For successful recruitment, it is important to plan the whole process from the outset. This will ensure that sufficient time is allowed between each stage so that applicants are given essential and focussed information about the school and the post they are applying for. This is to deter unsuitable people from applying for the role. It is essential to identify the people that will be involved in the recruitment process and what their responsibilities will be. Additionally, timescales will need to be planned to ensure that there is sufficient time to obtain references, give applicants enough time to prepare for the interview and carry out other pre-employment checks before the successful applicant starts with the organisation. The time and planning spent at this stage can reduce the risk of making an unsuitable appointment

The recruitment process should consist of:

Reviewing role profiles and ensuring that they are up to date and that they make reference to the responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children

Ensuring that the person specification includes specific reference to suitability to work with children

Advertising the vacancy in the appropriate media  Using application forms to obtain and scrutinise comprehensive information about applicants

Shortlisting against essential criteria for the role to ensure the best applicants are interviewed

Ensuring references are obtained that help assess applicants suitability for the post through specific focussed questions

Conducting face to face interviews that ask appropriately robust questions that ensure their suitability to work with children

Verification of applicant’s identity

Verification of qualifications and skills

Verification of an applicant’s previous employment history and experience.

Verification of the employees Right to Work in the UK

Completion of appropriate mandatory employment checks via the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. It replaces the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).

DBS are responsible for:

Processing for criminal records checks (DBS checks)

Deciding whether it is appropriate for a person to be placed on or removed from a barred list and adults’ barred list for England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Verification that the applicant has the health and capacity to carry out the role by completion of the Occupational Health requirements for all appointed candidates.

Induction programmes that ensure a “safeguarding children” culture is adopted and embedded into continuing practice

Probationary Period

Teachers Induction (Induction for Newly Qualified Teachers)

For teachers – prohibition orders

What is a Prohibition Order? - A prohibition order means that the individual concerned is not allowed to undertake unsupervised teaching work in schools, or other set-ups defined under the regulations. Once an individual is prohibited, their details will appear on a Prohibited List, which is administered by the National College for Teaching & Leadership (NCTL) and can be accessed by current and future employers, free of charge.

The role profile for the post should give a clear description of the main purpose or function of the role/volunteer role

For teaching staff, the role profile will need to be built around the duties and responsibilities defined in the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD). Generic profiles can be drawn up with specialist areas of responsibility defined as a supplement to the main role profile e.g. Curriculum Leader, Year Leader, SENCO etc.

For support staff, schools should use evaluated model role profiles, where available, to adapt as necessary to reflect local needs when duties have changed significantly.

New roles or roles which do not match an already evaluated role should be submitted to the Job Evaluation Team to be evaluated using the job evaluation scheme, this will ensure that the correct grade is allocated to match the responsibilities and duties of the role, therefore, ensuring against equal pay claims.

All role profiles, where the post holder is in contact with children, should detail the individual’s responsibility for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young persons and should include the following statement:

“Milton Keynes Council (MKC) is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults. All employees are expected to share this commitment, to follow the Council’s safeguarding policies and procedures Safer Recruitment Schools Toolkit - FV4.0 - June 2020 5 and to behave appropriately towards children and vulnerable adults at all times, both in work and in their personal lives.”

The person specification should detail the qualifications, skills and experience along with any other requirements to undertake the role. This should be based on information within the role profile and the conditions applying to the post.

The person specification is crucial in that it will help shape how the recruitment process is conducted. It is essential to separate these features into essential and desirable categories.

Time spent on the production of a full, carefully prepared and objective person specification will invariably avoid later difficulties in interpreting and applying vague and unclear requirements.

The role profile is the document against which the competence of the applicants is measured. It is, therefore, vital that these documents are accurate and reflect the required competencies, skills and experience that are needed for the role.

If the recruitment decision is challenged it will prove difficult to defend such a challenge without an accurate and comprehensive person specification.

Advertising

All vacancies should be advertised to ensure equality of opportunity and a safeguarding commitment. All adverts should include the statement “This Post is Subject to Safer Recruitment” and, “Where Relevant, an Enhanced DBS with Barring Check is required for this Post”. This may be an internal only advertisement, external of the MKC website or in other media. When the need arises to advertise a post, it is recommended that the following information is included in an advert:

Role Title, detailing key stage or subject specialism if appropriate

Hours per week

Salary (clarifying whether actual or FTE) including any additional allowances payable

Whether the role is fixed term or permanent (specify duration if fixed term)

Whether the post is term time, term time + x weeks, or all year round

Likely start date for position

Brief description of the school/ department/team

Brief description of role

Any experience, qualities or qualifications required for the role

Interview dates (if known)

Closing date for advert

Who to contact for an informal discussion/school visit/ more details about the post

School website address  Full school address including postcode and telephone number

Safeguarding statement 4.2 Information will not need to be included that is already contained in the role profile and person specification however; the advert content should be consistent with Safer Recruitment Schools Toolkit - FV4.0 - June 2020 6 these documents.

The school must explicitly state its commitment to safeguarding children. The following safeguarding statement (or similar) should be included in all adverts and correspondence to applicants: “MKC is committed to making sure that everyone living in Milton Keynes is safe and protected and that our specific statutory responsibilities to safeguard children and vulnerable adults are effectively met.

Safeguarding children and adults from abuse is everybody’s business. We all share a responsibility, both corporately and individually, to ensure that every person in society is treated with dignity and respect and protected from others who may abuse them. All school employees, elected members and contractors who come into contact with children or vulnerable adults in the course of their work have a duty of care to safeguard and promote their welfare and to work to prevent, detect and report neglect and abuse.”

The Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB) has responsibility for working together to oversee the safety and well-being of children and young people in Milton Keynes. Find out more about the LSCB.

The Candidate Information pack/advert should include:

Application form

A detailed role profile

Details about grade and type of post e.g. Is it fixed term, part time etc.

Details of key terms and conditions of employment e.g. term time only, holiday entitlement

Information about the recruitment and selection process i.e. interview dates or details of observations, interview tasks etc.

Safeguarding statement

MKC is an equal opportunities employer. The aim of the Equalities Policy is to ensure that no job applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of race, colour, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, age, religion or any disability nor is disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justifiable.