Safeguarding Statement

Why we have this statement

Some of the programmes we help families with are for people under 18: summer schools, language courses, boarding schools and group tours. Parents deciding whether to send a child abroad deserve a straight answer about who is responsible for what.

This statement gives that answer. It also says plainly what we cannot do, because a promise we cannot keep is worse than no promise at all.

The short version

We are an education consultancy. We help you choose a programme, apply to it and prepare for it.

We are not the provider. We do not run programmes, employ teachers or group leaders, arrange host families, supervise students, or have anyone on site. The organisation that runs the programme is responsible for the care and safety of your child while they are in its care.

We do not guarantee any student's safety. Nobody honestly can. What we can do is give you accurate information, ask the provider the right questions, pass your information on correctly, and act on a concern if you raise one with us.

What the provider is responsible for

The school, college, summer centre, boarding school, host family agency or tour operator is responsible for:

• the welfare, care and supervision of students in its care
• its own safeguarding and child protection policy, and following it
• background checks on its staff, group leaders and host families, to the standard required where the programme is held
• supervision arrangements and staff to student ratios, including outside lesson time and overnight
• accommodation, including inspecting and approving host families where these are used
• medical arrangements, medication, allergy management and access to healthcare
• transfers, excursions and any activity it organises
• emergency procedures, and telling you when something happens
• its own insurance
• responding to a safeguarding concern that arises on its programme, and reporting it to the authorities where required

Ask for the provider's safeguarding policy before you book. If we have it, we will send it to you. If we do not have it, we will ask for it.

What we are responsible for

We are responsible for:

• describing a programme accurately, including the age range, supervision level and what is not included
• telling you when a programme does not include the level of supervision you are expecting, even where that loses us the booking
• obtaining and passing on the provider's safeguarding policy and emergency contact arrangements
• passing on, completely and accurately, the information you give us about your child: medical conditions, allergies, dietary needs, learning needs, medication and emergency contacts
• telling you which consent forms the provider needs, and by when
• telling you who to contact in an emergency, before departure
• handling your child's personal data properly, as set out in our privacy policy
• passing a concern raised with us to the provider without delay, and to the relevant authority where the law requires it or where a child appears to be at risk
• not placing a child with a provider that we know to have an unresolved safeguarding failure

What we are not responsible for

• We do not supervise students and we are not present at programmes.
• We do not check or approve the provider's staff or host families, and we cannot verify a check carried out by someone else.
• We do not run the programme and cannot control what happens day to day.
• We do not provide medical care or make medical decisions.

If a provider fails in its duties, we will support you fully in raising it with them and, where appropriate, with the authorities. That support is real, but it is not the same as us being responsible for their care of your child.

Before you book: questions worth asking

We suggest asking the provider, in writing:

• What is your safeguarding policy, and who is the designated safeguarding lead?
• What checks are carried out on staff, group leaders and host families?
• What is the supervision ratio during lessons, during activities, and overnight?
• Are students allowed out unaccompanied, at what age, and under what rules?
• Who meets my child at the airport, and how will I know they arrived?
• What happens if my child is ill, or needs a doctor?
• How and when will you contact me if there is a problem?
• What is the procedure if my child wants to come home early?

We will ask these on your behalf if you would prefer. Good providers answer them without hesitation.

Bookings for a person under 18

• A parent or legal guardian must make the booking and sign the provider's forms.
• We correspond with the parent or guardian, not with the child.
• Medical, dietary and emergency information goes to the provider on their own form. Please fill it in fully. A gap on that form is the most common cause of a preventable problem.
• Where a student travels alone, ask the airline about its unaccompanied minor service. Age rules and fees differ by airline and it must usually be booked in advance.

Contact with young people

Our contact with a student under 18 happens through their parent or guardian. Our team does not hold private one to one conversations, calls or messages with a person under 18, and does not connect with them on personal social media accounts.

Where a member of our team takes on a role that requires a criminal record check, we will obtain the appropriate check before that role begins. We do not claim checks we have not carried out.

Safeguarding concerns raised with Happy Education are handled by the company director.

Sensitive documents

Never send passports, visas, birth certificates, medical reports or anything about a child's welfare through a public contact form, a social media message or an unprotected email attachment.

Ask us and we will give you a secure route. If we ask you for a sensitive document, we will tell you how to send it safely, and we will delete it once the application is decided.

Raising a concern

If a child is in immediate danger, do not wait for us.

• In the UK, call 999.
• In Türkiye, call 112.
• Anywhere else, call the local emergency number.

Then contact the programme provider, because they are on site.

To raise a concern with us, email admin@happyeducation.uk or call +44 7735 826785. Tell us what you have seen or been told, and when. You do not need to be certain, and you do not need to investigate first.

What we will do:

1. Take it seriously and write down what you tell us, in your words.
2. Contact the provider without delay and ask what action they are taking.
3. Report it to the relevant authority where the law requires it, or where a child appears to be at risk, even if you have asked us not to. We will tell you if we do this and why.
4. Keep you informed about what we have done, within the limits of what we are allowed to share.
5. Keep the record separately, with restricted access.

Other help:

• NSPCC helpline (UK), for adults worried about a child: 0808 800 5000, nspcc.org.uk
• Childline (UK), for children and young people: 0800 1111, childline.org.uk
• ALO 183 (Türkiye), the social support line for family, women, children and disability services

Records

Records of a reported concern are kept separately from ordinary client files, with access limited to the people who need it. We are taking specialist advice on how long these records should be kept, and our privacy policy will state the period once it is set.

Reviewing this statement

We review this statement at least once a year, and immediately after any concern is raised, so that what we learn changes what we do.

Contact

admin@happyeducation.uk or +44 7735 826785.