created May 2010, updated Jan 2020
Safeguarding and Professional Boundaries
Employers have a duty of care towards their employees under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 which requires them to provide a safe working environment for staff and guidance about safe working practices. The Act also imposes a duty on employees to take reasonable care of themselves and anyone else who may be affected by their actions or failings. In this respect, the duty of care towards both staff and students can be demonstrated through the implementation of these principles into a policy.
Many tutors take care to maintain effective working relationships with learners and provide supportive pastoral care whilst being sensitive to issues surrounding professional boundaries. However, failure to understand professional boundaries can lead almost any SpLD professional to make serious mistakes – career threatening ones – in the management of tutor-learner relationships. Even an unfounded allegation of professional misconduct could be permanently damaging to a teacher, to their family and to the profession.
The following questions may assist staff when they are considering the application of professional boundaries:
Am I dealing in a different manner with a particular learner than with others under the same circumstances?
Would I do or say this if a colleague or another third party were present?
Would I find my conduct acceptable if I observed it in a colleague?
Have I put a colleague or learner in a difficult position as a result of my behaviour?
In summary, the following activities may place a member of staff at risk:
failing to exercise their position of trust appropriately
becoming personally involved with learners
providing their personal details such as social network site
giving gifts, loans or money to learners
inviting learners to their home, hotel room etc.
having learners stay overnight at their home
giving learners lifts in their private vehicle
sharing their personal/ professional problems with learners
not complying with Data Protection Policy such as sharing personal information about a learner with a third party without their permission
giving one learner undue attention
inviting physical contact or having unnecessary physical contact
taking, displaying or distributing images of learners unless you have their consent to do so
having any form of communication with a learner which could be interpreted as sexually suggestive or provocative
What we do
Our office hours are displayed. If a student has a session in the evening or weekend, the administrator or tutor will be available for calls from that student at that time.
NeuroKnowHow staff should use their dedicated work emails for communicating with students
Personal invitations including to social media should not be accepted
Tutors conduct themselves professionally
Information about the student should only be shared with third parties if consent has been given
Risk assessments are always carried out when we start working with a student
If at any time we become seriously concerned that a student (or others) are at risk from harm we may make contact with relevant people/ services, whether or not the student has given us permission.