Draft Issued November 2018
Author Hanila Ali Syed
Draft Approval G A Hussain Headteacher
Signed off by G A Hussain Headteacher
Review Date March 2021
Next Review Date September 2023
We are committed to being a UNICEF Rights Respecting School
This policy has links with Articles 3, 19, 29 and 31 of the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child:
“The best interests of the child must be a top priority in all actions concerning children.”
“Governments must do all they can to ensure that children are protected from all forms of
violence, abuse, neglect and mistreatment by their parents or anyone else who looks after
them.”
“Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must
encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their
own and other cultures and the environment.”
“Every child has the right to relax, play and join in a wide range of
cultural and artistic activities.”
1. Policy Statement
Read Academy assures all visitors a warm, friendly and professional welcome, whatever the purpose of their
visit. The school also has a legal duty of care for the health, safety, security and wellbeing of all pupils and
staff. This duty of care incorporates the duty to safeguard all pupils from subjection to any form of harm,
abuse, nuisance or inappropriate influence. It is the responsibility of the School Development Leaders (SDL’s),
Headteacher and senior staff to ensure that this duty is followed at all times. In performing this duty, the
school recognises that there can be no complacency where child protection and safeguarding procedures are
concerned. The School therefore requires that all visitors (without exception) comply with the following policy
and procedures.
Failure to do so may result in the visitor’s escorted departure from the school site.
2. Policy Responsibility
The Headteacher is the member of staff responsible for implementation, coordination and
review of this policy. The Headteacher will also be responsible for liaising with the school’s
Business Manager, Office Team and Safeguarding Leads as appropriate.
All breaches of this procedure must be reported to the Headteacher.
Failure by staff members to adhere to this policy may lead to disciplinary action.
3. Aim
To safeguard all children within the school’s responsibility both during school hours and out
of school hours activities which are arranged by the school. The ultimate aim is to ensure
that students at Read Academy can learn from and enjoy curricular and extracurricular experiences in an
environment where they are safe from harm. The school also has a responsibility to protect and preserve its
resources against theft, vandalism and misuse.
4. Objectives
• To have in place a clear protocol and procedure for the admittance of external
visitors to the school, which is understood by all staff, SDL’s, visitors and parents and adheres to child
protection and safeguarding guidelines.
• To enable the school to account and care for all visitors to the site in the event of an
emergency or practice drill.
5. Where and to Whom the Policy Applies
The school is deemed to have control and responsibility for its pupils anywhere on the
school site (i.e. within the school boundary fence), during normal school hours, during after
school activities and on school organised (and supervised) off-site activities.
Visitors are defined as all people other than current staff members, SDL’s, pupils and parents/guardians
involved in the task of delivering or collecting pupils at the start or end of the school day.
The policy applies to:
• All external visitors entering the school site during the school day or for after school
activities (including tutors, sports coaches, and topic related visitors e.g. authors, journalists and artists).
• All parents and volunteers.
• Other education related personnel (advisors, inspectors, health professionals).
• Building & maintenance and all other independent contractors visiting the school
premises.
6. Protocol and Procedures
6.1 Visitors Invited to the school:
a) Before any visitor is invited to the school, the Headteacher, or a member of the senior
leadership team, should be informed, with a clear explanation as to the relevance and
purpose of the visit and intended date and time of the visit. Once the proposed visit is
entered into the school diary this will be discussed as part of the regular review of the
diary and at senior leadership team meetings.
b) When inviting visitors to the school the member of staff hosting the visit should ensure
they are asked to bring in formal identification (including photo id) with them at the time
of their visit and be informed of the procedure for visitors as set out below:
• Members of staff arranging for and hosting visitors must inform the school office in
advance so that this information can be entered into the school diary.
• All visitors must report to the school reception desk in the general office.
• At reception, all visitors must state the purpose of their visit and who has invited
them. They should be ready to produce formal identification. All visitors will be asked
to sign the school’s visitor register making note of their name, organisation, who they
are visiting as well as the date.
