Child Protection & Safeguarding Policy

Aligned with Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2026 and Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026.

Policy review date: September 2026
Next review date: September 2027
Review frequency: Annually, or sooner where legislation or statutory guidance changes.

1. Purpose and Scope

StudyBox is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and young people accessing our provision. Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. All staff, tutors, volunteers and those working on behalf of StudyBox must maintain a child-centred approach and act in the best interests of the child at all times.

This policy applies to all StudyBox staff, tutors, volunteers, managers and contractors. It sets out:

  • StudyBox’s safeguarding principles and responsibilities;
  • procedures for identifying and responding to safeguarding concerns;
  • arrangements for reporting and recording concerns;
  • safer recruitment expectations;
  • procedures for managing allegations and concerns about adults working with children;
  • arrangements for online safety and specific safeguarding risks;
  • expectations regarding information sharing and recordkeeping.

StudyBox recognises that safeguarding concerns can arise in person, online, within families, between children, in peer groups and within the wider community. It could happen here.

2. Legal and Statutory Framework

StudyBox is a private tuition provider operating in England. It is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of every child under 18 who accesses its services.

StudyBox will comply with the legislation and legal duties applicable to its activities, staff, premises and services. Its safeguarding arrangements will follow the Department for Education’s Out-of-school settings: safeguarding guidance for providers and will adopt relevant safeguarding principles and procedures from Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 (KCSIE) as organisational standards.

Relevant legislation and guidance include, where applicable:

  • Children Act 1989 and Children Act 2004.
  • Education Act 2002, where applicable.
  • Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 as relevant safeguarding guidance and an organisational benchmark.
  • Working Together to Safeguard Children and applicable local safeguarding partnership procedures.
  • Information sharing to safeguard children and young people, including applicable statutory information-sharing duties.
  • Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR.
  • Equality Act 2010 and Human Rights Act 1998.
  • Safeguarding legislation and guidance concerning sexual offences, exploitation, female genital mutilation, domestic abuse and radicalisation.
  • Applicable Disclosure and Barring Service legislation and guidance.
  • The Prevent duty guidance, where applicable.

StudyBox will review this policy when legislation, statutory guidance, local safeguarding procedures or its own provision changes. The organisation will assess whether any registration, inspection or additional regulatory requirements apply to its activities and will take appropriate advice where necessary.

3. Safeguarding Principles

StudyBox is guided by the following principles:

  • The welfare of the child is paramount.
  • Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.
  • A child-centred approach must always be maintained.
  • Children should receive the right help at the right time.
  • Concerns must be acted upon promptly and without unnecessary delay.
  • All children have the right to protection from abuse, neglect, exploitation and other forms of harm.
  • Children may be vulnerable in different ways and may require additional support.
  • Staff should maintain professional curiosity and avoid assumptions.
  • A child may be at risk of harm both inside and outside the home, including online.
  • Staff must listen to children and take their wishes and feelings seriously when determining appropriate action.
  • Safeguarding records and information sharing must support effective protection of children.

StudyBox recognises that some children may face additional barriers to recognising or reporting abuse, including children with: special educational needs and disabilities (SEND); communication difficulties; mental health needs; previous trauma; experiences of exploitation; social or family vulnerabilities; limited English language skills.

4. Roles and Responsibilities

Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL): Shannon Hill.

Deputy DSLs:

  • Wallington Centre: Olivia Stanford.
  • Sutton Centre: Rosie Stubbs.
  • Croydon Centre: Senthan Sivasangar.

The DSL has lead responsibility for coordinating safeguarding practice across StudyBox. This includes receiving and assessing concerns, ensuring timely referrals, maintaining or overseeing safeguarding records, liaising with relevant safeguarding agencies, advising staff, and arranging safeguarding training and policy reviews.

Deputy DSLs will act on the DSL’s behalf when delegated or when the DSL is unavailable. Staff must know how to contact the DSL or a deputy and must not delay urgent action while waiting for a particular person to become available.

StudyBox management is responsible for ensuring that appropriate safeguarding arrangements, staffing, resources, supervision, recruitment checks, training and reporting procedures are in place and implemented across all centres.

