With regards to the question about agencies, no, they just send you a summary of the pre-employment checks together with the number and date and if the person is on the update service and that is enough. The agency has seen it and saves you the work. You are obviously working with high quality agencies so you should have piece on mind in that sense.

I have always worked with an Excel spreadsheet and that worked well for me.

We have an excel spreadsheet - it's enormous, but it does the job well. I looked at SCR tracker a while back, but felt our current system wasn't perfect but was the least-worst option for us.

The agency shouldn't supply a copy of the DBS certificate to the school. They should confirm they have checked it, and the individual should bring it with them when they arrive for you to see (photographic ID plus DBS certificate). Copies shouldn't be kept.

In reply to Nina Waters:

Hi Nina, appreciate your response and apologies for the delay in getting back to you.

In regards to the DBS certificate I normally get confirmation of checks from the agency that the candidate has been cleared. However, in terms of the section on the SCR from 'The Key' would you advise putting the date the candidate showed me the certificate under 'Was the certificate supplied to the school'?

Or do you have a different approach / heading for the agency section of the SCR.

Your thoughts are much appreciated.

In reply to Sezer:

The heading I think for that column on our spreadsheet was the date checked and then a separate column for the person who checked it. So where it's an agency person, that date would reflect the checks done when they first arrive on site.

I hope that helps.

Nina

At a recent Safeguarding Audit, the auditor suggested using a hyperlink to the compliance details on the SCR rather than entering all the details. I would be interested to hear if anyone does this and whether it would be acceptable by Ofsted?

Also, I am sure I have read somewhere that in the event of a supply teacher having a declaration on their DBS, the agency should provide the school with a copy of the DBS certificate. Am I dreaming or has anyone else heard of this?

Regards
Elaine

In reply to Elaine Snell:

We have to check the hard copy DBS certificate on arrival, so we would see any declaration then. However, we would normally expect a DBS that wasn't clear to be flagged in advance.

In reply to Nina Waters:

That is very helpful, thank you Nina.

We transitioned to the SCR Tracker last year and it's amazing, very intuitive. Great functionalities for setting up notifications for DBS renewals etc.
Super pleased with the move from an excel spreadsheet :)

We require agencies to complete a vetting form which confirms all of the checks have been done and the agency worker must bring in their original photo ID and DBS certificate. This way we can copy their ID and verify the DBS number against the one supplied on the agency vetting sheet. If there's an issue on the DBS we would always expect this to be flagged in advance.

Hope that's helpful.

We have just transitioned to OnLine SCR and it is great and a cheap bit of software. Gives HR oversight of the SCR's in each of our schools which are now consistent and compliant. Weekly reminders on DBS renewals etc... So pleased to have moved away from a cumbersome Excel spreadsheet (each schools version looked different). The support and training provided by the OnLine SCR team is great too.

In internal trust audits we have picked up on the issue of how the excel spreadsheet process is not sufficient enough to support our ethos around safer recruitment, safeguarding and ongoing culture of vigilance, we are going to be exploring SCR providers, both SCR Tracker and Online SCR are on our radar and meetings booked so it is great to see the positive feedback on them.

Other than these 2 companies did anyone who has made the transition explore the service from anyone else? What was the process like transitioning? What was the biggest challenge?

I work for a MAT with a large number of both primary and secondary schools and in the audits it is evident that even though the trust provide a template SCR and specific guidance on each page the knowledge around the checks required for the different groups of individuals for example Trainee Teachers, Agency Staff and Contractors in schools does not always meet the expectations. The use of a provider for this is being explored as a support mechanism to ensure compliance but to also compliment all of the work which goes into safer recruitment and ongoing vigilance in schools.

Schools or colleges should not be carrying out checks on agency workers as there's no employment contract and they are employed by the agency. Under KCSIE it is the responsibility of the school/college to get assurance from the agency that these checks have been completed. How that assurance is provided is left open, but some providers use a letter of assurance template for the agency to complete. The SCR should record the dates that the assurance was provided and confirm that a day one identity check was carried out. Agencies should be flagging with schools/colleges if there is anything on the DBS that the school needs to be aware of in advance of any assignment (this should be in the terms of business). I wouldn't ask all agency workers to present a DBS unless it's required to as part of making an assessment on their suitability as there may be other sensitive information on the certificate which is covered by the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975 (2013).