MathsClub Statement of Commitment to Child Safety

MathsClub supports the rights of children and young people and is committed to ensure the safety, welfare and wellbeing of all students we work with.

MathsClub has zero tolerance to child abuse. We have systems in place to protect children from abuse, will take all allegations very seriously and will respond to them consistently in line with our policies and procedures.

MathsClub is dedicated to our Safeguarding and Child Protection policy. Our organisation ensures that everyone involved in MathsClub understands their responsibility to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all children.

Purpose

MathsClub’s Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy sets out our commitment and approach to maintaining a child safe organisation. Student safety and wellbeing are paramount to everything we do.

Our Policy, simply

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. 

We at MathsClub ensure that all our staff understand their role in safeguarding child welfare, and ensure that child safety is prioritised at all levels, always. Our Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy draws on the Australian National Principals for Child Safe Organisations. 

All staff are required to: 

• Undertake relevant training and professional development to ensure a sound knowledge of practice, procedures and guidelines 
• Act in accordance with our Company Code of Conduct
• Act in accordance with our Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy, including reporting on any concerns of child welfare or safety

Our Policy, in detail

Our internal Safeguarding policies & procedures is outlined below and is based on the 10 National Principles provided by the Australian government (and endorsed by all Commonwealth, state and territory governments) developed in line with the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009-2020. 

1. Child safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture.

MathsClub promotes a child safe culture at all levels of the organisation, ensuring accountability at every level. This includes; 

• Ensuring all staff, even those without direct interactions with children, are aware of, and follow, our Code of Conduct which outlines guidelines of expected behaviour
• Ensuring all staff understand their obligations to report any disclosures, or other safety concerns accurately and in a timely manner
• Fostering a culture of integrity and transparency such that all staff feel confident to request further support 
• Promoting the sharing of best practice; and facilitating tutor continuous professional development in regards to Safeguarding
• Building risk management strategies into processes, training, monitoring and evaluation.
  1. All of our sessions are recorded, and schools can request to view recordings 
  2. Tutors have their sessions regularly, and randomly, quality assured by Management, including the designated Safeguarding Lead
  3. Tutors are required to report on every session they deliver. All reports are checked by Management, and spot checks are completed to compare reports against session recordings.
  4. Tutors are obligated to report on any concerns of child wellbeing. This includes disclosure of sensitive information, signs of behaviour changes, signs of distress, use of worrying/age-inappropriate language or behaviour. Tutors are obligated to immediately report any child safety emergencies such that the school can be informed as soon as possible (see point 8).

2. Children and young people are informed about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously.

We endeavour for all students to recognise that their learning environment is safe; one where they can confidently share their thoughts with their tutors. We do this by:

1. Including ‘Safeguarding children‘ and ‘Improving attitude towards learning & building and maintaining positive relationships’ in our core Tutoring Values, which are integral to our tutor training, evaluation and development program.
2. Recruiting and training tutors who build a safe & educationally stimulating learning environment for all students (see point 4)

3. Families and communities are informed, and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing.

MathsClub will not directly engage with families of students, nor any contact other than the assigned Lead Teacher or Project Sponsor. We do, however, understand and value the importance of students’ wider communities in regards to their wellbeing and are committed to supporting our schools to engage with students’ families, whilst abiding by our communication and information sharing policy.

1. We provide a Parent Information Letter upon request which schools may choose to administer to families, detailing students’ involvement in MathsClub’s 1-to-1 tuition program

4. Equity is upheld and diverse needs respected in policy and practice. 

Our product and service is designed for inclusion;

1. We deliver child-friendly material; accessible to children with a wide range of educational needs
2. Our tutors, as per our Code of Conduct, respect student diversity inclusive of cultural or other differences and do not discriminate against any student
3. We pride ourselves on building and maintaining positive relationships with our schools such that our tutors can best adapt to evolving needs students’, based on information provided by our Lead Teachers

5. People working with children and young people are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice.

We ensure that we only hire and train tutors in line with our high standards, set by our team of Qualified Teachers, Trainers and Educational Specialists. All of our staff screening and training is done by our own MathsClub team.

1. All tutors must submit a Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) before delivering any sessions. This is an official document issued as a result of a background and identity check completed by the police/government to ensure that the individual has not been involved in any criminal activity.
   – All tutors must have their PCC renewed and submitted before the expiry date
   – If a tutor was to fail a PCC check, his/her employment would be terminated with immediate effect
2. Tutors are required to submit further proof of identification and qualifications to MathsClub before delivering any sessions
3. Tutors are required to pass all relevant training modules, including ‘Safeguarding Children and Upholding Professional Standards’ and are required to pass a final assessment before delivering any sessions.

6. Processes to respond to complaints and concerns are child focused. 

Staff are required to report information of any concern, disclosure or sign of distress to the designated Safeguarding Lead via the relevant channel.

1. If a child indicates that they are in immediate danger during a session, tutors will immediately report this to a member of the MathsClub Support Team who will immediately contact the relevant contact at the school
2. If a child is not in immediate danger, but tutors (or other staff) have concerns about their welfare, they will write up the information in session feedback reports
3. Session feedback reports are reviewed after all sessions by Management. Any information related to child safety or wellbeing is reviewed by the designated Safeguarding Lead
4. If appropriate, the designated Safeguarding Lead will complete a Safeguarding Report and send to the Project Sponsor, often the Principal of the school, for the school to action with the relevant authorities, in line with their own policy

7. Staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and young people safe through ongoing education and training.

All MathsClub staff, not only tutors, complete training on Safeguarding and Child Protection in order to support them to; 

1. Respond appropriately to disclosures
2. Recognise potential signs of abuse including physical abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse and neglect
3. Record and report information in an accurate, unbiased and timely manner
4. Protect themselves by not sharing personal information or engaging in any form of communication with students outside our virtual classroom

8. Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed. 

To ensure that our students remain safe, and maintain privacy of information, whilst completing their online maths lessons, we take the following measures;

1. All interactions between students and tutors take place inside our virtual classroom only. This provides an audio connection, shared whiteboard slides and chat communication only. We do not use video conferencing.
2. Tutors have access only to relevant information to support their students’ development. This is limited to;
   • Students’ first names only
   • Student ‘working at’ level, and personalised learning plan
   • Details of learning needs (including Special Educational Needs)
   • Supporting notes from MathsClub Academic team to best personalise teaching
3. Tutors do not have access to any student identifiable information, such as Last names, Date of birth, School names, etc.
4. Tutors are not able to schedule or deliver any sessions with students; all sessions are facilitated by MathsClub only
5. All interactions are recorded and reviewed in regular observations, and random ‘drop-in’s to sessions. Management review sessions both live and recorded.
6. Each and every session is monitored in real time, via tutor reporting by our MathsClub Support Team. Our support team are aware of assigned contact points at each school we work with, and our policy on communicating any safety or welfare concerns

    

9. Implementation of the national child safe principles is regularly reviewed and improved

We regularly review and evaluate our own practices and procedures, with child safety and wellbeing always being our number one priority:

1. Our Academic Team keeps up-to-date with the latest research & guidance at state/territory; national; and international level
2. Our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy is reviewed, and adapted as needed, at least annually, or as required

10. Policies and procedures document how the organisation is safe for children and young people.

Our MathsClub policies and procedures address the here mentioned National Child Safe Principles. 

1. As mentioned above, all staff are aware of our policies and procedures, and implement such
2. To ensure practice is consistent across the organisation, actions are monitored via spot checks on session delivery and reporting at all levels

MathsClub’s Student Safeguarding Lead is Abby McElhatton. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at academics@mathsclub.net.