All staff, tutors, volunteers and contractors must:

  • Put children’s safety and welfare first.
  • Understand and follow this policy and associated procedures.
  • Report safeguarding concerns immediately and record them accurately.
  • Maintain appropriate professional boundaries.
  • Complete the safeguarding training required for their role.
  • Raise concerns about unsafe practice, including concerns involving the DSL or management.
  • Cooperate with appropriate safeguarding enquiries and lawful information sharing.

Alternative reporting route: If a concern relates to the DSL, it must be reported to Richard Dickson. If a concern relates to that person, or cannot safely be raised internally, the individual must contact the relevant Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), children’s social care or police, as appropriate. Immediate danger must be reported to the police on 999.

StudyBox will maintain an up-to-date safeguarding contact sheet for each centre, identifying the person responsible for receiving concerns, the alternative reporting route and relevant local referral arrangements.

5. Safer Recruitment

StudyBox will take reasonable and proportionate steps to ensure that all staff, tutors, volunteers, contractors and other adults working with children are suitable for their roles and do not pose an unacceptable risk to children.

Before an individual starts work, StudyBox will assess the checks appropriate to the role and the activities undertaken. These may include:

  • Verification of identity and, where relevant, qualifications and professional status.
  • Appropriate references and examination of employment or activity history, including unexplained gaps.
  • Consideration of relevant safeguarding information and concerns arising during recruitment.
  • Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks at the level legally available and appropriate to the role, including children’s barred-list information only where legally permitted.
  • Overseas criminal record or other suitability checks where appropriate.
  • Verification of the right to work in the UK where required.
  • A documented assessment of any exceptional circumstances where a person is permitted to start before all checks are complete, including safeguards, restrictions and a clear record of the decision.

StudyBox will not knowingly permit a barred person to undertake regulated activity with children and will comply with applicable legal restrictions and referral duties. The organisation will assess each role individually. It will not assume that every role qualifies for the same level of DBS check or that supervision removes the need for a check.

Recruitment decisions and completed checks will be documented securely. Any safeguarding concern identified during recruitment or employment must be referred to the DSL or the appropriate alternative reporting person.

StudyBox will review DBS eligibility, barred-list requirements and volunteer arrangements against current legislation and official guidance, including changes to the definition of regulated activity that came into force on 1 September 2026. Full detail on vetting and recruitment procedures is set out in our Safer Recruitment Policy.

6. Training and Awareness

StudyBox will ensure that staff receive safeguarding training appropriate to their role. This includes: safeguarding induction; regular safeguarding updates and refresher training; training relating to child protection procedures; online safety awareness; Prevent awareness; recognising abuse, neglect and exploitation; child-on-child abuse; reporting and recording concerns.

All staff, tutors, volunteers and relevant contractors will receive safeguarding induction before undertaking duties involving children. Training will be appropriate to their role and refreshed at suitable intervals, with updates provided whenever safeguarding practice, legislation or local procedures change.

Training will cover recognising abuse, neglect and exploitation; responding to disclosures; recording and reporting concerns; professional boundaries; child-on-child abuse; online safety; information sharing; and the local referral process. Prevent awareness will be included where relevant to the person’s duties.

The DSL and deputy DSLs will receive role-appropriate training and regular updates to maintain their knowledge and competence.

StudyBox will maintain a training register recording the individual’s name, training completed, date, refresher due date and any additional training required. Staff will confirm that they have read and understood this policy and know how to access the current safeguarding procedures.

StudyBox will use relevant Department for Education out-of-school settings safeguarding resources as part of its training and review programme.

7. Reporting and Responding to Safeguarding Concerns

Any concern that a child may be experiencing, or be at risk of, abuse, neglect, exploitation or other harm must be acted upon promptly. Staff must not wait for proof or attempt to investigate the concern themselves.

When a child makes a disclosure, staff must listen carefully, remain calm, take the child seriously, avoid leading questions, and explain that information may need to be shared to help keep them safe. Staff must not promise secrecy or confidentiality.

Staff must:

  1. Take immediate steps to protect the child where necessary.
  2. Contact the DSL or a deputy without delay and provide all relevant information.
  3. Make a factual written record as soon as possible, using the child’s own words where practicable and distinguishing observations from information reported by others.
  4. Record the date, time, people involved, action taken, decisions and reasons for those decisions.
  5. Follow any further safeguarding instructions and cooperate with appropriate referrals.

The DSL will assess the concern and determine the appropriate response, which may include early help, referral to local authority children’s social care, consultation with the relevant safeguarding partnership, or contact with the police.

