Safeguarding
National Society for Education is firmly committed to the protection of children, young people and vulnerable adults and will take all reasonable steps to keep safe all those who come into contact with our organisation. As one of the National Church Institutions (NCIs), we work with the National Safeguarding Team and our trustees to ensure safer recruitment practice, relevant and up to date safeguarding training for all staff, clear procedures for all interactions with children and robust mechanisms for reporting.
National Society Safeguarding Statement
While the Church of England has a long-standing relationship with its schools and supports them through Diocesan Boards of Education in areas such as Christian ethos, governance, and religious education, these schools are part of the state education system. They are fully accountable to the Department for Education, Ofsted, and local authority safeguarding arrangements with statutory responsibility for safeguarding. The Church does not run these schools in an operational sense, nor is it responsible for their safeguarding arrangements.
Our work in educational and child-led worshipping spaces does give us a unique position within the wider National Church Institutions. We take very seriously the need to ensure our interactions with children and young people are undertaken as safely as possible. Therefore, we have outlined our NSE-specific approach to safeguarding in this supplementary Safeguarding Statement, which sits under the NCIs’ policy above.
We also commit to using our voice to advocate for the safety and wellbeing of children and young people wherever possible. ‘Ensuring our children are kept safely from harm and educated in an environment where all God’s children are valued is of the highest priority’ (Church of England Vision for Education).