Pen Green Centre for children and their families

Pen Green is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and applicants must be willing to undergo pre-employment vetting checks appropriate to the post, including an Enhanced DBS check.  Offers of employment will be made subject to receipt of satisfactory pre-employment vetting checks.

The successful candidate will be expected to adhere to all our safeguarding, welfare, and health and safety policies and procedures.

All pre-employment checks are in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 statutory guidance.

The majority of the roles in a school are included in the excluded jobs listed in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, and therefore as a school we require shortlisted candidates to disclose all convictions, whether spent or unspent, and we will request an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) disclosure for preferred candidates.

Where the preferred candidate is member of the DBS Update Service we will, with their permission, carry out a status check on any current certificate.

Should details on a criminal record emerge from a DBS check, or be raised by the preferred candidate, we will carry out an open and measured discussion with the individual regarding any offences or other matters that might be relevant to the position.

Failure to reveal information that is directly relevant to the position applied for could mean that the conditional offer of employment is withdrawn.

Having a criminal record will not necessarily prevent a person being appointed, unless the offence bars the person, or we consider that the information gathered about the criminal record makes the person inappropriate for the role.

The school ensures that information provided about an individual’s criminal convictions, including any information released in disclosures, is used fairly and stored and handled appropriately and in accordance with the provisions of data protection legislation and the DBS Code of Practice.

Safeguarding children is the responsibility of all Centre staff. All workers undergo regular safeguarding training and have a responsibility to report any issues or concerns to a safeguarding lead.

At Pen Green there are different levels of safeguarding responsibility depending on the position held.

Safeguarding children is the responsibility of all Centre staff. All workers undergo regular safeguarding training and have a responsibility to report any issues or concerns to a safeguarding lead.

At Pen Green there are different levels of safeguarding responsibility depending on the position held.

The Centre Leadership Team is responsible for all operational decisions made within the Centre and all members of CLT (excluding the Finance Manager*) have a lead responsibility for safeguarding and undergo the appropriate training.

It is the role of CLT to create and maintain a safe culture and environment that focusses on safeguarding children, and to hold staff to account for their professional conduct and practice.

The Designated Safeguarding Lead is a member of CLT and all other members of CLT are expected to deputise in their absence (*as above).

Our Domain Leads have additional operational responsibilities within teams that work directly with children and families i.e. 0-3s, Nursery, Kingswood Nursery, Family Support, Groupwork, Creche, in addition to working ‘in loco parentis’ with children. Our Domain Leads have additional safeguarding training so that they are a point of contact for their own team for safeguarding concerns.

The majority of our staff work in roles that involve working directly with and providing support to children ‘in loco parentis’ e.g. Family Workers. They are front line staff who are most likely to encounter safeguarding concerns and will report any concerns to their Domain Lead, member of CLT, Designated Safeguarding Lead or Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead. Workers in these roles may work with children open to social care, and therefore may work collaboratively with Social Care colleagues following statutory safeguarding processes.

A number of our staff work in low-contact/no-contact roles e.g. administration, premises, catering, and therefore do not have direct responsibilities relating to children and families.

All of these staff have an awareness of safeguarding issues that can put children at risk of harm and are responsible for reporting any concerns that they have to a Domain Lead, member of CLT, or Designated Safeguarding Lead or Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead.

The government guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2023, S.221, suggests that schools should consider carrying out online searches (i.e. social media searches) as part of their due diligence on shortlisted candidates.  The purpose of such checks is to help identify any issues that are publicly available online that schools may want to explore with candidates at interview.

For shortlisted candidates we may carry out checks on publicly available personal social media accounts e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and/or Google searches linked to current employer and/or checks on professional networks e.g. LinkedIn.  In the event that we need to explore information with candidates as a result of these searches this will be done via telephone prior to interview.

Early years qualifications achieved in the United Kingdom – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)