Where there is immediate danger or an urgent threat to a child, staff must call 999. Staff must not delay contacting emergency services while seeking internal authorisation.

Where a child may need immediate protection or statutory intervention, the DSL must make the appropriate referral promptly. If the DSL is unavailable, implicated in the concern, or fails to take appropriate action, staff must use the alternative reporting route and contact children’s social care or the police directly where necessary.

Staff must escalate a concern if they believe the response has been inadequate or the child remains at risk. The person raising the concern retains responsibility for ensuring that it has been appropriately addressed.

Parents or carers should normally be involved in decisions about referrals where appropriate. However, staff must seek safeguarding advice before informing a parent or carer if doing so could increase risk to the child, compromise an investigation, or otherwise prejudice the child’s welfare.

StudyBox will maintain a written safeguarding reporting procedure, including local referral contacts, emergency arrangements and an escalation route for each centre.

8. Allegations and Concerns About Adults Working with Children

StudyBox will respond promptly and appropriately to any allegation or concern that an adult working with children may have harmed a child, may have committed an offence involving a child, may pose a risk of harm to children, or may otherwise be unsuitable to work with children.

Concerns must be reported immediately to the DSL or the designated senior person responsible for allegations. If the concern involves either of these people, it must be reported through the alternative route set out in Section 4.

Where an allegation meets the applicable harm threshold, StudyBox will contact the relevant Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) promptly and follow local procedures. The police and children’s social care will be contacted where appropriate. StudyBox will not conduct an investigation that could prejudice an external investigation.

Concerns that do not meet the harm threshold but indicate that an adult’s behaviour may be inconsistent with the organisation’s code of conduct must still be reported and recorded as low-level concerns (see our Low-Level Concerns Policy).

Records must include the nature of the concern, the evidence or information available, decisions made, the rationale for those decisions, actions taken and the outcome. Records must be stored securely and reviewed for recurring patterns or cumulative concerns.

StudyBox will take appropriate steps to protect children while a concern is being assessed, without presuming guilt or prejudging the outcome. Any decision about duties, access to children or other interim measures will be made on an individual risk basis and in accordance with applicable law.

StudyBox will comply with relevant legal duties to refer information to the Disclosure and Barring Service where the statutory conditions are met. The identity of the person raising a concern and the information involved will be handled sensitively and shared only as appropriate for safeguarding, legal compliance and fair handling of the matter.

8A. Types of Abuse and Specific Safeguarding Risks

StudyBox recognises that abuse, neglect and exploitation can occur in families, peer groups, educational settings, online environments and the wider community. Children may experience more than one form of harm at the same time.

Staff must remain alert to physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, domestic abuse, child sexual exploitation, child criminal exploitation, county lines, trafficking, radicalisation, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, honour-based abuse, child abduction, online abuse, bullying, sexual harassment, sexual violence and other forms of exploitation.

Child-on-child abuse must never be dismissed as banter, harmless teasing, experimentation or an inevitable part of growing up. It may include bullying, physical violence, sexual violence, sexual harassment, coercive or controlling behaviour, initiation or hazing practices, and the non-consensual creation or sharing of nude or semi-nude images.

Where an incident involves sexual images of a child, staff must not download, forward, copy or otherwise distribute the images. They must secure the child’s immediate safety, report the matter to the DSL, preserve relevant information without unnecessarily accessing or circulating the material, and follow appropriate safeguarding and police advice.

Staff must consider the context in which harm occurs, including risks within relationships, families, peer groups, local communities and online spaces. Staff must not assume that a child is safe simply because the harm occurred outside StudyBox or outside normal tuition hours.

All concerns must be reported promptly. The DSL will assess immediate safety, the need for support, referral to children’s social care or police, and appropriate follow-up. The needs and safety of every child affected must be considered individually.

Staff must not promise a particular outcome, confront an alleged perpetrator unnecessarily, or attempt to investigate the matter independently.

8A.1 Abuse – Overview
Abuse may involve physical abuse; emotional abuse; sexual abuse; neglect. Abuse may be perpetrated by adults or by other children. Children may also experience exploitation and other forms of harm outside these categories.

8A.2 Physical Abuse
Physical abuse may include: hitting; shaking; throwing; poisoning; burning or scalding; drowning; suffocating; fabricating or inducing illness.

