Kate HD Tuition
Academic success attainable for all, regardless of financial circumstances or previous performance. 

              Policies and Procedures

Katehd tuition

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Maidstone Road

Horsmonden

TN12 8NE

01892 722545

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We are based in Horsmonden in a private home. We can be contacted by: 

PHONE: Kate - 01892 722545. 

EMAIL:: kthd@talk21.com

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1. Opening Times

We currently operate five afternoons and evenings a week – Monday to Friday from 3.30pm till 6.30pm. Weekends by arrangement. Daytime sessions can be discussed. Day time Flexi too.

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2. Teaching and Learning Policy

We take care to provide activities that use equipment appropriate to the age, ability and stage of development of the students, which will stimulate their interest and encourage investigation as well as enabling the students to practice existing skills and to build on those skills to acquire new ones.

We are aware of the importance of reflecting all members of society, the local community and society in general in a positive way.  

 

3.

3.1 Staffing Policy

We always have one tutor present with the students at any one time. When additional tutors are involved we have regular meetings to review our programme, plan future activities and monitor progress. Any tutors we use are DBS checked, experienced and qualified teachers, who update their skills through relevant training.

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3.2 Uncollected Students Policy

At K & G Tuition we expect students to be picked up on time. If this does not occur we will assume an emergency has caused the delay and will instigate our procedure, unless parents contact us to let us know that they will be delayed.

For Students who are not collected within 30 minutes the Tutor will:

   Call the parents on given contact numbers, if no one is available, they:

   Call the emergency contact numbers.

 

Lost Students

If the unthinkable happens and a child goes missing while in our care, the person in charge will:

   Contact the parents to inform them.

   Instigate a search of the premises/area without causing undue panic amongst the other students.

   If the child is not on the premises/area, widen the search to surrounding areas.

   If the child is still not found, contact the police to conduct a full search.

   Maintain correct adult: child ratios.

   Review security procedures after the event.

   Inform all relevant parties of findings, implications and outcomes of review

 

3.3 Emergency Closure Policy

There may be some occasion when we may have to operate an ‘Emergency Closure’. If this should ever happen, we would follow the procedure as outlined below:

   Parents of all students to be contacted and second contact person contacted if no reply.

   Parents advised to collect students by specific time.

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Fire Safety Policy

We will go through fire drill procedure on your first visit and then on one week per term. An entry will be made in the register saying when these were held, together with a note of how long it took to evacuate the premises.

If a fire is discovered or reported:

   Raise the alarm by shouting FIRE loudly.

   Evacuate the students by the nearest available exit:

   Call fire brigade.

   Only re-enter building when instructed to do so by the fire brigade.

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3.4 Outings and Visits Policy

Staffing Levels

K & G Tuition adheres to the standard criteria of one adult to two students for outings and visits. Qualified staff will be responsible on outings if parents or volunteers make up part of the adult contingent.

 

Plan of Activities

We are committed to plan and show how the outing fits into the overall curriculum plan, how activities are to be done during the outing and the follow up activities on return to the group. This will ensure maximum opportunities are available to promote and develop students’ learning.

 

Risk Assessment

Before taking the students on any outing, a member of staff or committee will visit the venue and carry out a risk assessment for the journey and location.

 

Parental Permission

A consent form will be completed by parents, giving the responsible person authority for their child whilst on the outing.

 

Emergency Procedures

Contact telephone numbers for parents will be taken. A mobile phone, fully charged, will be carried at all times. If an accident requiring medical assistance occurs to a child, the parent will be asked to meet their child and a member of staff at the nearest hospital.

 

Information

List of students, parents, phone numbers, special needs

First Aid kit and any necessary medication, accident book

Spare clothes, plastic bags

Activity plan

Timetable, including time expected home

 

This information will also be kept at the setting, along with the mobile phone number.

 

3.5 Safety

Health and Hygiene Policies

K & G aims to provide a safe, healthy and hygienic environment for students and adults.

In order to avoid the risk of accidents we maintain safety by following these procedures:

   Students will always be supervised by a responsible member of staff and will be supervised when using the kitchen area. Hazardous materials are kept safely and securely within teaching areas.

   The beginning and end of sessions will be closely monitored and students will be marked at the time they arrive and leave. Students will only leave with a known authorised adult whose name has been provided by the parents or whom the parents have designated to collect their child that day, by signing the collection register.

