Safeguarding Policy

Dated 06 March 2026

1. Safeguarding Statement

Osborne Cawkwell Tuition are specialists in private tuition in London, the UK and abroad, we also advise on a range of educational issues. We arrange for self-employed tutors to provide tuition, usually on a 1:1 basis either in a student’s home, a mutually agreed public location, or online. 

2. The purpose of this policy is:

• To protect who receives tutoring arranged by Osborne Cawkwell Tuition 
• To provide tutors, as well as young people and their families, with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection.

This policy applies to anyone working on behalf of Osborne Cawkwell Tuition, including senior managers and paid staff.

a. Legal framework

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seek to protect children in the United Kingdom. A summary of the key legislation is available from nspcc.org.uk/learning. 

For the purposes of this policy, a child is anyone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday. 

b. Policy contents

This document contains our organisational policies, procedures, guidance and other related items relating to safeguarding, including:  

• Dealing with disclosures and concerns about a child 
• Safer recruitment 
• Managing allegations against staff (including self-employed staff) 
• Induction, training, supervision, and support
• Role description for the Designated Safeguarding Lead 

This document should be read alongside the Code of Conduct for tutors included in the Osborne Cawkwell Tuition tutor contract. 

c. Our overarching principles 

We believe that:  

• Children should never experience abuse of any kind 
• We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children, to keep them safe, and to practise in a way that protects them 

We recognise that: 

• The welfare of children is paramount in all the work we do and in all the decisions we take 
• All children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, gender or sexual orientation have an equal right to protection from all types of harm or abuse 
• Some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues 
• Working in partnership with children, their parents, carers, and other agencies is essential in promoting their welfare 

d. We will seek to keep children safe by:

• Valuing them, listening to them and respecting them 
• Appointing a Designated Safeguarding Lead for children 
• Adopting child protection and safeguarding best practice through our policies, procedures and code of conduct for staff and tutors 
• Developing and implementing an effective online safety policy and related procedures 
• Providing effective management for tutors through support and training so that all tutors know about and follow our policies, procedures and behaviour codes confidently and competently 
• Recording, storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance 
• Sharing information about safeguarding and good practice with children and their families via our website
  

e. Dealing with disclosures and concerns about a child

We believe that it is essential for disclosures and concerns to be dealt with efficiently and sensitively. The welfare of the child is paramount. 

• If a tutor has a concern about the wellbeing of a child they are tutoring then they have a duty of care to report this to Osborne Cawkwell Tuition Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)
• The tutor has a duty of confidentiality and should not disclose details of their work with a child to anyone outside of Osborne Cawkwell Tuition. The Designated Safeguarding Lead will be available to discuss any concerns that a tutor has. 

Concerns may include, but are not limited to:  

• A child verbally disclosing information that a tutor considers may indicate that there is a risk to the child’s physical or emotional safety 
• A tutor observing something that may indicate there is a risk to a child’s physical or emotional safety 
• A child’s behaviour towards a tutor or other individual present indicates a risk to the child’s physical or emotional safety 

If a tutor has a concern, they will contact the Designated Safeguarding Lead via email after the interaction with the child has ended. They should, as soon as possible, fully document their concerns, ensuring they take note of the time and date.

• If there is an immediate risk to a child, the tutor should immediately contact the Designated Safeguarding Lead and, if necessary or if the DSL isn’t available, the police. In an emergency, the tutor should use the 999 service. Having received a concern, the Designated Safeguarding Lead will assess the severity of the concern and escalate accordingly. 
• The Designated Safeguarding Lead will contact the school the student attends or the parent(s) depending on the circumstances.
• If it is not possible or appropriate to contact the school, the Designated Safeguarding Lead will contact the child’s local Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH). Local agencies may wish to speak to the tutor directly, in this case the Designated Safeguarding Lead will contact the tutor and pass on their information to the agency concerned. 
  
• If a tutor wishes to discuss any safeguarding incident in which they have been involved,  they will contact the Designated Safeguarding Lead.  
• If a tutor requires further information, they will access their Local Safeguarding Children Partnership (LSCP) policies and procedures using the following links: https://www.londoncp.co.uk/p_list_lscp.html – Core Procedures and Threshold document http://www.chscb.org.uk/professionals/ – City of London and Hackney Boroughs 

f. Safer recruitment

Every tutor should have appropriate ID documents, proof of their right to work in the UK, an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) dating 12 months or less, along with 2 strong references as part of the recruitment process. Tutors will be met face to face.

As tutors will be responsible, on a regular basis, for teaching, training, instructing, caring for or supervising children, an enhanced DBS certificate which includes barred list information is required. In addition to this Osborne Cawkwell Tuition will verify if the person has lived or worked outside the UK as well as make any further checks that Osborne Cawkwell Tuition considers appropriate. 

