a child's muddy hand holding a small metal compass

Safeguarding

We are deeply committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people in the educational settings where we work

Safeguarding and child protection

We believe all children and young people have the right to learn in a safe and caring environment. This includes the right to protection from all types of abuse. Trustees, staff, tutors and those in a position of trust who represent the organisation must do everything possible to foster these rights. We take seriously our responsibility towards safeguarding all young people who engage with us, with the focus being on their safety and welfare.

Policies

We have a comprehensive set of policies in place (see links below), including a robust safeguarding policy created in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024 (KCSiE2024). We have a dedicated guidance document for the delivery of online tuition, to reflect the importance of safeguarding mechanisms when working with young people using online platforms. As well as being accessible to all interested parties on this page, the policies are also readily available to tutors and staff via the relevant internal training/resource platforms.

Disclosure and Barring

We work closely with schools and colleges to ensure our tuition is delivered safely. All staff and tutors receive an Enhanced DBS check and training in safeguarding and child protection before being allowed to represent Tutor Trust in an educational setting. We hold introductory meetings with all our partner education providers, before tuition begins, where the safeguarding policies and procedures of that school, college, or alternative provision setting are outlined.

Training

We ensure that all new staff undergo safeguarding and child protection training at induction. Training is updated regularly. In addition, all staff receive regular safeguarding and child protection updates as required (for example, via email, every staff or trustee meeting), and, at least annually, we provide them with updated training to enable them to safeguard children effectively.

We ensure that all tutors have undertaken and completed the relevant training before placement in their roles. Safeguarding training is delivered online, and Tutor Trust awaits evidence of completion before tutors can take on work. Training covers, as a minimum:

  • Safeguarding and Child Protection – tutors complete training supplied by TES/Educare, in addition to training on our safeguarding procedures
  • Prevent Duty, covering extremism and radicalisation
  • Annual refresher training is compulsory for all returning tutors, the training incorporates all relevant changes to KCSIE for that academic year. This must be completed before a tutor takes on new work.

Questions?

If you have questions or concerns about how we run or handle safeguarding these can be directed to Tutor Trust's Designated Safeguarding Lead, Jason Heaford. Please call him on 0161 833 3055 or email him directly

The trustee overseeing safeguarding is Lucy Crompton.

Our policies

Please find below our policies relating to safeguarding. These include our Safeguarding Policy, Remote Tutoring Safeguarding Guidance, Guidance on Behaviour and Conduct for Tutors and Whistleblowing Policy:

Meet our Safeguarding Team

Jason Heaford

Chief Operating Officer and Designated Safeguarding Lead

Jason Heaford

Chief Operating Officer and Designated Safeguarding Lead

Jason joined Tutor Trust in 2014 after spending 15 years leading early years provisions within the Stockport area. Jason is a member of the Senior Management Team, and his main responsibilities now include leading People and Culture, Safeguarding, and Business Operations teams.

Jason began his working life as a professional footballer, most notably with Derby County FC 

Jason says: "Alongside working with like-minded people who are passionate, hardworking, and talented, I enjoy the fact that no two days are alike in carrying out my role - I have a very varied in-tray! Ultimately, playing a role in transforming lives through tutoring of so many young people provides me with the greatest satisfaction of all. Long may Tutor Trust continue to champion support to those who need it most!"     

Joanne Meredith, Director of Tutoring Plus, enjoys being part of a team that makes such a difference to young people's lives. Jo has shoulder length blonde hair and is wearing a black jumper. She is smiling at the camera.

Jo Meredith

Director of Tutoring Plus and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Joanne Meredith, Director of Tutoring Plus, enjoys being part of a team that makes such a difference to young people's lives. Jo has shoulder length blonde hair and is wearing a black jumper. She is smiling at the camera.

Jo Meredith

Director of Tutoring Plus and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

After graduating from Bangor University Jo began her career as a teacher of Chemistry. Jo has over 20 years’ experience in senior leadership across Greater Manchester and Lancashire including Headship, with wide-ranging involvement in both mainstream and Alternative Provision settings.

Having worked in senior positions in both mainstream and Alternative Provision settings across Greater Manchester, Jo is well placed to lead and drive the quality of our tutoring programmes within our Tutoring Plus offer.

Jo is the Director of Tutoring Plus, which provides a bespoke service of one-to-one tutoring and other supportive interventions for children and young people with even greater barriers to overcome than their peers. This may include cared-for children, those at risk of exclusion, those excluded, and children and young people not attending school regularly. 

Jo is also the Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Jo says: "The Mission and Values of Tutor Trust align perfectly with my own and this is what drew me to working with Tutor Trust initially. However, this has strengthened and developed as we have grown. It is so rewarding to know that you are part of a team of like-minded colleagues all working together to make a difference to the lives of children and young people who need it most."

Lewis Howell

Risk Manager and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

Lewis Howell

Risk Manager and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

Lewis joined Tutor Trust in March 2014 as a Schools Coordinator and worked across both the Manchester and Leeds schools teams, including leading the original Leeds tuition pilot. In Spring 2022 Lewis moved across to the newly created role of Risk Manager covering various operational areas including Safeguarding, Health & Safety, and Data Protection. Lewis is also one of Tutor Trust's Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads.

Before to joining the charity, Lewis had spent the previous two-and-a-half years working in South Africa’s Kalahari Desert. Lewis was the Field Project Manager at the Kalahari Meerkat Project for 18 months, a behavioural research project run by the University of Cambridge looking at the evolution of cooperative breeding in meerkats.  He was responsible for managing both the day-to-day research of the project and the team of international volunteers who collected the data. Prior to this, Lewis was one of the research volunteers for 12 months.

Lewis graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 2010, having studied Wildlife Conservation.

Lewis says: “I have always enjoyed working at Tutor Trust. The mission is vital and necessary; we’re making a difference and we’re very good at what we do to boot! Just as importantly, I’m surrounded by people who care and help to create a wonderful working environment.”

Steff Wardell

Merseyside and West Yorkshire Strategic Operations Manager & Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

Steff Wardell

Merseyside and West Yorkshire Strategic Operations Manager & Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

Steff joined Tutor Trust in 2018 as the first full-time member of staff for Merseyside. She had graduated from the University of Leeds the previous year with an MA in Race and Resistance and a BA in International History and Politics. During her studies, Steff was a part-time Secondary English and Primary tutor in Leeds. Seeing the impact small group intervention had on the pupils is why she joined Tutor Trust full-time.

Steff has worked in a variety of roles with us, including Liverpool Schools Coordinator, Merseyside Schools Manager, Merseyside Schools Partnership Manager and now Merseyside and West Yorkshire Strategic Operations Manager, where she is responsible for operations across Merseyside and West Yorkshire.  Steff is a member of Tutor Trust's digital working group as she is keen to be involved in driving the organisation forward into a digital future. Steff also sits on Tutor Trust's Equity, Diversity & Inclusion committee and participates in the Wellbeing group (alongside being a Mental Health First Responder trained to help with staff wellbeing). She is also a & Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead. Outside of Tutor Trust, Steff is on the governing board of a large Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) school in Knowsley, the borough where she attended school.

Steff says: “I grew up in a community similar to those we work in, and my experience of school when I was growing up in Merseyside is a key reason why I became committed to working in the education sector and improving educational equality in the North West. Tutor Trust allows me to do that, and I am privileged to work with such a committed team and amazing school partners, who share a common purpose in making education fairer.”