   Adults and visitors will also be entered on the register.

   Safety checks will be carried out on the premises, both indoors and outdoors before every session.

   Fire extinguishers will be checked annually; adults will know how to use them.

   Fire drills will be carried out at least once per term and recorded – see policy.

   The adults in the setting will know procedures for fire/evacuation drills.

   All adults involved will know the procedures for entrances and exits and adhere to these at all times.

   Windows, sockets, heaters, potentially dangerous materials and layout of activities and equipment (indoors and outdoors) will be closely supervised to remove or minimise hazards.

   At least one member of staff at each session will have First Aid training for students and babies.

   Every adult will know the location of the First Aid box and accident book.

   The First Aid box will contain the following as given in the guidance in The Health & Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981: Sterile adhesive dressing (individually wrapped) 40; eyepad – sterile 4; triangular bandage – sterile 4; safety pins 12; scissors; tweezers; sterile water; medium dressing – sterile 8; large dressing – sterile 4; non-allergic waterproof adhesive tape; disposable gloves; accident book.

 

Standard Health Procedures

In order to avoid risks to health, K & G Tuition always follows these health procedures:

   Activities will take account of students’ health needs – dietary and physical.

   No smoking will be allowed on the premises.

   Parents will be required to keep students at home if they have an infectious disease or vomiting and diarrhea.

   Cuts and open sores will be covered with a waterproof plaster.

   Parents will be informed if there are any infectious diseases which may affect other students or their parents.

 

Standard Hygiene Procedures

In order to avoid the spread of infection at K & G Tuition, we maintain personal hygiene by following these standard hygiene procedures:

   Everyone washes their hands after using the toilet.

   Individual paper towels will be available and disposed of hygienically.

   We encourage students by example and by word, to cover their mouths when coughing.

   Open cuts and sores will be covered with waterproof dressings

   Hands are always washed before preparing food

   Raw fruit and vegetables are always washed before eating

   Food is stored correctly

   Different cleaning cloths are used for kitchen and toilet areas

   Cloths for drying crockery and hands are clean and hygienic

   If a child has an accident, which results in bleeding or vomit, the following procedure will be followed:

   Disposable gloves will be worn.

   The wound will be washed with soap and water.

   A suitable dressing applied.

   Blood-stained tissues or waste paper will be wrapped in a plastic bag and disposed of separately to other waste

   Blood splashes to be washed off the skin with hot soapy water.

   Area affected by blood, vomit, urine or faeces to be cleaned with diluted household bleach.

   Waste cleaning materials to be put in plastic bag also for disposal.

   Clothes, soft toys or soft furnishings stained by body fluids will be washed with hot water and detergent.

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Special notes on HIV/AIDS

K & G Tuition follows the hygiene policy when dealing with accidents resulting in bleeding or vomiting or in cases of diarrhoea.

No one has the right to know if another person is HIV positive or has AIDS.

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3.6 Medicine

Parents will administer prescribed medicines where possible. When the setting is to administer medicines the following procedures will be followed:

   Only management and/or qualified staff will administer medicine.

   All medication will be stored in its original container, clearly labelled and inaccessible to students.

   Medication will only be administered if it has been prescribed 48 hours previously by a doctor and treatment started at home.

   A prior consent form must be completed and signed by parents.

   A medication administer form to be completed each time medication is issued, to include dosage, name of medication, time of administration, person administering & witness to procedure.

   Asthma medications to be held with the student at all times.

   Epipens to be kept within immediate vicinity of student, clearly labelled.

   Parent to sign the medication form when the child is collected

 

3.7 Ill Students

 

When a student becomes ill at our setting, our policy is to send the child home to ensure the child has his/her needs met in the most appropriate setting and to protect other students and adults from the risk of infection.

Parents will always be advised to seek the advice of a medical practitioner.

Where staff are concerned about a child’s condition deteriorating, e.g., suspected meningitis, they will take the child directly to hospital and seek medical guidance.

 

Infections Diseases and Illnesses Policy

There are certain infectious diseases that will result in the child being excluded from the group – these are listed below.

If a child is found to have an infectious disease/illness and is present at the group, a member of staff will contact the child’s parent/guardian and ask them to remove the child from the session.

