UpCover CIC Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy
Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL): Terri-Leigh Riley
Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) email: terrileighriley@upcover.org.uk
Independent contact for concerns about the DSL: Joshua Robinson, Director
Email for concerns about the DSL: joshua.f.robinson@protonmail.com
Last reviewed: September 2026
Review frequency: Annually, or sooner following changes to statutory guidance or significant changes to UpCover's activities or staffing.
1. Our commitment
UpCover CIC is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. The welfare of the child is paramount and safeguarding is everyone's responsibility.
For the purposes of this policy, a child is anyone under the age of 18.
UpCover works in accordance with relevant safeguarding guidance, including Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 and Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026. When working within a school, UpCover will follow that school's safeguarding and child protection procedures.
2. Safeguarding leadership and current arrangements
Terri-Leigh Riley is UpCover CIC's Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and has overall responsibility for safeguarding within UpCover.
At present, Terri-Leigh is also the only person who visits schools or works directly with pupils on behalf of UpCover.
Terri-Leigh:
holds an Enhanced DBS certificate including Children's Barred List information;
holds Qualified Teacher Status
has completed Designated Safeguarding Lead training and will keep her safeguarding knowledge up to date; and
will familiarise herself with and follow the safeguarding policy, staff conduct requirements and reporting procedures of each school she visits.
Safeguarding concerns arising through UpCover should ordinarily be brought to Terri-Leigh's attention as DSL, unless the concern relates to Terri-Leigh herself.
UpCover's arrangements do not replace those of the host school. The school's own safeguarding procedures remain the primary route for safeguarding pupils while UpCover is working within that setting.
3. Responding to safeguarding concerns and disclosures
Any concern about a child's welfare arising during UpCover's work in a school will be reported without delay to the school's DSL or deputy DSL.
If a child makes a disclosure directly to Terri-Leigh, or another safeguarding concern comes to her attention, she will listen carefully, take the child seriously, not promise confidentiality, avoid investigating or asking leading questions, and make an accurate and timely factual record.
The concern will be passed without delay to the appropriate school safeguarding contact. Terri-Leigh will record that the referral has been made and, where appropriate, confirm that it has been received.
If the school's DSL or deputy is unavailable, this will not delay safeguarding action. The concern will be escalated in accordance with the school's procedures and, where necessary, to local authority children's social care or the police.
Where a child is believed to be in immediate danger, emergency services will be contacted.
4. Concerns about adults, including concerns about Terri-Leigh Riley
If Terri-Leigh becomes aware of a safeguarding or low-level concern about another adult working in or on behalf of a school, she will report it in accordance with that school's procedures.
Where a concern or allegation relates to Terri-Leigh herself and arises in connection with work in a school, the school's safeguarding and allegations procedures are the primary reporting route. The concern should normally be reported to the school's Headteacher, Principal or other person specified by its safeguarding procedures.
The school will determine the appropriate response, including consultation with the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) where required.
UpCover also provides an independent route for concerns about its DSL. Joshua Robinson, Director of UpCover CIC, may be contacted at: joshua.f.robinson@protonmail.com. This may be:
in addition to a report made to the school;
where a concern about Terri-Leigh does not relate to a particular school;
where use of the school's reporting route is not appropriate; or
where there is concern that a matter has not been appropriately addressed.
Where a school raises a low-level or more serious safeguarding concern about Terri-Leigh, UpCover asks that Joshua is also informed so that UpCover can fulfil its own safeguarding responsibilities.
Joshua will record any concern received and seek appropriate safeguarding advice rather than attempting to investigate it himself. Where an allegation may meet the harm threshold, he will ensure that appropriate LADO advice is sought without delay and that the LADO is informed within the applicable timescale.
The harm threshold is met if someone has:
harmed a child, or may have harmed a child
possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child
behaved, or may have behaved, in a way suggesting they may not be suitable to work with children
UpCover will cooperate fully with any safeguarding enquiries and will make any referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service or other relevant body where legally required.
5. Safeguarding within UpCover resources
Much of UpCover's work involves producing educational resources for schools to be delivered by teachers, cover staff or other appropriate school personnel.
Safeguarding is considered throughout the development and review of these resources. This includes sensitivity checking, considering age appropriateness and potentially distressing material, considering the impact of content on different pupils and identifying foreseeable safeguarding risks.
Where appropriate, resources will include guidance for the adult delivering the lesson on sensitive content or possible disclosures.
Schools delivering UpCover resources remain responsible for the safeguarding and supervision of their pupils and for responding to concerns or disclosures arising during a lesson in accordance with their own procedures.
6. Student feedback and evaluation
UpCover gathers anonymous information about pupils' experiences of cover lessons in order to evaluate and improve its work. UpCover will only gather pupil evaluation responses with the agreement of the participating school and will follow any relevant data-protection requirements specified by the school. Evaluation activities are designed not to collect pupils' personal data, and pupils will not be asked to provide their names or other identifying information.
UpCover recognises that an open-text response may contain information giving rise to a safeguarding concern, even though pupils are not invited to make safeguarding disclosures through evaluation materials.
Evaluation responses will therefore be reviewed as soon as reasonably practicable. UpCover will retain sufficient non-personal contextual information to identify the school and evaluation session or batch from which a response came, while keeping individual pupil responses anonymous.
Any safeguarding concern or disclosure identified in an evaluation response will be reported without delay upon identification to the appropriate safeguarding contact at the school concerned.
UpCover will preserve the original response and provide the school with relevant contextual information already available. UpCover will not independently investigate the disclosure or attempt to identify an anonymous pupil.
If an evaluation raises a concern about an adult working within the school, the school's procedure for concerns about adults will be followed. If the concern relates to Terri-Leigh herself, it will be handled under section 4 of this policy and will not be managed by Terri-Leigh.
Where a pupil voluntarily includes identifying information, it will be removed, redacted or securely destroyed at the earliest reasonable opportunity, unless it is relevant to a safeguarding concern. In that case, the information will be retained only as necessary and shared promptly through the school’s designated safeguarding routes.
7. Recording, confidentiality and information sharing
Terri-Leigh, as UpCover DSL, is responsible for ensuring that safeguarding information held by UpCover is appropriately recorded, stored and shared.
Safeguarding records will be factual, dated and stored securely, with access limited to those who need the information for safeguarding purposes. Records will include, where appropriate, the concern, actions taken and relevant decisions or outcomes.
Where a safeguarding concern relates to Terri-Leigh herself, Joshua will hold and manage UpCover's record of that concern rather than Terri-Leigh.
UpCover will share information when necessary and proportionate to safeguard a child. Safeguarding information will not be withheld solely because it is confidential or personal data, but it will not be shared more widely than necessary.
8. Future expansion
This policy reflects UpCover's current operating model, in which only Terri-Leigh Riley visits schools or works directly with children on behalf of UpCover.
This policy will be reviewed and expanded before any additional employee, contractor, volunteer or other representative begins visiting schools or working directly with children on behalf of UpCover.
Appropriate DBS checks and, where the role is eligible, Children's Barred List checks will be undertaken, alongside appropriate safeguarding induction and training, before such work begins.