• All visitors will be required to wear a visitor identification badge with YELLOW LANYARD. The badge
must remain visible throughout their visit.
• All visitors will be given the appropriate safeguarding, health and safety and school
information before they leave reception.
• Visitors will then be escorted to their point of contact OR their point of contact will be asked to come to the school reception to receive the visitor. The contact will then be responsible for them
while they are on site. The visitor must not be allowed to move about the site unaccompanied unless the
school has completed the relevant checks (DBS) or has received details of this through the organisation
employing the visitor.
c) On departing the school, visitors should leave via the school reception and:
• Sign out.
• Complete an evaluation form (optional).
• Return the identification badge to the school office.
6.2 Approved Visitor List
The school will hold an approved visitor list for visitors who frequently visit the school site to
undertake work within the school (including contractors, supply staff and health
professionals). To qualify for this list the visitor must have demonstrated, prior to the visit
that:
a) They have a current clear enhanced DBS check and a copy of this has been registered
on the Schools Central Record AND
b) A current clear DBS children’s barred check has been undertaken.
c) Visitors on the Approved List MUST follow the same procedures on entry to the
premises (i.e. come to reception and receive an ID badge with PURPLE LANYARD having been entered onto
the visitors register). A list of such approved visitors is kept by the Headteacher and the Single Central Record.
6.2 Unknown/Uninvited Visitors to the School
Any visitor to the school site who is not wearing a visitor badge should be challenged
politely in relation to who they are and their business on the school site. They should then
be reminded of the school procedure and escorted to reception to be issued with a visitor
badge if approved. The procedures under “Visitors to the School” above will then apply. In
the event that the visitor refuses to comply, they should be asked to leave the site immediately and the Headteacher or a member of the SLT informed. The Headteacher or SLT member will consider the situation and decide if it is necessary to inform the police. If an unknown/uninvited visitor
becomes abusive or aggressive, they will be asked to leave the site immediately and warned that if they fail to
leave the school grounds, police assistance will be called for.
Under the Summary Offences Act, the Headteacher reserves the right, and has the
authority to prohibit any potential visitor from entering or remaining within the school.
6.3 SDL’s and Volunteers
All parent and other volunteers must comply with Disclosure and Barring Service procedures, completing a DBS
disclosure form via the school office
before starting a volunteer role.
All SDL’s now require an enhanced DBS check (March 2016). SDL’s will be
treated the same as any adult volunteer and added to the approved Visitors List. They
should sign in and out at reception as detailed above. New SDL’s will be made aware of
this policy and become familiar with its procedures as part of their induction. This is the
responsibility of the Headteacher and the SDL Chairperson.
6.4 Buildings and Maintenance Contractors
Contractors follow the procedures as set out in 6.1. When pupils are on the premises, the contractors must be supervised at all times by the School Business Manager or by another member of staff. No
contractor / engineer is permitted to work in, or move around the school, unsupervised when pupils are on
site unless they have a valid DBS which has been checked and verified by the Headteacher and they have been
briefed on H&S by the School Business Manager or senior member of staff. All contractor visits will ideally be
booked outside of school hours unless it is an emergency, in which case the Headteacher will be informed.
6.5 Parent Visitors
Partnership with parents is a strong and unique feature of Read Academy which the school wishes to preserve.
At the same time, the safeguarding and wellbeing of pupils and staff must be maintained. The school has clear
procedures for managing the movement of parents on the school site at the start and end of the school day
and for controlling and monitoring their access to the ‘Classroom Zones’.
Parents who visit the school site at times other than the start and end of the day are
expected to report to the main office to make the purpose of their visit known. They will
then be escorted to their point of contact OR their point of contact will be asked to come to
the school reception to receive them. The contact will then be responsible for them while
they are on site and will escort them off the premises at the end of the visit. The visitor
must not be allowed to move about the site unaccompanied.
If the parent needs to visit a room in a classroom zone for any other reason they will be
escorted by a member of the office staff or directed to a specific waiting area (for example,
when attending parent conferences).