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3.8 Managing Students’s Behaviour Policy

K & G Tuition aims to provide a stimulating range of learning experiences and activities.  We recognise that busy students are less likely to behave in an unacceptable or antisocial way. We recognise the need to set reasonable and appropriate limits which all the adults will maintain in the management of students’s behaviour.

We do not administer physical punishment or punishment which causes pain or humiliation to a child. We recognise the importance of the adult’s behaviour as a role model for the students and will not allow bullying in the form of physical or verbal abuse towards anyone.

We endorse positive discipline as an effective way to set limits and manage behaviour in our setting. In order to do this we follow this procedure:

   Encourage and praise good behaviour and reward when appropriate.

   Encourage self-discipline and respect for others.

   Set realistic limits according to the student’s age and stage of development.

   Ensure tutors set a good example.

   Encourage students, not order them – explaining why, will teach a child for another time.

   Actively build students’s self-esteem at every opportunity.

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3.8 Safeguarding Policy – Designated Lead Kate Hart Dyke.

 

K & G Tuition plans to provide an environment which ensures students are safe from potential abuse including bullying and will respond to any suspicion of potential abuse in a way which respects the child’s rights and reinforces the adult’s responsibilities to the students.  This Child Protection Policy fits within the legal framework of The Students’s Act 1999, The Protection of Students Act 1999, The Human Rights Act 1998, the Sexual Offences (Amendments) Act 2000, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

 

In order to do this we:

Ensure that all adults working in the setting are aware of the fact that such work is exempt from the provision laid down in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

Require all potential workers to provide references, attend an interview, sign an agreement to be police checked for police records or cautioning and to work for a probationary period.

Provide an induction programme for new tutors, which includes child protection responsibilities.

Offer on-going training to all adults involved with the care and education of students, which will help them to recognise and respond to suspected abuse of students whether physical, emotional, sexual or as a result of neglect.

Provide activities within a planned curriculum that will enable students to develop an understanding of personal safety, and opportunities to express their fears and anxieties.

Never allow an unregistered adult to be alone with a child or students.

Have clearly set our procedures, which all adults will be aware of to respond to concerns of suspected abuse.

Recognise that parents should always be involved in the monitoring of students’s behaviour or development and should be the first point of contact (except in the case of sexual abuse).

Keep an ongoing record of observations of significant changes in students’s behaviour or appearance, which will be written down and kept confidential.

Will have a designated person - Kate Hart Dyke to whom all concerns will be referred.

We will ensure all adults know who to contact within the setting and what to do if that person does not carry out their responsibility for the child’s well-being.

Work with the Social Services, Police and NSPCC to ensure the child’s best interests are met.

We will, wherever possible, continue to support and work with the child’s family to maintain continuity of care for the child.

All details of concerns, progress, case conferences, etc., are confidential and will not be discussed with anyone not authorised to have this information.

Code of Behaviour for Staff 

 

We have a Code of Behaviour for tutors and in respect to physical contact as follows:

1. Appropriate Conduct and Relationships

All staff should:

  Avoid initiating physical contact with students.

  Avoid physical expression of emotion such as kissing or hugging.

  Avoid and discourage intrusive forms of play such as tickling or rough and tumble. If physical contact is offered by a child, cease it as soon as possible without making a child feel rejected.

  Avoid any physical contact with a child when alone.

While we follow these measures to protect both the students and staff, we are aware that due to the young age of some of the students, there may be occasions when they are distressed and may need comforting physically. This should be done using the least body contact possible.

 

2. Relationships Built on Respect

The relationship between staff and students is based on mutual respect and understanding. Excessive shouting or any use of an insult to a child is regarded as a form of abuse. We expect the tutors to model this behaviour at all times in their relationship with other personnel and the parents of our students. All employees should be expected to contribute and take responsibility to ensure a positive working environment and to conduct themselves accordingly.

3. Procedure for Abuse or Suspected Abuse

Our Nominated Child Protection Representative is Kate Hart-Dyke (telephone number: 01892-722545).  

Should it be suspected that a child is being abused:

   Record observations, and speak to the Nominated Child Protection Representative (NCPR).

   If the NCPR feels that no more corroboration is necessary, they will report concerns to social services.

