Declarations

Declarations

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974. If you are appointed you will be required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check. You are required to declare any cautions, convictions, reprimands or final warnings which are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out*), as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended). You are also required to disclose any pending criminal proceedings against you or current police investigations, including those relating to other employment or matters outside work. Having a criminal record will not necessarily prevent you from taking up appointment; it will depend on the nature of the offence(s) and its/their relevance to the post you are applying for. However, should you not declare any of the above and this is subsequently revealed, for example through the DBS check, then this may place your employment in jeopardy. Any information given will be treated in the strictest confidence and with due regard to the ROA and data protection legislation.

* Amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975 provide that certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected’ meaning that they are not subject to disclosure to employers and cannot be taken into account.

All guidance and criteria on the filtering of these cautions and convictions can be found in the DBS filtering collection on the gov.uk website (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dbs-filtering-guidance) and further information on disclosing a criminal record can also be obtained from Nacro: www.nacro.org.uk.

Please answer the questions below

Do you have any cautions, convictions, reprimands or final warnings which are not protected, as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended) and/or are you the subject of a current police investigation or have criminal proceedings pending against you?

Are you on the Children’s Barred List (previously List 99 and PoCA list) or have you ever been disqualified from working with children or been subject to any sanctions imposed by a regulatory body, e.g. Teaching Regulation Agency (or its predecessor bodies)?

It is a criminal offence for barred individuals to seek, or to undertake, work with children. If you have answered ‘YES’ to either of the above, please provide further details on a separate sheet in a sealed envelope marked ‘CONFIDENTIAL’.

Are you currently registered with the DBS Update Service?

If YES, please provide the information below. If NO, please proceed to the next section.

Level of check obtained at point of registration?

Which workforce was your check requested for at point of registration?

Declaration: By signing this application form and providing the information above I understand that I am authorising the school/college to consult the DBS Update Service in the context of its recruitment and safeguarding procedures and agree to provide the relevant disclosure certificate to facilitate this process.

A note on childcare disqualification requirements

In addition to undertaking checks to ensure that members of staff are suitable to work with children, schools are also specifically required to establish that members of staff are not disqualified from working with children who have not yet reached the age of 8 in order to comply with the Childcare Act 2006 and the Childcare (Disqualification) Regulations 2009. All staff responsible for the provision or management of such childcare (including teaching) are therefore required to declare that they are not disqualified from undertaking such work upon appointment.

A disqualified person is not permitted to provide or manage care for children under age 8 unless they apply for, and are granted, a waiver from Ofsted. In summary, a person may be disqualified through:

• Inclusion on the Children’s Barred List
• Being cautioned for, or convicted of, certain violent and sexual criminal offences against children and adults
• Grounds relating to the care of children (including where an order is made in respect of a child under the person’s care)
• Having registration refused or cancelled in relation to childcare or children’s homes or being disqualified from private fostering
• Living in the same household where another person who is disqualified lives or works (referred to as disqualification ‘by association’)

Disqualification also applies to equivalent offences committed overseas. The Regulations do not automatically apply to all posts in a school or to settings where there is no provision for children under 8. You will therefore be informed if the Regulations are relevant to the post you are applying for.

Should you need to, you can find out more about disqualification in the Department for Education’s guidance:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disqualification-under-the-childcare-act-2006

Online searches following shortlisting

In line with the statutory guidance document Keeping Children Safe in Education (2022) the school will conduct online searches after the shortlisting process for any candidates who accept an invitation to interview.

The purpose of the online search is to uncover any information that may suggest the candidate is:

• a potential safeguarding risk
• someone whose appointment may damage the reputation of the school
• unqualified for the role they have applied for

No recruitment decision will be made solely on the basis of an online search and all relevant information uncovered will be discussed with the applicant at interview. All online searches will be conducted by individuals who are not involved in any other aspect of the recruitment
process. No irrelevant information uncovered will be provided to the staff responsible for interviewing the job applicant.

All candidates will be treated consistently. The same online search for all shortlisted candidates will be undertaken consisting of:

• A Google search of the candidate’s name linked to their current employer, previous employer, educational institutions attended, previous job titles and
news articles
• A search of LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and review of posts made over the past five years

Declaration of relationships

Are you related to, or do you have a close personal relationship with an existing member of staff or member of the board of governors?

If YES, please provide below his/her name and role, and state the nature of your relationship

Retention of applications

Retention of application forms: as outlined in the Privacy Notice, it is our policy to retain all application forms for unsuccessful applicants for a period of six months after which time they are securely destroyed. If another suitable vacancy arises during that period which we think might suit your skills and experience, we may contact you to make you aware of the vacancy. Please indicate if you are happy for us to use your application form in this way:

How did you hear about this vacancy?

Declaration

I declare that the information I have given on this form is correct. I understand that providing false or misleading information is an offence which could result in my application being rejected, or, in the event of employment being obtained, may result in disciplinary action being taken, up to and including summary dismissal. In some circumstances it could also result in a referral to the police. I have read the privacy notice for job applicants and give my consent for the personal data supplied to be used for the purposes of recruitment and selection as laid out in that notice.

If you have submitted your application electronically, you will be asked to sign your application form in the event that you are shortlisted and called for interview.

Thank you for your application.