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What is PAS 5222:2024, Child safeguarding – Provisions for out-of-school settings about?

There is a lack of statutory guidance and process for organizations and individuals who are responsible for the care of children in settings outside of education. This has led to ambiguity regarding safe practice.

To help plug this gap, PAS 5222:2024 is a new standard giving requirements on the governance, policies, processes and procedures necessary for organizations to embed child safeguarding within their operations.

Who is PAS 5222:2024, Child safeguarding – Provisions for out-of-school settings for?

• any persons assuming responsibility for children, or organizations accountable for the safety of children, in out-of-school settings; and
• any organizations responsible for auditing the services that are provided.

PAS 5222:2024 is:

• relevant to UK-based providers taking children abroad and international providers taking children to the UK,
• intended for use in the UK but may be used in Europe.

What does PAS 5222:2024 - Child safeguarding provisions for out-of-school activities cover?

PAS 5222:2024 provides requirements for the safeguarding of children in activities that occur out of school, such as sports, community service, arts, music, hobbies and employment. It provides requirements for and guidance on:

• governance, accountability and responsibility;
• complaints and whistleblowing;
• record-keeping;
• documenting safeguarding measures;
• employment checks;
• inducting new personnel;
• safeguarding training;
• recording safeguarding measures;
• assessing risks (including identifying, assessing relevance, determining risk appetite, monitoring, mitigation, recording and documenting);
• safeguarding and child protection policy;
• incident response plan;
• safeguarding incidents; and
• review following a safeguarding incident.

Out-of-school activities include tuition, training, instruction or other activities involving children that occur without their parents’ or carers’ supervision, but are not schools, colleges, education settings providing alternative provision, 16–19 academies, settings registered with Ofsted or a childminder agency.

NOTE: Out-of-school activities include activities that are supervised by parents or carers, where one or more child/ren is not their own child or under their guardianship.

Why should you use PAS 5222:2024 - Child safeguarding provisions for out-of-school activities?

• It benchmarks safeguarding good practice in out-of-school activities, including elements some providers might not be familiar with, such as risk assessment.
• It clarifies what needs to be done to safeguard children, replacing a range of internal systems of differing complexity and effectiveness. (Note that PAS 5222:2024 provides a process with requirements, whereas the Department for Education’s Keeping children safe during community activities, after- school clubs and tuition: non-statutory guidance for providers running out-of-school settings only gives guidance.)
• It can provide assurance to children, parents, carers and those responsible for governance, as well as regulatory bodies.
• It provides a common set of requirements, enabling organizations/activity providers to follow the same specification, thereby reducing multiple channels and costs.
• It supports organizations and individuals to implement safeguarding measures in a cost-effective way.
• It facilitates ease of implementation across geographical regions.
• With a recognized standard in place, staff can move employment and be confident the same scheme applies across all settings. It can help keep employees in the sector.
• It provides for a standardized approach to audit and inspection of safeguarding practices.
• It can help develop the professionalism and safeguarding expertise of users.
• PAS 5222:2024 is an effective way to strengthen the organizational risk management of users.

PAS 5222:2024 contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 on ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being and Goal 15 on life on land.