8A.3 Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse may involve persistent emotional maltreatment, including: humiliation; rejection; intimidation; controlling behaviour; exposure to serious bullying; making a child feel worthless or inadequate.

8A.4 Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse may involve contact or non-contact activities. This can include: rape; sexual assault; sexual touching; grooming; forcing or encouraging sexual activity; exposure to sexual content; exploitation through technology.

8A.5 Neglect
Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs. This may include inadequate: supervision; food; clothing; shelter; medical care; emotional care and protection.

8A.6 Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)
Child sexual exploitation is a form of sexual abuse. Children may be manipulated, groomed or coerced into sexual activity in exchange for something they need or want, or for the perceived advantage of another person. Possible indicators include: unexplained gifts or possessions; changes in behaviour; missing episodes; older or controlling relationships; unexplained money; increased secrecy; online risks or exploitation.

8A.7 Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) and County Lines
Child criminal exploitation occurs where children are manipulated or coerced into criminal activity. County lines is one form of criminal exploitation. Possible indicators include: going missing; unexplained money; multiple phones; travelling to unfamiliar locations; association with older individuals; carrying drugs or weapons; sudden changes in behaviour.

8A.8 Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
FGM is illegal and a form of child abuse. Staff must remain alert to possible indicators and risk factors. Where a teacher discovers that an act of FGM appears to have been carried out on a girl under the age of 18, the relevant mandatory reporting duty to the police must be followed. All concerns about possible risk of FGM must be reported to the DSL immediately.

8A.9 Honour-Based Abuse
Honour-based abuse may include: FGM; forced marriage; abuse or violence carried out to protect perceived family or community honour. Staff must remain alert to indicators and report concerns immediately.

8A.10 Radicalisation and Extremism
StudyBox recognises its responsibilities under the Prevent Duty. Radicalisation may involve a child being drawn into terrorism or extremist ideologies. Staff should report concerns about possible radicalisation to the DSL. Indicators must always be considered in context and should not be treated as proof of radicalisation.

8A.11 Children Missing Education and Attendance Concerns
Patterns of absence or missing education may indicate safeguarding concerns. These may include: abuse; neglect; exploitation; forced marriage; FGM; criminal exploitation; other forms of harm. StudyBox will follow up concerns relating to attendance and unexplained absence in accordance with its procedures and the nature of its provision.

8A.12 Private Fostering
Staff should be aware that private fostering arrangements may require notification to the local authority. Concerns about possible private fostering arrangements should be discussed with the DSL.

8A.13 Child-on-Child Abuse
Children can abuse other children. Child-on-child abuse may include: bullying; physical abuse; sexual violence; sexual harassment; coercive or controlling behaviour; abuse within intimate personal relationships; sharing nude or semi-nude images; initiation or hazing-type violence. StudyBox will take all allegations seriously. Children affected by child-on-child abuse will be supported appropriately. Staff must avoid dismissing abusive behaviour as “banter”, “part of growing up”, or “just having a laugh”.

8A.14 Sharing Nude and Semi-Nude Images
The consensual or non-consensual sharing of nude or semi-nude images involving children is a safeguarding matter. Staff must: report the concern to the DSL; avoid viewing or forwarding images unnecessarily; avoid investigating the matter independently; follow appropriate safeguarding procedures.

8A.15 Upskirting
Upskirting is a criminal offence and a form of harmful sexual behaviour. Any concern must be reported immediately to the DSL.

8A.16 Contextual Safeguarding
Children may experience risk outside their family home. Risks may arise online; in peer groups; in relationships; in public spaces; within the wider community. Staff should consider the wider circumstances affecting a child and not focus solely on their family environment.

8A.17 Mental Health and Safeguarding
Mental health difficulties may be an indicator of abuse or neglect; result from abuse or trauma; increase vulnerability to exploitation or other harm. Mental health concerns that may have safeguarding implications must be reported to the DSL.

8A.18 Child Abduction
Any suspicion that a child has been abducted or is at immediate risk of abduction requires urgent action. Where there is immediate danger, staff must contact 999 and notify the DSL as soon as possible.

9. Online Safety

StudyBox recognises that children may experience harm through online tuition, messaging, social media, gaming, image-sharing and other digital communications.

All staff must maintain professional boundaries in online interactions. Staff must use StudyBox-approved communication methods and accounts where provided, and must not use personal social media accounts to communicate privately with children about tuition or other matters.

