Safer Recruitment
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment
Please note that all applicants invited to interview will be asked to complete our interview checklist and provide information at interview.
Education Personnel Management (EPM) supports Wootton Park School with the recruitment process.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
The Equality Act 2010 applies to all those working at Wootton Park School in whatever capacity and includes those who are working under a contract. The school adopts the Local Authority policy of guaranteeing an interview to job applicants with a disability, who meet the essential criteria. Governors will, wherever possible, make reasonable adjustments to recruitment processes, working conditions or the working environment. All decisions relating to appointments or promotions will be conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Equality Act 2010.
Safer Recruitment: Invitation to Interview Checklist
Criminal Convictions Disclosure Form
Ex-Offenders Policy Statement Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy
Selection Process
Selection techniques will be determined by the nature and duties of the vacant post, but all vacancies for contracted staff will require an interview of short-listed candidates.
At least one member of the interview panel will have received ‘Safer Recruitment’ Training.
Candidates will always be required:
- to explain satisfactorily any gaps in employment;
- to explain satisfactorily any anomalies or discrepancies in the information available to recruiters;
- to declare any information that is likely to appear on a DBS disclosure;
- to demonstrate their capacity to safeguard and protect the welfare of children and young people.
Pre-Employment Checks
Any offer of appointment made to a successful candidate, including one who has lived or worked abroad will be conditional on satisfactory completion of the necessary pre-employment checks.
We will:
When appointing new staff, we will:
- Verify their identity
- Obtain (via the applicant) an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate, including barred list information for those who will be engaging in regulated activity (see definition below). We will not keep a copy of this for longer than 6 months
- Obtain a separate barred list check if they will start work in regulated activity before the DBS certificate is available Verify their mental and physical fitness to carry out their work responsibilities
- Verify their right to work in the UK. We will keep a copy of this verification for the duration of the member of staff’s employment and for 2 years afterwards
- Verify their professional qualifications, as appropriate
- Ensure they are not subject to a prohibition order if they are employed to be a teacher
- Check that candidates taking up a management position are not subject to a prohibition from management (section 128) direction made by the secretary of state
Individuals who have lived or worked outside the UK must undergo the same checks as all other staff .This includes obtaining (via the applicant) an enhanced DBS certificate (including barred list information, for those who will be engaging in regulated activity) even if the individual has never been to the UK. The school will make any further checks they think appropriate so that any relevant events that occurred outside the UK can be considered. These checks could include, where available:
- criminal records checks for overseas applicants
- obtaining a letter of professional standing from the professional regulating authority in the country in which the applicant has worked.
Where available, such evidence will be considered together with information obtained through other pre-appointment checks to help assess their suitability.
The details of safer recruitment checks will be reported to the police and/or the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) if:-
- The DBS disclosure shows that an applicant has been disqualified from working with children;
- An applicant has provided false information in, or in support of, his or her application; or
- There are serious concerns about an applicant’s suitability to work with children gained from other legitimate information sources (e.g. references).
