1. Purpose
Many of our learners carry risks from outside: exploitation, conflict with others, or adults who should not have contact with them. This policy sets out how we control access, manage visitors, keep the AP apart from other activity, respond to threats, and use CCTV in a way that protects people and respects their privacy.
2. Scope
This policy applies to everyone at 37 Townhead Street during AP hours (staff, partners, agency staff, volunteers, learners, parents and carers, professionals and contractors). Care Cove Short Breaks and Dreams Are Real CIC, which share the building, follow the zoning plan.
3. Law and guidance
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026, including safer working practice and contextual safeguarding.
UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, as amended by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.
ICO guidance on video surveillance, including CCTV.
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Counter Terrorism Policing's "Run, Hide, Tell" advice.
4. Roles and responsibilities
The Director has overall responsibility for site security, is the data protection lead for CCTV, approves the camera locations and the data protection impact assessment (DPIA), and decides on disclosure of footage and on restricting a visitor's access.
The Head of AP owns this policy, manages security day to day, leads lockdown drills and keeps the key register.
Reception staff (the Administrator or the member of staff on reception duty) control the entrance, sign visitors in and out, issue lanyards and manage the phone lockers.
The DSL advises on court orders, contact restrictions, contextual risk and visits from professionals.
All staff wear their ID and lanyard, challenge anyone without one, keep exits secure and report any security concern straight away.
5. Controlled entry and exits
Reception is the single controlled entry point. Reception staff see and identify every caller before releasing the door, and nobody is let in behind someone else.
All other exits are egress-only and alarmed. If one is opened, the alarm sounds and staff respond at once, checking whether a learner has left (the missing learner procedure in the Safeguarding and Child Protection policy) or someone has come in.
The step-free rear entrance stays secured as an egress-only exit. A member of staff opens it from inside for a person who needs step-free access, closes it straight away, and the person signs in at reception in the usual way.
Fire exits always open easily from inside without a key.
6. Zoning and staggered entry and exit
37 Townhead Street is shared with Care Cove Short Breaks (after school and at weekends) and Dreams Are Real CIC. During the school day the AP uses all three floors, with the second floor used for therapy and one-to-one learning; the written zoning plan gives the AP its own circulation routes and timings.
Learners arrive from 08:45 and leave at 15:45, with phones returned at the door, in the staggered order their risk assessments set. Learners with known conflicts, or where one may pose an exploitation risk to another, arrive and leave at different times.
Transitions between rooms, floors and breaks are supervised.
AP learners have left the building before Short Breaks users arrive. Any AP learner still waiting stays in the AP area with two AP staff.
Any unplanned contact between AP learners and another group is recorded on Care Cove Connect and reviewed by the Head of AP.
7. Signing in
Staff sign in and out every day, so the fire register is accurate.
Every visitor signs in at reception on the photo sign-in system. It records their name, photo, organisation, purpose, who they are visiting, times in and out, and their DBS status.
A visitor's DBS status shows as checked only when we have seen their Enhanced DBS certificate, or their employer has confirmed it in writing, and recorded that. Otherwise they are treated as an escorted visitor.
At sign-in, visitors are told the fire procedure, asked whether they need help to evacuate, and asked to keep their phone out of sight and not take photographs.
8. Lanyards and ID
Staff wear a Care Cove photo ID on a staff lanyard. Visitors wear a visitor badge on a lanyard. Different lanyard colours show at a glance whether someone is staff, a vetted visitor or an escorted visitor. Staff politely challenge anyone in the building without a lanyard and take them to reception. Visitors return their lanyard when they sign out.
9. Checking ID and escorting
Every visitor shows photo ID. Professionals show their organisation's ID.
Escorted visitors stay with a member of staff at all times in AP areas.
Nobody has unescorted access to learner areas. Vetted visitors are escorted to and from the room agreed for their visit and may then work there, but nobody works unobserved with a learner: meetings with a learner take place in a room with a glazed panel, with staff nearby.
Agency staff are checked against their agency profile on arrival under the Safer Recruitment policy.
Contractors work outside AP hours or away from learner areas where possible. Otherwise they are escorted and the work area is closed off.
