Registration of independent schools: guidance for proprietors overseeing child protection and safeguarding arrangements

Additional reading

This guidance should be read alongside the National guidance for child protection in Scotland 2021 and The Registration of Independent Schools in Scotland: Guidance for Applicants, Proprietors, and Parents.

The National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021, published in September 2021, describes the responsibilities and expectations of everyone who works with, or comes into contact with, children and young people, families, and carers in Scotland. It affirms and strengthens the key role of the education workforce in protecting children through the inclusion of education staff in all references to multi-agency arrangements.

Furthermore, proprietors must understand their obligations as set out in GTC Scotland’s Fitness to Teach Process, Information Booklet for Employers.

Additionally, proprietors and school leaders should already be very familiar with How Good Is Our School? (4th Edition), particularly Quality Indicator 2.1 (Safeguarding and child protection).

Finally, proprietors and school leaders should also be aware of the Guidance on Effective Safeguarding for boards of governors in independent schools, developed by HM Inspectors, the Care Inspectorate, and Registrar of Independent Schools. Which is a separate document and will be published soon.