Exceptions to this are when there is a planned school or classroom event (eg, Come and
Read, Coffee Mornings, Parties), in which case school staff will be available to
steward parent visitors around the school and to undertake all reasonable precautions to
ensure that visitors to the school are genuine.
6.6 Ex Pupils and Ex Members of Staff
Ex Read pupils and ex members of staff may request or arrive at the school for a visit.
They must be signed in and be fully supervised at all times.
7. GUIDELINES FOR EXTERNAL VISITORS TO SCHOOL
Before any visitor is invited to the school, the Headteacher should be informed using the
Visitor Risk Assessment Form A, with a clear explanation as to the relevance and purpose of
the visit and intended date and time for the visit. Permission must be granted by the
Headteacher before a visitor is asked to come into school. The Headteacher will advise of
the level of supervision and pre-visit checks required.
GUIDE TO STAFF WHEN ARRANGING FOR EXTERNAL VISITORS TO COME TO
READ ACADEMY
When do I need to complete paperwork?
Paperwork must be completed for any visitor coming to Read Academy, except for
parents/carers. Please let the School Administrator at Main Reception know if you are expecting a
parent/carer but there is an automatic assumption that this group of visitors would always be supervised at all
times by the member of staff they were coming in to see.
What paperwork do I need to complete?
Visitor Risk Assessment Form on all occasions (Form A)
If your visitor is speaking to students and/or staff you also need to complete the Visitor
Speaking Risk Assessment (overleaf on Form A) and ask your visitor to complete and sign
the Visitor Speaking Agreement (Form B).
All visitors except for parents/carers must bring in photographic identification with them.
What do I do with the paperwork once completed?
Return it to the Headteacher. With at least one week’s notice, longer if you feel your visitor would need
unsupervised access, as there will be further steps to take to enable this to be put in place. Please note if you
wish your visitor to have unsupervised access to the school site they must have an Enhanced DBS and/or
Barred List checking, dependent on the nature and regularity of the visit and be able to supply written
confirmation that there has been no break in service since their Enhanced DBS/CRB was issued. This
information will be held by the Headteacher.
What happens next?
The Deputy Head will review the paperwork with the Headteacher and will send a copy of the forms with
supervision requirements detailed back to you and a copy given to Reception.
Those visitors who have been cleared by the Headteacher for unsupervised access in school will be issued with
a PURPLE LANYARD. Those who require supervision will be issued with a YELLOW LANYARD.
Please meet your visitor at Main Reception to sign in and receive the appropriate coloured
lanyard and ensure they sign out at the end of their visit with supervision as appropriate.
Important things to remember!!
Even if your visitor has been into school previously, you must fill out the paperwork
for every visitor every time they visit.
The Headteacher and School Administrator will hold a list of regular visitors
who have appropriate clearance. You can check with the school administrator if your visitor comes under any
of these categories and indicate so on your Visitor Risk Assessment form.
This list is reviewed regularly and can change so again, check each time a visitor is coming in if you wish them to have unsupervised access.
All members of staff on duty must wear their school photographic ID
with a BLACK STAFF LANYARD at all times.
If you see any person around site without a lanyard on they should be politely
challenged and Main Reception, SLT or the Headteacher/Deputy informed.
8. Staff Development
As part of their induction, new staff will be made conversant with this policy for visitors and
asked to ensure compliance with its procedures at all times. Headteacher
will be responsible for sourcing and arranging staff training focusing on people
skills and how to deal with abuse or aggression (verbal and physical) from others.
9. Linked Policies
This policy and procedures should be read in conjunction with other related school policies,
including:
• Child Protection Policy
• Healthy and Safety Policy
• Fire Safety Policy
• Keeping Children Safe in Education (latest version)
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic; A visitor protocol has been created.
This should not be used as a stand- alone document and should be read in conjunction with the school’s
visitor policy. It sets out the expectations of Read Academy in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