10. Professionals visiting
Visits by social workers, school staff, health professionals, youth justice workers and police are booked in advance where possible, and reception checks ID against the booking. If a professional arrives unexpectedly, or anything about their ID seems wrong, reception verifies them by phoning their organisation on a number we find independently, not one they give us. A statutory visit by a learner's social worker may include time alone with the learner, in a room with a glazed panel.
If police ask to speak to a learner, the DSL is told at once and agrees with the police how the learner's parent or carer will be involved. A learner is never questioned on site without the DSL's knowledge. Staff do not obstruct police dealing with an emergency or making an arrest, and the DSL tells the parent and referring school the same day.
11. Parents and carers on site
Parents and carers are welcome and are important partners. They visit by appointment, sign in like any visitor, and are escorted in AP areas. Meetings take place in a meeting room, not in classrooms during lessons, unless a visit is planned, such as the welcome event. The Respect Code applies to adults too.
12. Collecting learners, court orders and contact restrictions
Most learners travel independently or by arranged transport. Where a learner is collected, only adults named on their Care Cove Connect record may collect them. Court orders and contact restrictions, such as child arrangements orders, prohibited steps orders and non-molestation orders, are recorded on the learner's Connect record and flagged to reception and the staff who need to know, with no more detail than they need.
If a person who is restricted or not named arrives:
Do not release the learner. Keep them in the AP area with staff, out of sight of the entrance.
Stay calm and polite, and do not let the person in.
Tell the DSL immediately. The DSL contacts the parent with parental responsibility and the learner's social worker where there is one.
Call 999 if anyone is at risk or the person will not leave.
Record what happened on Care Cove Connect.
13. Lockdown and invacuation
Invacuation means bringing everyone inside quickly because of a danger outside, such as a disturbance in the street, an aggressive person nearby or a chemical release. Lockdown means securing the building because of a threat close by or inside, such as an intruder or a violent person.
The signals are spoken, never a bell: for lockdown, an agreed spoken signal passed from room to room by staff, with the same signal sent to the staff group message; for invacuation, a different agreed spoken signal, passed and sent the same way. They must not sound like the fire alarm.
Invacuation: staff bring learners in from outside or the entrance at once, close external doors and windows, take the register and carry on inside. Off-site groups are told by phone to stay where they are safe or return as directed.
Lockdown:
Bring everyone in from outside and secure the entrance and external doors.
Staff move learners into the nearest room that can be secured. Regulation spaces are never lockable, so learners there move to a secure room with staff.
Close and, where the door allows, lock room doors. Close blinds, turn off lights, move away from doors and windows, keep quiet and put work phones on silent.
Take the register and send it to the Head of AP by message.
The senior person calls 999 and tells police how many people are in the building and where.
Stay put until the police, or the Director in person, give the all clear.
If there is an attack with a weapon, follow Run, Hide, Tell: get out if there is a safe route, otherwise hide, and tell the police when it is safe to do so. Learners do not collect their phones from the lockers. The Director, after police advice, tells parents and carers what is happening through Care Cove's official messages, asks them not to come to the building, and tells the commissioning local authority. Other occupiers of the building are told at once.
Staff learn the procedure at induction. We hold a live drill at least once a year, explained to learners in advance in a calm, age-appropriate way, and include lockdown in our tabletop exercises. Each drill is recorded and reviewed.
14. Unwanted visitors and aggressive behaviour
Do not let in anyone who is not expected and cannot show a reason to be here.
If an unwanted or aggressive person is inside, stay calm, keep a safe distance and ask them to leave. Do not use force to remove them.
Move learners away and alert the Head of AP.
Call 999 if anyone is threatened or at risk, or the person will not leave.
Record what happened on Care Cove Connect. The Director may write to the person to restrict future access, and reports repeated harassment to the police.
15. Opening, closing and lone working
The building is opened and closed by two members of staff wherever possible.
Opening: check the outside for signs of a break-in before entering. If there are signs, do not go in; call 999 if someone may be inside, or 101 otherwise. Turn off the intruder alarm and walk round the AP areas before learners arrive.
Closing: check every room, including toilets, regulation spaces and therapy rooms, close windows, secure exits and set the alarm.
Alone: a member of staff opening or closing alone messages the Head of AP or Director when they arrive, when the checks are done and when they leave. If a message is 15 minutes late and the member of staff cannot be reached, the manager goes to the building with another person or calls the police.
