Safeguarding at STEMExpress

Our Safeguarding Commitment

STEMExpress is committed to safeguarding children and young people who participate in our activities.

We aim to:

• Put the welfare of children and young people first.
• Provide a safe and respectful online learning environment.
• Use appropriately vetted tutors for roles involving children.
• Maintain clear professional boundaries between tutors and students.
• Respond appropriately to safeguarding concerns.
• Protect students' privacy and personal information.
• Keep parents and guardians appropriately informed.

Tutor Vetting

Tutors working directly with students are required to undergo appropriate recruitment and safeguarding checks for their role.

Where applicable, this includes a DBS check.

We also set expectations regarding professional behaviour, communication with students, confidentiality and appropriate conduct during online sessions.

Online Session Safety

STEMExpress sessions are delivered online in small groups.

To help maintain a safe learning environment, tutors are expected to conduct sessions through approved STEMExpress platforms and communication channels.

Students and tutors should use appropriate names, language, backgrounds and behaviour during sessions.

Private communication between tutors and students outside approved STEMExpress arrangements is not permitted.

Where communication about attendance, scheduling, performance or other administrative matters is required, parents or guardians should normally be included as appropriate.

Cameras, Microphones and Online Behaviour

Depending on the session, students may be encouraged to use their microphone and/or camera to participate effectively.

Students should join sessions from an appropriate environment wherever reasonably possible.

All participants are expected to treat each other respectfully. Bullying, discriminatory language, harassment, intimidation, inappropriate content or deliberately disruptive behaviour will not be accepted.

Where behaviour creates a safeguarding concern or significantly affects other students, STEMExpress may remove a participant from a session and contact their parent or guardian.

Recording of Sessions

STEMExpress will not routinely assume that parents or students consent to recording.

If we intend to record a session, parents/guardians and students will be informed beforehand and appropriate consent and privacy arrangements will be followed.

Students and parents should not independently record, photograph or distribute sessions or images of other participants without permission.

One-to-One Contact

Our primary model is small-group learning.

Where a tutor needs to communicate individually with a student for educational reasons, this should take place through appropriate STEMExpress arrangements and with suitable safeguarding controls.

Tutors should not establish private personal relationships with students through personal social-media accounts, private messaging services or other unauthorised channels.

Parents and Guardians

Parents and guardians play an important role in online safeguarding.

We encourage parents to know when their child is attending a STEMExpress session, ensure they have an appropriate place from which to participate and speak to us if they have any concerns about their child's experience.

For younger students in particular, we recommend that a parent or responsible adult is reasonably accessible during an online session.

Student Privacy

We only aim to collect information reasonably required to administer our programmes, communicate with parents, provide learning services and meet our safeguarding responsibilities.

Personal information will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy and applicable data-protection requirements.

Student contact information should not be shared with other students or third parties without an appropriate reason and authorisation.

Photos, Videos and Marketing

We will not use an identifiable student's photograph, video, testimonial or other personal content for STEMExpress marketing without obtaining appropriate permission.

Where the student is a child, appropriate parent or guardian consent will be sought.

Raising a Safeguarding Concern

If a student, parent, tutor or other person has a concern about the safety or welfare of a child participating in STEMExpress, they should report it as soon as possible.

Please include enough information for us to understand the concern, but avoid unnecessarily sharing sensitive information by email.

Safeguarding concerns will be taken seriously and handled as confidentially as reasonably possible. Information may need to be shared with relevant safeguarding professionals, authorities or emergency services where necessary to protect a child.