Safeguarding Code of Practice

Effective date: 21 January 2026

Last reviewed/updated: December 2025

Next review date: December 2026

Policy owner: Head of Operations

Approved by: Governing Body on 23 October 2024; updates approved by MET on 21 January 2026

1. Purpose

• Objective:

Safeguarding is the responsibility of all those working with children and Adults at Risk (as defined below). The College has a duty, both in law and as a responsible organisation, to take reasonable care of children and adults at risk who may come onto its premises. We aim to adopt the highest possible standards and take all reasonable steps in relation to the safety and welfare of children and adults at risk. The College encounters children and adults at risk in a variety of settings, including through its teaching and research activities, as well as through its summer schools and other similar activity.

• Scope:

The College’s staff, Fellows, workers, members, contractors^[1], volunteers, apprentices and students are subject to this policy. Such people may encounter children and Adults at Risk in a variety of contexts including, but not limited to, the following:   

• on summer or Easter programmes
• on open days
• on residential visits
• in the supply and servicing of accommodation, the supply of catering and the general administration of hotel and hospitality services 
• caring for disabled persons or other vulnerable adults.

This list is not intended to be exhaustive.

2. Definitions

For the purposes of this policy, a child is defined as any person under the age of 18.

Under Statutory guidance, an Adult at Risk is a person aged 18 years or over who may be in need of community care services by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness; and who is or may be unable to take care of themselves, or unable to protect themselves against significant harm or exploitation.

Safeguarding concerns can take many forms including, but not limited to, bullying and cyber-bullying; child sexual exploitation/trafficking; domestic abuse; emotional abuse; grooming; neglect; online abuse; physical abuse; sexual abuse. Abuse could be by adults, or other children/young people.

Within this policy ‘Work with children or Adults at Risk’ includes all engagement with children and Adults at Risk, whether in a professional capacity in connection with the work of the College, or in the course of other College-led activities supported by members of the College whether working in a paid or unpaid capacity.

The College’s Designated Safeguarding Lead is the Head of Operations, and the Head of the Academic Office is the Safeguarding Officer.

3. Procedures

• Conference business
  The College’s conference business at times extends to taking groups with young people under the age of 18. The particular issues for the College (where conferences involve Adults at Risk and children) are in:
  • Ensuring that conference organisers are aware of their responsibilities relative of the College, for example that we have an open site and cannot restrict access in the way that schools do
  • Ensuring that any College staff who may be in direct unsupervised contact with children have undertaken appropriate Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks in advance
  • Ensuring that staff dealing with conferences and guests are aware of this Code of Practice and trained and supported in how to identify and handle safeguarding concerns.
• Those involved in the coordination of arrangements for activities involving children should review on a regular basis the range of activities that are undertaken so as to ensure that the staff and students involved are aware of this policy and of who they may approach for advice and assistance. They should also ensure that, where necessary, appropriate checks have been made through the Disclosure and Barring Service.  
• Work experience placements: from time to time, the College (and its Fellows and staff) may receive requests to support work experience placements. These are not supported. In the context of this Code, this is because: (a) the College does not undertake DBS checks for all staff/Fellows; (b) the College does not train all staff/Fellows in identifying and handling safeguarding concerns; (c) a Risk Assessment would need to be undertaken for each instance; (d) appropriate insurance would be required.
• DBS checks: members of staff who may be in direct unsupervised contact with children are required to undertake an enhanced DBS check. This applies to staff in the Housekeeping, Lodge and Maintenance teams and to the Head of Operations.
• Risk Assessments: Risk Assessments must be undertaken for any activity involving children and/or Adults at Risk. This should include information on the risks associated with safeguarding and the control measures in place. Risk Assessments are reviewed annually and shared with all College members involved with the activity.  The College will take all reasonable steps to ensure that its premises are safe for children and at risk adults whose presence can be reasonably anticipated.
• IT and internet access: the College uses network access that is not controlled in the way that it might be for younger people in a school or home setting. Attached at Annex A is a policy statement which the Conference & Accommodation Team must issue to conference organisers to ensure that they are properly informed of the situation and can take responsibility for how and whether internet access is offered to their participants.

4. Dealing with safeguarding concerns

How to raise a concern

Safeguarding concerns must be dealt with a soon as an individual becomes aware, and can be reported by any person who becomes aware of them.

To raise a safeguarding concern, contact the Designated Safeguarding Lead. . They can be contacted via the Lodge out of hours.

Those working with children and adults at risk may:

• have alleged abuse disclosed to them
• suspect abuse is being carried out
• be accused of abusing those in their charge

While these issues may require very different courses of action, it is essential that the safety and welfare of the child or adult at risk is prioritised. In the event there is a risk of immediate serious harm to a child or an adult at risk the emergency services should be contacted via 999 or the police via the 101 service. Anybody can make a referral in these circumstances. The Designated Safeguarding Lead should then be notified of the case.

Actions from the Designated Safeguarding Lead

As soon as the Designated Safeguarding Lead becomes aware of an allegation of concern, they will act to safeguard the person(s) at risk:

• For adult safeguarding allegations, an alert must be raised within one working day of receipt.
• For children, a referral decision must be made within 24 hours of receipt.

The Designated Safeguarding Lead will share information as appropriate with relevant colleagues to ensure that the relevant authorities both within and outside of the College are involved and that any necessary processes can be followed (for example, depending on the nature of the allegations, it may be necessary to make a disclosure to the Disclosure and Barring Service.) The College will respect the privacy confidentiality of any child or Adult at Risk in as far as this is consistent with its obligation to discharge its duty of care and statutory obligations. Appropriate records will be retained in accordance with the College’s Data Protection Policy.

5. Training

The Designated Safeguarding Lead will undertake biannual refresher training. The Safeguarding Officer will refresh their training every three years.

The Designated Safeguarding Lead will ensure all staff who may be in direct unsupervised contact with children, and who are required to undertake an enhanced DBS check, are briefed on this Code of Practice and on safeguarding good practice. They will additionally ensure that this policy is accessible to all staff, and that it is proactively shared at least every 12 months.

6. Breaches of this Code

Breaches of this Code of Practice may be treated as misconduct and be dealt with under the College’s disciplinary procedures.

7. Review and Revision

This policy will be reviewed annually. 

8. Related Documents

• Harassment policy
• Student-staff relationship policy
• Equality policy

The College takes note of the University’s Safeguarding Code of Practice at Safeguarding ‘at risk’ adults and children | HR Support (ox.ac.uk), and will observe it in as far as it applies to the College.

9. Contact Information

The Head of Operations is the policy owner and can be contacted on head.operations@sant.ox.ac.uk for any help or clarifications required.

^[1] Contractors are employed by third party organisations to carry out work on behalf of the College. It is the responsibility of the contractor’s employer to ensure that all necessary employment and safeguarding suitability checks are completed and to provide assurance to the College that this has been done.