16. Keys and alarms
The Head of AP keeps a key register recording who holds each key and alarm code, by role. Keys are signed out and back in, and codes are changed when a keyholder leaves. Lost keys are reported at once. Two keyholders respond together to an alarm call-out, and never enter alone if there are signs of intrusion.
17. CCTV
17.1 Purpose
We use CCTV to protect the safety and security of learners, staff and visitors, to prevent and detect crime, and to help investigate incidents, including safeguarding concerns and allegations. We do not use it to monitor staff performance.
17.2 Lawful use
Care Cove Limited is the controller of the footage. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests in safety, security and safeguarding. The DPIA, completed before the system was first used and reviewed every year and whenever the system changes, records why each camera is needed and how privacy is protected. The system is listed in our record of processing activities.
17.3 Signs and locations
Signs at the entrance and in covered areas say that CCTV is in use, who runs it and how to contact us. Cameras cover entrances and exits, reception, corridors, stairs and the outside of the building. The exact locations are listed in the DPIA with a site plan. There are no cameras in toilets, therapy rooms or anywhere people change or receive first aid. A camera is placed in a classroom or regulation space only if the DPIA justifies it. The system does not record sound, and we never use hidden cameras.
17.4 Retention
Footage is kept for 30 days and then overwritten automatically. Footage needed for an incident, investigation, claim or request is saved securely before it is overwritten and kept with the incident record for the period in the Data Protection, Retention and Information Sharing policy.
17.5 Access and the viewing log
Only the Director, the Head of AP, the DSL and the Administrator can view live or recorded footage, and only for the purposes in section 17.1. Footage is viewed in private. Every viewing, copy and disclosure is entered in the CCTV log with the date, who viewed it, the reason and the outcome. The recorder is kept in a locked area and protected by a password. The Administrator checks every week that the system is working and its date and time are correct.
17.6 Requests for footage
People caught on camera can ask for a copy under the subject access process in the Data Protection, Retention and Information Sharing policy. We respond within one month and blur or remove other people's images where needed. The police may request footage in writing (or verbally in an emergency, confirmed in writing afterwards); the Director decides whether to disclose, using the crime and taxation exemption in the Data Protection Act 2018 where it applies, and records the decision in the log. Footage may also be shared with the LADO, children's social care, insurers or the commissioning local authority where lawful and necessary, but never posted online. Loss or misuse of footage is handled as a data breach.
18. Security of records, phones and property
Learner phones go into each learner's own locker at reception on arrival and come back at the door. Lockers are kept locked and reception controls access.
Staff keep personal phones out of sight and do not use them in front of learners.
Paper records are kept in locked storage. Screens are locked when unattended, and no learner data is kept on personal devices.
The medicines cabinet, knives and workshop tools are kept locked.
Confidential waste is shredded.
19. Monitoring and review
The Head of AP checks access control, alarms, the sign-in system and CCTV each term as part of the health and safety inspection, and reviews security incidents, unplanned contact between groups, alarm activations and drill records. The Director reviews the CCTV log and DPIA every year. A summary goes to the Social Work Management Committee each term. This policy is reviewed every year, or sooner after a serious incident, a change in law or guidance, or a contract change, and is available to the commissioning local authority on request at any time.
20. Related policies
- 01 Safeguarding and Child Protection
- 02 Safer Recruitment
- 03 Managing Allegations Against Staff and Low-Level Concerns
- 10 Mobile Phones and Digital Devices
- 11 Attendance and Children Missing Education
- 15 Health and Safety, including Fire and First Aid
- 17 Data Protection, Retention and Information Sharing
- 20 Business Continuity and Emergency Closure
- 21 Staff Code of Conduct
- 42 Lone Working
Document control and ratification
This policy is signed off by the Designated Safeguarding Lead and the Head of Alternative Provision, and ratified by the Social Work Management Committee. It is reviewed every year, or sooner after an incident or a change in law, statutory guidance or contract requirements, and it is available to any commissioning local authority on request.
| Version | Date | Summary of changes | Approved by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | 1 October 2026 | First issue | DSL; Head of AP |
| Role | Name | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Designated Safeguarding Lead | Pamela Shaw | 1 October 2026 |
| Head of Alternative Provision | Naphtali Nembhard | 1 October 2026 |