Schools have been required to maintain a Single Central Record (SCR) since 2007 – this is the school’s record of the evidence that recruitment, safeguarding and vetting checks have been carried out. It must be entirely accurate, at any given point in time, and this has clear implications for the administration and management of the process. NAHT recommends that school leaders carry out periodic checks of the SCR.
So before you get bogged down in preparing for SATs and GCSEs, why not take some time to satisfy yourself that your school’s SCR is ‘roadworthy’.
Here’s a useful MOT guide:
Staffing – identity all staff who work at the school [their post and start date], including supply staff and trainee teachers and all members of the ‘proprietor body’ for independent and free schools. For supply staff, schools should include whether written confirmation has been received, that the employment business supplying the member of staff has carried out the relevant checks and obtained the relevant certificates and whether any enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check certificate has been provided in respect of the member of supply staff and the date that confirmation was received. Currently, there’s no statutory obligation for governors in maintained schools to undergo checks unless they’re engaged in regular activities described below. Governors in academies are subject to checks. Many local authorities, however, do insist that governors are checked, and the government is considering whether to make this a requirement.
Qualifications – copies of the original certificate are ok.
Prohibition from teaching – if a school decides it’ll carry out enhanced DBS checks on volunteers and/or governors, the barred list box on the request form mustn’t be ticked.
DBS checks – an enhanced DBS certificate, which includes barred list details, is required for all staff engaged in regulated activity and volunteers working with pupils regularly, including those engaged in regulated activity.
Overseas checks – from 18 January 2016, where any European Economic Area (EEA) authority that has responsibility for regulating the teaching profession imposes a restriction on a person’s ability to work as a teacher, this information must be shared with all other EEA teacher regulators – schools can now use the online service provided by Teacher Services to identify restrictions imposed by all EEA authorities. Restrictions imposed by another EEA authority don’t prevent an individual from taking up teaching positions in England. However, schools should consider the circumstances leading to the restriction when considering a candidate’s suitability.
Right to work in the UK – a really useful guide can be found at gov.uk/legal-right-work-UK
Download our FREE Single Central Record Guide
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