Safeguarding Policy

This policy applies to anyone tutoring students recommended via Up Your Grade Ltd, when delivering individual or small group tuition services, both online and face to face.

Where there are significant and immediate concerns about the safety of a child, you should contact the police on 999.

The purpose of this policy is to:

Protect anyone who comes into contact with Up Your Grade Ltd from harm or abuse.
Act as a guiding principle for anyone tutoring though Up Your Grade Ltd in relation to safeguarding.
Ensure that, as an organisation, we operate in line with our values and within the law.

Up Your Grade Ltd is committed to the welfare of children and young people. We believe that they have a right to feel safe and be protected from neglect or abuse of any kind: neglect, emotional, sexual or physical. We also feel that safeguards need to be in place to ensure they are kept safe at all times. All tutors must be fully aware of and uphold our safeguarding and child protection policies at all times. Ensuring the safety, wellbeing and care of every student you support is a central responsibility of the role.

We recognise that:

The welfare of the child or young person is paramount as enshrined in the Children Act 1989, Children Act 2004 and relevant government guidance – Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 and The Prevent Duty Guidance.

All children and young people irrespective of age, race, gender, sexual orientation or identity, disability or religious beliefs have a right to equal protection from harm and abuse.
Some children and young people may be more vulnerable than others because of their previous experiences or other specific needs.
Working in partnership with the individual, the parent or carer(s) and other agencies is essential in safeguarding the welfare of children and young people.

Up Your Grade Ltd will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

Valuing, respecting and hearing what the individual says.
Working within this policy and those of any organisation that we have a contract with (e.g. tuition in local schools).
Supporting, monitoring and evaluating anyone tutoring with Up Your Grade.
Ensuring Up Your Grade tutors are suitably qualified and have undergone the relevant enhanced DBS checks, ensuring the appropriate criminal record and professional reference checks are undertaken.
Ensuring Up Your Grade tutors have had safeguarding training to a minimum of Safeguarding level 1 standard or equivalent child protection training and understand their role and responsibilities regarding safeguarding matters. We recommend Up Your Grade tutors regularly update this training and provide an opportunity to ask questions at our monthly safeguarding workshop.
Ensuring personal information about the adults and children involved with Up Your Grade is held securely and shared only as appropriate.
Constantly reviewing our safeguarding procedures in line with national guidance. All tutors who work face to face, online or in an educational setting will have read at least Part 1 of this guidance: Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025.
All Up Your Grade tutors discuss any concerns related to safeguarding as an ongoing aspect of their tuition practise with information and safeguarding logs being recorded on a secure Up Your Grade Database, which is shared with and reviewed by Up Your Grade’s Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), currently Andrew Gardner.
By keeping up to date our safeguarding training and following the safeguarding procedures of North Yorkshire authority (location of the head office) and any other authorities where our students live, on a case by case basis.
Ensuring confidentiality and the limits to it are clearly explained to those involved.
Work within our tutor code of conduct agreement, in place for Up Your Grade Tutors.
Maintain safe working practice when working with students online and be aware of safer working guidelines.
All Up Your Grade tutors know to share any concerns promptly with the relevant person at Up Your Grade or in the partner organisation; including the child and parents if appropriate. Adopting the 7 Golden Rules approach found here.
All Up Your Grade tutors discuss any concerns related to safeguarding as an ongoing aspect of their tuition practise with information and safeguarding logs being recorded on a secure Up Your Grade Database, which is shared with and reviewed by the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL).

Local Authority Safeguarding Contact Details:

If you have an allegation against an Up Your Grade tutor the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) is the person who should be notified. For children living in North Yorkshire the contact procedure is here: One Minute Guide – Managing allegations against those who work or volunteer with children.
For students living in West Yorkshire the contact procedure is here.
Up Your Grade tutors have access to their DSL during the hours of 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday that enable any safeguarding concerns to be reported from any session – both face to face or online. Outside of these hours, and if you believe the situation is urgent but does not require the police, please call the North Yorkshire Safeguarding team on 0300 131 2 131 to discuss your query.
All concerns and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously, responded to appropriately and referred on as necessary following the threshold guidance for North Yorkshire.

Up Your Grade Ltd Designated Safeguarding Lead is:

Andrew Gardner

Click here to view his current safeguarding certification from the NSPCC and the Tutors’ Association.

If anyone has any questions or concerns around safeguarding, please send an email, for the attention of Andrew Gardner, to admin@upyourgrade.co.uk or call on 01423 317474

All matters will be dealt with in the strictest of confidence at all times.

Policy Review:

This policy will be reviewed annually, or sooner if there are major organisational changes or updates to relevant legislation.
The most recent review was on 1st December 2024, with the next review due no later than annually from this date.