullet point to cover transferable risk and consideration of the suitability of staff or volunteer’s behaviour outside of the workplace.

Managing transferable risk includes incidents alleged to have occurred outside school and/or which don’t necessarily include children for example domestic violence, drug misuse, neighbourhood disputes and it will be useful to alert your staff to the KCSIE revisions to ensure that they are aware of these extended responsibilities and to co-operate in a school investigation even though the original incident didn’t take place on the school premises.

Governing bodies and school leaders should consider the impact on the staff employment handbook including disciplinary policy and allegations policy in order to address whether staff conduct should now be addressed as a safeguarding issue rather than a more minor code of conduct matter. This may impact on staff references, DBS and TRA referrals, but it will not apply retrospectively to ongoing disciplinary or conduct issues.  

It will also be necessary to review your supply/agency contract terms to clarify who is responsible for addressing allegations made against agency staff and how to respond.

Unusually the DfE didn’t consult on KCSIE revisions as a result of the Covid 19 crisis, so there may be opportunity to try out these revisions and respond to the next consultation on whether these revisions are workable.

Justine Hosking

Principal LADO | TFF | Cornwall Council