Vacancies

1. The Trust Board is committed to:

• safeguarding and promoting the welfare and safety, and the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, of children and young people;

• promoting equality of opportunity and community cohesion where the diversity of different backgrounds and circumstances is appreciated and positively valued;

• promoting the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance for those with different faiths and beliefs;

and expects all staff, volunteers and other workers to share this commitment. It is recognised that this can only be achieved through sound procedures, good inter-agency co-operation and the recruitment and retention of competent, motivated employees who are suited to, and fulfilled in the roles they undertake.

2. The Trust Board recognises the value of and seeks to achieve a diverse workforce which includes people from different backgrounds, with different skills and abilities. We are committed to ensuring that the recruitment and selection of all is conducted in a manner that is systematic, efficient, effective and promotes equality of opportunity.  Selection will be on the basis of merit and ability, assessed against the qualifications, skills and competencies required to do the job.  We will uphold obligations under law and national collective agreements to not discriminate against applicants for employment on the grounds of the protected characteristics of age, sex, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy, gender reassignment, disability or health, race(which includes colour, nationality and ethnic origin), religion or belief.  

3. We will implement robust recruitment procedures and checks for appointing staff and volunteers to ensure that reasonable steps are taken not to appoint a person who is unsuitable to work with children, or who is disqualified from working with children, or does not have the suitable skills and experience for the role.

4. We will ensure that the terms of any contract with a contractor or agency requires them to adopt and implement measures described in this procedure. We will monitor the compliance with these measures and require evidence that relevant checks have been undertaken for all workers deployed.

5. The following pre-employment checks will be required where applicable to the role and setting:

• receipt of satisfactory references

• verification of  identity

• a satisfactory DBS disclosure if undertaking Regulated Activity

• verification that you are not barred from working with Children 

• verification that you are not prohibited from teaching

• verification of medical fitness for the particular role

• verification of qualifications and of professional status where required e.g. QTS status

• the production of evidence of the right to work in the UK

• verification of successful completion of/exemption from statutory induction period

• verification that you are not subject to a section 128 direction preventing you from holding a management position within a school

• a declaration that you are not disqualified from working with children by virtue of the Childcare (Disqualification) Regulations 2018 or that you have provided a valid disqualification waiver from Ofsted

NB It is illegal for anyone who is barred from working with children to apply for or undertake Regulated Activity.

6. We will keep and maintain a single central record of recruitment and vetting checks, in line with the current DfE requirements.

7. All posts/voluntary roles that give substantial unsupervised access to children and young people are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore all shortlisted candidates will be required to declare spent and unspent convictions, cautions and bind-overs (save for those offences that are subject to filtering by the Police) and any prohibitions prior to interview.  When making a recruitment decision School will disregard any filtered convictions/cautions/reprimands which were disclosed in error.

Applicants will be required to sign a DBS consent form giving  consent for the DBS certificate to be copied and shared (within strict guidelines) for the purposes of considering suitability for employment and/or consent for an online status check to be carried out in the event that the applicant subscribes to the DBS update service.  A previously issued Disclosure and Barring Service Certificate will only be accepted in certain restricted circumstances or where you subscribe to the DBS update service and the appropriate online status checks have been satisfactory.

The Trust Board is committed to ensuring that people who have convictions / cautions / reprimands on their record are treated fairly and given every opportunity to establish their suitability for positions. Having a criminal record will not necessarily be a bar to obtaining a position, except in the case of school settings covered by the Childcare (Disqualification) Regulations 2018 where certain convictions, cautions or warnings will mean an individual is disqualified from working in that setting and will prohibit employment at the school (unless a waiver can be obtained from Ofsted).

Positive disclosures will be discussed with candidates and decisions made on a case-by-case basis taking into account the nature, seriousness and relevance to the role. The following factors will be considered in each case:

• The seriousness/level of the disclosed information e.g. was it a caution or a conviction.

• How long ago the incident(s) occurred and whether it was a one-off incident or part of a repeat history/pattern.

• The circumstances of the offence(s) being committed and any changes in the applicant’s personal circumstances since then.

• The country where the offence/caution occurred.

• Whether the individual shows or has shown genuine remorse.

• If the offences were self-disclosed or not (non-disclosure could, in itself, result in non-confirmation of employment on the grounds of trust, honesty and openness). 

This Trust Board operates in accordance with The Disclosure and Barring Service Code of Practice in relation to the processing, handling and security of Disclosure information.

8. In line with recommended practice in the statutory guidance “Keeping Children Safe in Education", the school will conduct searches for information on shortlisted candidates which is publicly available on-line.  The purpose is limited:

•  to identify issues which call into question the applicant’s suitability to work with children;

•  to verify employment history.

Only information related the purposes stated will be shared with the Panel.  Any information will be discussed with candidates at interview before any decisions regarding the recruitment process are made. 

9. The school processes personal data collected during the recruitment process in accordance with its data protection policy.  Data is held securely and accessed by, and disclosed to, individuals only for the purposes of completing the recruitment process. On the conclusion of the process, data collected will be held in accordance with the school’s retention schedule.

A copy of our Recruitment Procedure is available upon request.