Out of School Settings

Out of School Settings

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.

What is an OoSS?

An out of school setting (OoSS), 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 an OoSS are:

• Tuition centres and supplementary school is (sometimes called a complementary school)
• 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 school, including those for children coming from abroad
• Religious settings which offer education in their own faith
• There may be many other types of OoSS in Bradford District that are not mentioned in the above list.

Bradford Council can offer OoSS:

• Advice and support for providers regarding policies and procedures for safeguarding
• 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 OoSS
• Opportunity to gain a joint local authority quality mark
• All staff and volunteers can access the DBS (Disclosure Barring Service) service through Bradford Council

Please email EdSafeTeam@bradford.gov.uk if you would like support and advice for your Out of School Setting or if you have any concerns.

Lead Officer Out of School Activities and Safeguarding: Salim Akhtar

Safeguarding Support for Faith Based Settings

Faith-based groups and places of worship play a major role in the lives of many children and young people in the district. This means safeguarding must be a key consideration in all faith settings.

We look at how to approach safeguarding from within the beliefs, teachings and cultural context of faith communities.

The NSPCC have produced resources to support faith based groups with Safeguarding, which includes films on safeguarding in different faiths.

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.