Staying safe in out-of-school settings - information for clubs, organisations and providers

What is an out-of-school setting?

An out-of-school setting is an organisation or setting which provides tuition, training, instruction or activities to children in England without their parents’ or carers’ supervision. This does not include schools or colleges which are registered by the Department for Education.

Some examples of out-of-school settings are:

• tuition centres and supplementary schools (sometimes called complementary schools)
• extracurricular clubs or settings such as ballet or music classes, drama or sports classes
• uniformed youth organisations like the Scouts, Guides and Cadet groups
• open access youth providers such as centre based and detached youth work
• private language schools, including those for children coming from abroad
• religious settings which offer education in their own faith

There may be many other types of out of school settings in Bradford District that are not mentioned in the above list.

What does an out-of-school setting do?

Many young people participate in some form of organised activity outside school during their primary and secondary school years.

Out-of-school settings offer an important service to young people, providing enriching activities that improve their wellbeing and cultural awareness, build self-esteem, and encourage them to become active citizens within their community.

Safeguarding children is everybody’s responsibility.

Parents who send their child to an out of school setting will feel more confident and reassured if they can clearly see how you protect children.

As a minimum you should have policies on

• Health and safety
• Safeguarding and child protection, including online digital safety
• Staff and volunteers who are suitable to work with children and young people and have undergone DBS checks

Government guidance

The Department for Education has published guidance for providers of clubs, tuition and activities for children. The guidance includes a code of practice for providers to help them understand their safeguarding obligations, based on current legal requirements and what is considered to be good safeguarding practice.

We know that providers will want to ensure they are creating a safe environment for the children in their care, and so we are encouraging them to review the code to check that their setting meets the standards outlined in each of its four sections: Health and Safety, Child Protection and Safeguarding, Suitability of Staff and Volunteers, and Governance.

The Department for Education has also published guidance for parents and carers to help them choose a safe setting for their child. Providers should proactively speak to parents about safeguarding, and welcome any questions parents may have about their policies.

Staying safe

Bradford Council wants to ensure that all out-of-school settings are a safe place for our young people, regardless of whether they are doing language tuition at a centre or playing football at a local sports centre.

Whilst there is excellent local practice, the Council is working to make sure we keep all young people safe by:

• ensuring all premises are safe
• ensuring all staff including volunteers are suitable to work with young people

Tell us about your out-of-school setting

Whilst our focus is on children and young people we also want to support adults working or volunteering at an out of school setting to ensure all are safe and secure.

We would like to know what out-of-school setting provision is on offer in the Bradford District. This will help us to provide support, advice and training sessions for staff and volunteers.

Bradford Council can offer:

• advice and support
• free training in relation to keeping young people safe and advice for staff
• advice to parents and carers to help them to make informed decisions when considering using an out of school setting
• opportunity to gain a local authority quality mark
• staff and volunteers can access the DBS service through Bradford Council

Contact us

Email: EdSafeTeam@bradford.gov.uk
Telephone: 01274 437043