safer recruitment policy

Safer Recruitment Policy

Author: Natalie Mcnamee
Date: (Updated November 2023

Document Versioning
Version 1.0
August 2020
Version 2.0
October 2022
Version 3.0 (This version)
November 2023

Dance and Beats Ltd is committed to providing the best possible care and education to its pupils and to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people.
Dance and Beats is also committed to providing a supportive and flexible working environment to all its members of staff. The school recognises that, to achieve these aims, it is of fundamental importance to attract, recruit and retain staff of the highest calibre who share in this commitment.

The aims of our recruitment policy is as follows:
• to ensure that the best possible staff are recruited on the basis of their abilities and suitability for the position which includes their attitudes towards safeguarding and their ability to work with children in a way which promotes the safety and welfare of children;
• to ensure that all job applicants are considered equally and consistently;
• to ensure that no job applicant is treated unfairly in reference to any protected characteristic under the Equality Act (2010) including race, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or religious belief, sex or sexual orientation, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity, marital or civil partner status, disability or age;
• to ensure compliance with all relevant legislation, recommendations and guidance including the statutory guidance published by the Department for Education (DfE), Keeping Children Safe in Education (September 2021) (KCSIE), The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations (2014) (ISSRs), the Prevent Duty Guidance for England and Wales 2015 (the Prevent Duty Guidance) and any guidance or code of practice published by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS);

STAFF RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCEDURE
1
Staff vacancies will be advertised in a variety of media and on Dance and Beats website, accompanied by a Job Description with Person Specification. Discretion not to advertise might be exercised in exceptional circumstances. Care must be taken to ensure that there is no other member of staff concerned who could consider him or herself to be a suitable candidate. Individuals can be directly appointed only if they have an existing and continuing right to work in the UK.
2
Prospective applicants should submit a CV, containing their employment and academic history along with a cover letter explaining their suitability to the role. Should there be any gaps in academic or employment history, a satisfactory explanation must be provided.
3
All potential applicant information will be treated with the highest confidentiality and in lie with GDPR law.
4
The hiring manager (CEO/FOUNDER) will shortlist applicants against a set of criteria based on the Job Description and the Person Specification.
5
Those shortlisted will be invited to attend an interview which will include a face to face interview with the hiring manager, one-to-one tests, presentations and class teaching/observations. All shortlisted applicants will be tested at interview about their suitability to work with children.
6
Notes of the interview, presentations and classes will be recorded. All applicants will be asked the same questions including questions about their motivations to work with children and young people.
7
The decision to appoint will be made by the Hiring Manager/Founder.

PRE-EMPLOYMENT CHECKS
Any offer of employment will be conditional on the agreement of a mutually acceptable start date and the signing of a contract incorporating Dance and Beats standard terms and conditions of employment, and the following checks being completed satisfactorily.
In addition to the checks set out below, we reserve the right to obtain such formal or informal background information about an applicant as is reasonable in the circumstances to determine whether they are suitable to work at Dance and Beats. This may include internet and social media searches. In fulfilling its obligations, Dance and Beats does not discriminate on the grounds of race, religion and belief, gender reassignment, sex, sexual orientation, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity, disability or age.

VERIFICATION OF IDENTITY, ADDRESS, RIGHT TO WORK IN THE UK AND QUALIFICATIONS
All applicants who are invited to an interview will be required to bring with them evidence of their identity, right to work in the UK, address and qualifications. Dance and Beats asks for this information at interview to ensure that the person attending interview is who they claim to be, that they are permitted to work for Dance and Beats if appointed and that they hold appropriate qualifications.

Where an applicant claims to have changed their name by deed poll or any other means (e.g. marriage, adoption, statutory declaration) they will be required to provide documentary evidence of the change. Right to work in the UK: all applicants must also bring to interview a valid form of evidence which confirms their right to work in the UK. Valid forms of evidence can be found in the Home Office 'Right to Work Checklist': (Right to work checklist (publishing.service.gov.uk).
Qualifications: all applicants must also bring to interview original documents which evidence any educational and professional qualifications referred to in their application form and / or which Dance and Beats requests.

REFERENCES
No job offer is confirmed until the completion of all pre-employment checks which includes the receipt of satisfactory references. Any issues raised by the reference will be discussed with the candidate. A minimum of one reference will be sought, one of which must be from the applicant’s current or most recent employer. The reference should not be from a relative or solely a friend. All referees will be sent the job description for the role and asked whether they believe the applicant is suitable for the role and whether they have any reason to believe that they would be unsuitable to work with children. Referees will be asked to confirm, to the best of their knowledge.

MEDICAL FITNESS
The Dance and Beats is legally required to verify the medical fitness of anyone to be appointed to a post at Dance and Beats, after an offer of employment has been made but before the appointment can be confirmed. It is the school’s practice to ask applicants to complete a Health Questionnaire which is then reviewed. Dance and Beats may also seek a further medical opinion from a specialist or request that the applicant undertakes a full medical assessment. Dance and Beats is aware of its duties under the Equality Act 2010. No job offer will be withdrawn without first consulting the applicant, obtaining medical evidence, considering reasonable adjustments and suitable alternative employment, where available.

DISCLOSURE AND BARRING SERVICE
Under Child Safeguarding regulations, Dance and Beats will apply for a disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) in respect of ALL prospective staff members, contractors and unsupervised volunteers. The level of check will be determined by the role and its potential for access to children. Dance and Beats applies for an enhanced disclosure from the DBS and a check of the Children's Barred List (now known as an Enhanced Check for Regulated Activity) in respect of all positions at the school which amount to "regulated activity" as defined in the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (as amended). The purpose of carrying out an Enhanced Check for Regulated Activity is to identify whether an applicant is barred from working with children by inclusion on the Children's Barred List and to obtain other relevant suitability information.

RETENTION AND SECURITY OF DISCLOSURE INFORMATION
Information received from applicants will be stored on a database for inspection purposes, accessible only to relevant senior leaders. Dance and Beats will not retain disclosure information or any associated correspondence for longer than is necessary, and for a maximum of six months. Dance and Beats will ensure that any disclosure information is destroyed by suitably secure means such as shredding. Dance and Beats prohibits the photocopying or scanning of any disclosure information without the express permission of the individual to whom the disclosure relates. RETENTION OF RECORDS Dance and Beats is legally required to undertake the above pre-employment checks. Therefore, if an applicant is appointed, we will retain any relevant information provided as part of the application process on their personnel file. This will include copies of documents used to verify identity, right to work in the UK, medical fitness and qualifications. This documentation will be retained by Dance and Beats for the duration of the successful applicant's employment.

Dance and Beats are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually or sooner if appropriate.
This policy was last reviewed on: 10/11/23
Signed:Natalie Mcnamee (CEO, Founder)
Date: 10/11/23