Safer staff recruitment

In response to recommendation 16 of Sir Michael Bichard's report, the DfES has developed an online training package for school recruitment.

It is being distributed to all heads and one governor from every maintained school in England, plus two relevant staff in each local authority. Full details on the training and its roll out can be found at www.ncsl.org.uk/saferrecruitment

It is intended that, by the end of March 2006, one person in every maintained school will have had the opportunity to successfully complete the online training. The training is expected to take four to five hours to complete.

A guidance booklet Safeguarding Children: Safer Recruitment and Selection in Education Settings can be downloaded from www.teachernet.gov.uk/childprotection