StudyBox will establish and communicate procedures covering: approved platforms and communication channels; contact outside scheduled tuition sessions; online safeguarding disclosures and incidents; sharing of sexual images or other harmful content; unauthorised access, cyberbullying, grooming and exploitation; use of personal devices and accounts; appropriate privacy and supervision arrangements.

Any online interaction that causes concern must be reported to the DSL or deputy without delay. Relevant evidence must be preserved safely and lawfully, without forwarding harmful content or exposing children to further harm.

Where StudyBox provides, manages or permits children to access its own internet-connected devices or networks, it will assess appropriate filtering, monitoring and supervision arrangements. Controls will be proportionate to the services provided and the risks identified. See our Acceptable Use Policy for further detail on digital and AI use.

StudyBox will review its online safety arrangements regularly and whenever the delivery model, platforms or identified risks change.

10. Information Sharing and Recordkeeping

StudyBox recognises that timely and appropriate information sharing is essential to identifying risks, protecting children and securing the right help at the right time.

Staff must share safeguarding concerns with the DSL or deputy promptly. The DSL will ensure that relevant information is shared with children’s social care, police, the child’s school or other appropriate agencies where necessary and lawful to safeguard the child.

StudyBox will follow applicable information-sharing legislation and guidance, including the Department for Education’s Information sharing to safeguard children and young people. Where the statutory information-sharing duty under section 16LA of the Children Act 2004 applies to StudyBox or its activities, the organisation will comply with that duty and any applicable information standards.

Data protection legislation must not be treated as a blanket reason to withhold information needed to safeguard a child. Information sharing must have an appropriate legal basis, be necessary and proportionate to the safeguarding purpose, and be handled securely.

Staff must not delay an urgent safeguarding referral while waiting for consent or internal approval where sharing is otherwise lawful and necessary to protect a child. Where appropriate and safe, children and parents or carers should be informed about information sharing. Staff must seek advice where informing them could increase risk, prejudice an investigation or otherwise compromise safeguarding.

Safeguarding records must be factual, accurate, dated and completed as soon as practicable. They must distinguish direct observations, the child’s own words, information provided by others, professional assessments and decisions. Records should include:

  • The child’s identifying details and the date and time of the concern.
  • The nature and context of the concern.
  • The child’s words, where relevant.
  • Actions taken, referrals made and advice received.
  • Decisions, the reasons for those decisions and any follow-up required.
  • The identity of the person making the record.

Safeguarding records must be stored securely, with access restricted to authorised people who need the information for their role. StudyBox will maintain appropriate retention, access, correction, disclosure and secure-transfer procedures, consistent with applicable law and safeguarding requirements — see our Privacy Policy for retention periods that apply to safeguarding records.

When a child moves to another setting or an agency requests safeguarding information, StudyBox will consider what information needs to be shared, the appropriate recipient, the legal basis for disclosure and the need for secure and timely transfer.

The DSL will ensure that safeguarding records are reviewed where necessary to identify patterns, repeated concerns or emerging risks. Records of allegations and concerns about adults will be managed separately where appropriate and in accordance with applicable requirements.

11. Preventing Radicalisation

StudyBox recognises that children may be vulnerable to radicalisation and extremist exploitation, including through online activity, social relationships or contact with individuals seeking to influence them.

Staff must remain alert to changes in behaviour, expressions of concern, attempts to isolate or manipulate a child, and other indicators that may suggest a safeguarding risk. No concern should be based solely on a child’s religion, ethnicity, nationality, political views, appearance or background.

Any concern must be reported to the DSL or deputy without delay and recorded factually. The DSL will assess the information and consider appropriate safeguarding advice, early help, referral to children’s social care, the police or the relevant local Prevent referral arrangements.

StudyBox will ensure that staff receive role-appropriate awareness training and know how to report concerns. Any referral will be handled sensitively, proportionately and in accordance with applicable law and local procedures.

StudyBox will review its Prevent arrangements against current official guidance and assess which specific legal duties apply to its provision.

12. Children with Additional Needs and Vulnerabilities

StudyBox will take account of each child’s age, disability, communication needs, developmental stage, circumstances and individual vulnerabilities when identifying and responding to safeguarding concerns.