New employees/office staff must have appropriate safeguarding training to a minimum of level 2 standard. If they have already received training previously, evidence must be provided. We keep a training register of when employees completed training and recommend they refresh their knowledge every 2 to 3 years.

g. Managing allegations against tutors

We are aware that there is a potential for students to make allegations against tutors. This section will outline policies to appropriately manage these allegations and protect both the young people using the service, and the volunteers. When an allegation against a tutor is lodged, the following process will be followed: 

1. The Designated Safeguarding Lead will document the time, date, and all information received about the incident.

2. If a student has made an allegation about one of their tutors, the pairing will be suspended until the Designated Safeguarding Lead has investigated the allegation.

3. The Designated Safeguarding Lead will make contact with the student’s parent(s).

4. The Designated Safeguarding Lead will appropriately determine the course of action in consultation with appropriate professionals. As advised, this may include the termination of the tutor’s service, escalation to child protective services, or contact with the police.

5. The Designated Safeguarding Lead will ensure that the student and parent are made aware of the course of action.

6. All communications about the allegation will be documented. Osborne Cawkwell Tuition will refer a tutor to the DBS in any of the following circumstances:

• The harm test is satisfied in respect of the individual  
• The individual has received a caution or conviction for a relevant offence, or if there is reason to believe that the individual has committed a listed relevant offence
• The individual has been removed from working (paid or unpaid) in regulated activity or  would have been removed had they not left

h. Induction, training, supervision, and support  

In order to keep the young people we work with safe and able to participate in effective  tutoring, it is essential that tutors receive training and support prior to and throughout their time working through Osborne Cawkwell Tuition. Before tutoring, each tutor will receive training that, as a minimum, should include: 

• Reading and discussing the child protection policy, including requirements for recording safeguarding concerns within the setting and referring these to the Designated Safeguarding Lead 
• Reading and discussing the (TTA) Tutors’ Code of Conduct 
• Understanding the safeguarding response to children who go missing from education, including unexplained absence from online tutoring sessions – 3 sessions with no contact is the limit. You alert us, we will investigate.  
• Understanding the role of the Designated Safeguarding Lead and the links with online tutoring 
• Completing safeguarding and child protection awareness training  
• Identifying further safeguarding training needs to provide the tutor with relevant skills and knowledge to safeguard children effectively; confirming the tutor will receive relevant safeguarding updates and changes updates

i. Role description for the Designated Safeguarding Lead

The Designated Safeguarding Lead is an imperative role to keep the children we work with and our tutors safe. The identity and contact details of this individual will be made available to all tutors and will also be easy to access for members of the public.  

The Designated Safeguarding Lead shall:

• Lead Osborne Cawkwell Tuition’s response to any concern, complaint, allegation or other incident relating to child protection, safeguarding, children’s welfare or the actions or inactions of any Osborne Cawkwell Tuition tutor
• Be the first point of contact for tutors, students and parents/guardians for any concerns about behaviour or activities 
• Refer all allegations against tutors in full in a timely manner to the appropriate authorities upon receiving the allegation and never after the tutor has been able to carry out another session
• Recognise and refer as appropriate all concerns or allegations about students and parents/guardians in full in a timely manner, taking into account any risk of harm that may increase due to a delay in response
• Be responsible for passing on any findings as requested by the relevant authorities in a timely manner 
• To review and keep updated Osborne Cawkwell Tuition’s systems for keeping young people safe

Contact details

Nominated Designated Safeguarding Lead

Name: Lucy Cawkwell
Phone/email: 020 7584 5355/lucy@octuition.co.uk

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (s)

Name: Zoe Kay
Phone/email: 020 7584 5355/zoe@octuition.co.uk 

We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually. 

This policy was last reviewed on: 06/03/2026

Online Safeguarding Policy

Dated 06 March 2026

The purpose of this document is to set out the policy surrounding the delivery of online tuition through Osborne Cawkwell Tuition.

For parents

• It is advised that a parent or adult should be in the house at all times, particularly for younger students
• Students should keep the door to the room where they are having tuition opened during lessons. This is for the protection of the tutor as well as the child. 
• Pupils must be dressed appropriately for lessons
• Please provide an emergency number that the tutor can use should something happen during the lesson

For tutors

• All standard safeguarding training and procedures remain applicable when teaching in an online forum 
• We advise using a virtual background; if this is not possible, do not have any personal items or photos on display in the background
• Lessons should not be recorded generally, only if expressly agreed by parent and tutor prior to the lesson taking place and with written permission
• Do not accept friend requests from students across any social media platforms
• Explain to parents in an introductory call or email (and ongoing if necessary) how you work, structure sessions, plan and also your expectations of the student
• Be clear about expectations with parents and students: if the student is not behaving, stop the session, take a break and either re-start or re-schedule for another day. Don’t let the situation disintegrate; make time for feedback to parents and/or student at the end of the session and make a plan for next time
• Should the student fall asleep or have a medical episode during the session, you will need to call the parent immediately to explain and seek help and also contact Osborne Cawkwell Tuition to let them know.

Contact details

Nominated Designated Safeguarding Lead

Name: Lucy Cawkwell
Phone/email: 020 7584 5355/lucy@octuition.co.uk

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (s)

Name: Zoe Kay
Phone/email: 020 7584 5355/zoe@octuition.co.uk 

We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually. 

This policy was last reviewed on: 06/03/2026