Angie Punaks, BWY Ethics, Equity & Welfare Manager writes:

CHILD PROTECTION - FOR THE ATTENTION OF ALL BWY TEACHERS

Adult Classes with Under-18-year-old Students
My Summer Spectrum article mentioned that BWY was developing an Agreement/Consent Form for teachers to use with parents/student where the student attending the adult class is under the age of 18. This is to ensure that there is clear understanding between teacher, parent and student of the conditions under which the young person attends the class. The Agreement/Consent Form is now available as a template for editing to suit your individual circumstances. The form can be downloaded off the website (www.bwy.org.uk following the links About the Wheel, Child Protection and Equity) or you can obtain a printed version by contacting me (details below). My sincere thanks to the BWY teacher who provided the original template.

Portability of Enhanced Disclosures (EDs)
Since April 2006 the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) who process the EDs are no longer accepting "portability". This means that one organisation cannot accept an ED for an individual from another organisation as this has proved to have limitations and hold risks. Sometimes the local police provide Additional Information which is accompanied alongside the ED; it may or may not be made available to the individual. The original organisation CANNOT legally pass on this information to the second organisation. The Additional Information could contain details which would indicate that it is not appropriate for the individual to work with under 18-year-olds.

For this reason, from September 2006 BWY will no longer be accepting EDs from another organisation. We will be asking that teachers obtain a renewed ED through our own Umbrella Organisation, Lloyd Education.

Enhanced Disclosure Details
A reminder please for teachers teaching under 18-year-olds to contact me (if you have not already done so) with details of your Enhanced Disclosure’s DATE OF ISSUE and DISCLOSURE NUMBER. Thank you. The Enhanced Disclosure will need renewing 3 years after date of issue.

EQUITY POLICY - Addition
Please include "The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006" under Legal Requirements (p2) of the Equity Policy. These Regulations take effect from 1 October 2006.

It has been good to speak to so many of you over these last few months and, from your comments, I know you are finding the contact useful. So for all teachers and members, if you have any queries on either Child Protection or Equity, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Angie Punaks - BWY Ethics, Equity & Welfare Manager
Tel: 01394 446054 email: CP and Equity