Otherwise, the NCPR will have confidential discussions with other workers and observations will be shared.  The NCPR may then contact social services at this stage, or continue to maintain records and make observations, until they are satisfied regarding the abuse status. 

When a child protection concern arises, the NCPR will record observations on a Record of Concern.  These will be kept in a locked cabinet or drawer.  Access is limited to only the NCPR and Chair of the setting.  The following lists the information on the Record of Concern:

 

Name of child

Child’s address

Name of parent/carer(s)

Phone numbers of above

What is said to have happened or what was seen?

When and where did it occur?

Who else, if anyone, was involved and how?

What was said by those involved?

Were there any obvious signs, e.g. bruising, bleeding, changed behaviour?

Was the child able to say what happened, if so, how did they describe it?

Who as been told about it and when?

Do the parents know?

Signature of person filling the record

Date of record

 

Safe Recruitment Procedures

All volunteers and temporary tutors are subject to a careful selection and vetting process that includes the following:

Completion of an application form

Checking a persons identity (using photo identification)

Taking up references

Interview (by at least two persons)

Identifying reasons and/or gaps in employment or inconsistencies

Obtaining full disclosure from CRB

Allowing no unsupervised access to students until the above is achieved

 

Requirements for Staff Training

Basic training and induction courses are run for staff/new staff as required.  These sessions include:

Basic definitions of abuse

Signs of abuse

Behaviour of abusers

What to do if someone tells you they are being abused

What to do if you suspect abuse

 

In addition, the NCPR receives special training as they have particular responsibility.

 

GDPR and K & G Tuition Photography Policy

 

With Child Protection in mind, no parent, carer or person not employed by K & G Tuition Pis authorised to take digital photographs or videos of students within the setting.

Parents / Carers sign a contract when their child joins which states:

 

“I agree that staff may take photographs of my child to display in the group setting only or on the website (delete as necessary)”

 

Parents

Should one parent / carer state a concern regarding the above, digital photography of this nature will be banned until that child leaves K & G. All records are kept securely locked away. Parents and carers sign to authorise K & G to store their data.

 

 

3.9 Equal Opportunities

 

At K & G Tuition we aim to acknowledge and value each child’s individual stage, ability, culture, religion, language and family group. We recognise that parents are young students’s first educators and welcome their involvement in our setting in order to ensure that the students’s home-based learning and the learning opportunities we offer extend and reinforce each other. We actively seek to combat sexism and promote equal opportunities for girls and boys, women and men.

 

To enable us to do this, we follow the procedure below:

Information, written and spoken, will be clearly communicated in as many languages as necessary.

The medical, cultural and dietary needs of students, families and adults working in the setting will be met.

Our planning programme will incorporate and extend the students’s experience and knowledge of other cultures, languages and celebrations.

We will ensure that the activities reflect the diversity of our society not just our setting.

We encourage students to explore in a positive way the differences and diversity of people by ensuring the representation of people are accurate and realistic, i.e., dolls, puppets.

Discriminatory behaviour or remarks are unacceptable in our setting and will be challenged. We will respond in a way that is sensitive to the feelings of the victim and help those responsible to understand and overcome their prejudices.

We seek to enable adults with disabilities to take part in our setting where it is safe and reasonable to do so.

 

3.10 Special Needs

 

K & G Tuition has used the DfES Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Education Needs to devise a policy and procedures which will ensure all students have the appropriate opportunities to learn using different styles (kineasthetic, audio, visual etc) appropriate to each child and the task and that all families will feel welcome. 

 

Our procedure for this is as follows:

Consultation between parents, manager and key worker will plan the settling in programme for each individual child.

Students’s progress and needs will be monitored by carefully planned methods of observation by all staff and will be shared with parents, taking into account information given by parents.

For each child we will take a close interest in their progress and individual needs and will work one-to-one with the child if extra support is required.

Students’s specific needs will be monitored, supported and reviewed by the staff in consultation with other professionals including speech therapists, psychologists, paediatricians, social workers and health visitors.

Staff will attend relevant training to ensure they keep up-to-date with the requirements of all students with special needs and regarding specific conditions and disabilities.

Students’s right to privacy will be maintained while carrying out personal hygiene activities by ensuring other students and adults are not able to observe the child.