Staff must not assume that a child is safe because they have not disclosed abuse, cannot communicate easily, appear confident, or are receiving support from adults. Staff should use appropriate communication methods, allow time for a child to express themselves and seek specialist advice where necessary.

Reasonable adjustments will be considered for children with disabilities in accordance with applicable equality law. Safeguarding assessments must take account of barriers to disclosure, dependency on adults, social isolation, exploitation risks and the possibility that behaviour changes may indicate distress or harm.

Where appropriate and safe, StudyBox will work with parents or carers, the child’s school and relevant professionals to support the child’s welfare, sharing information lawfully and on a need-to-know basis.

13. Whistleblowing

StudyBox expects all staff, tutors, volunteers and contractors to raise concerns about unsafe practice, inappropriate conduct, failures to follow safeguarding procedures or any action that may place a child at risk.

Concerns should normally be reported to the DSL or a deputy. Where the concern involves the DSL, a deputy or management, or where internal reporting is not appropriate, staff must use the alternative reporting route in Section 4.

Staff may also raise concerns with the relevant LADO, children’s social care, police or another appropriate external body, depending on the nature and urgency of the concern.

StudyBox will take concerns seriously, record them appropriately and ensure that they are assessed and acted upon without unnecessary delay. Staff will not be expected to investigate concerns themselves.

No member of staff should be disadvantaged for raising a genuine safeguarding concern in good faith. Deliberately concealing a safeguarding concern or discouraging someone from reporting one may itself be a serious conduct matter. See our full Whistleblowing Policy.

The NSPCC Whistleblowing Advice Line is available on 0800 028 0285 for staff who need advice about safeguarding practice.

14. Children Who Are Missing or Unexpectedly Absent

StudyBox will take account of unexplained absence, repeated non-attendance, sudden withdrawal from tuition and changes in attendance patterns where these may indicate a safeguarding concern.

Staff must report concerning attendance patterns to the DSL or deputy. The DSL will consider the child’s known circumstances, any existing safeguarding information, the reason for absence and whether contact with a parent or carer, the child’s school, children’s social care or the police is appropriate.

If a child’s whereabouts are unknown and there is an immediate concern for their safety, StudyBox will contact the police or emergency services as appropriate. Staff must not assume that a child is safe solely because a parent or carer has provided an explanation.

StudyBox will maintain proportionate attendance and collection arrangements, including procedures for children who are not collected as expected and for emergencies arising during a tuition session.

15. Professional Boundaries and Safe Tuition

All adults working with children must maintain professional boundaries and behave in a way that protects children and staff. StudyBox will establish a code of conduct covering physical contact, private communications, use of personal devices, social media, transport, gifts, photography, recording and meetings outside scheduled sessions.

Tuition must take place in an appropriate environment. Staff must follow the arrangements established by StudyBox for supervision, visibility, access to premises, communication with parents or carers and responding to emergencies.

Adults must not establish secretive or inappropriate relationships with children, use personal communication channels to circumvent organisational safeguards, or arrange unauthorised meetings with children.

Any breach of professional boundaries must be reported promptly and assessed. Concerns must not be dismissed solely because no harm is known to have occurred.

16. Working With Parents and Carers and Raising Complaints

StudyBox will provide parents and carers with accessible information about its safeguarding policy, the DSL and deputy DSLs, how children can raise concerns, and how complaints can be made.

StudyBox will maintain a complaints procedure explaining how concerns are submitted, who considers them, how they are recorded and how unresolved concerns can be escalated — see our Complaints Procedure.

Safeguarding concerns will be prioritised over ordinary complaints handling. Staff must not wait for a complaint to be resolved before making a necessary safeguarding referral.

Parents and carers will normally be kept appropriately informed about concerns affecting their child, subject to safeguarding advice, the child’s welfare, confidentiality requirements and any need to avoid prejudicing an investigation.

Children will be given age-appropriate opportunities to express their wishes and feelings and to identify a trusted adult to whom they can speak.

17. Monitoring and Review

This policy will be reviewed:

  • annually;
  • following significant changes to legislation or statutory guidance;
  • following serious safeguarding incidents where learning indicates that procedures should be improved.

StudyBox will monitor safeguarding practice and update training and procedures where necessary.

18. Key Contacts

Policy Approval

Policy: Child Protection & Safeguarding Policy
Version: September 2026
Reviewed: September 2026
Next Review: September 2027