 

3.11 Parental Involvement

 

Parents are the most significant person in a young child’s life, our setting intends to work with parents, supporting, encouraging and reinforcing best practice and guiding or advising when parents ask for suggestions of ways of caring and coping with students. In order to do this we:

Ensure all parents know about our aims and policies including complaints procedures.

Encourage parents to become actively involved in the setting.

Give feedback on their child’s progress, using specific examples of achievement or behaviour.

Listen to comments about their child’s progress.

Ensure times, places and information about meetings is available to all 

In the interest of child protection we make it a strict policy that no parent should be left alone with a child/students, other than their own, during a session without a member of staff being present in the room.

 

3.12 Confidentiality

 

Information received by the setting is often confidential. To maintain parent’s confidence in our professional approach to this information, K & G Tuition ensures:

All parents can see the details kept about their child and themselves at any time.

Parents will not be given access to the information kept on other students.

Feedback given to parents on their child’s progress will be given directly to the parents unless they state that a third party can be involved, e.g., childminder or nanny.

Information about a child’s medical needs or status, i.e., HIV or concerns about child protection issues will be kept in a separate file and will only be available to authorised personnel on a need-to-know basis.

 

Tutors, students and visitors to the setting will be made aware of the importance of confidentiality of information and their responsibility within the setting.

 

Information about individual members tutors will not be given out to anyone without permission of the person except in cases of child protection.

 

3.13 Handling of Disclosure Information

 

General Principles

As an organization using the DBS Disclosure service to help assess the suitability of applicants for positions of trust, K & G Tuition complies with the CRB Code of Practice regarding the correct handling, use, storage, retention and disposal of Disclosures and Disclosure information.  It also complies fully with its obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 and other relevant legislation pertaining to the safe handling, use, storage, retention and disposal of Disclosure information.

 

Storage and Access

Disclosure information is kept securely, in lockable, non-portable, storage containers with access strictly controlled and limited to those who are entitled to see it as part of their duties.

 

Handling

In accordance with Section 124 of the Police Act 1997, Disclosure information is only passed to those who are authorised to receive it in the course of their duties.  We maintain a record of all those to whom Disclosures or Disclosure information has been revealed.

 

Usage

Disclosure information is only used for the specific purpose for which it was requested and for which the applicant’s full consent has been given.

 

Retention

Once a recruitment decision has been made, we do not keep Disclosure information for any longer than is necessary.  This is generally for a period of up to six months, to allow for the consideration and resolution of any disputes or complaints.  If, in very exceptional circumstances, it is considered necessary to keep Disclosure information for longer than six months, we will consult the CRB about this and will give full consideration to the data protection and human rights of the individual before doing so.  Throughout this time, the usual conditions regarding the safe storage and strictly controlled access will prevail.

 

Disposal

Once the retention period has elapsed, we will ensure that any Disclosure information is immediately destroyed by secure means.  While awaiting destruction, information will not be kept in any insecure receptacle.  We will not keep any photocopy of other image of the Disclosure or any copy or representation of the contents of a Disclosure.  However, notwithstanding the above, we may keep a record of the date of issue of a Disclosure, the name of the subject, the type of Disclosure requested, the position for which the Disclosure was requested, the unique reference number of the Disclosure and details of the recruitment decision taken.

 

3.14 Complaints Policy and Procedures

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Making Concerns Known 

A parent/carer who is uneasy about any aspect of K & G tuition, they should raise it with Kate. If this does not have a satisfactory outcome within a couple of weeks, or if the problem recurs the parent/carer should put the concern or complaint in writing and request a meeting  We will give you an account of the findings of the investigation into the complaint and any action taken within 28 days.

 

Most Complaints Should be Resolved Informally or at this Initial Stage 

If the matter is still not sorted out to the parent/carers satisfaction, the parent /carer should again contact Kate.  If we cannot reach agreement, it may be helpful to invite an external mediator, who is one who is acceptable to both parties, to listen and offer advice.

 

A mediator has no legal powers but can help to clarify the situation.  The mediator will help define the problem, review the action so far and suggest further ways in which it may be resolved.
The mediator will keep all discussions confidential.  He/she will meet with the group if requested and will keep an agreed written record of any meetings that are held and of any advice he/she has given.

 

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3.15 Fee Refunds

 

Fees are payable, daily or termly, and in advance.  

Once paid, fees are non-refundable.

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