Legal

Safeguarding Policy

Last updated: 22 April 2026

The purpose and scope of this policy

The purpose of this policy statement is:

  • to protect children and young people who receive Norhi’s services from harm. This includes the children of adults who use our services

  • to provide staff and volunteers, as well as children and young people and their families, with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection.

This policy applies to anyone working on behalf of Norhi, including senior managers, paid staff, volunteers, sessional workers, agency staff and students.

Legal framework

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in the United Kingdom. A summary of the key legislation is available from nspcc.org.uk/learning.

Policy

We believe that:

  • children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind

  • we have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, to keep them safe and to practise in a way that protects them.

We recognise that:

  • the welfare of children is paramount in all the work we do and in all the decisions we take

  • all children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation have an equal right to protection from all types of harm or abuse

  • some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues

  • working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

On the Norhi Platform:

  • having a safe and confidential method for children to report problems which is constantly monitored via our Q&A box in lessons and Problem Reports on the Norhi platform

  • making sure that children, young people and their families know where to go for help if they have a concern

  • ensuring that any concerns are escalated to the appropriate authorities

  • valuing, listening to and respecting children

  • appointing a nominated child protection lead for children and young people, a deputy and a lead trustee/board member for safeguarding

  • adopting child protection and safeguarding best practice through our policies, procedures and code of conduct for staff and volunteers

  • developing and implementing an effective online safety policy and related procedures

  • providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support, training and quality assurance measures so that all staff and volunteers know about and follow our policies, procedures and behaviour codes confidently and competently

  • recruiting and selecting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made

  • recording, storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance

  • using our safeguarding and child protection procedures to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving children, young people, parents, families and carers appropriately

  • using our procedures to manage any allegations against staff and volunteers appropriately

  • creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment and ensuring that we have a policy and procedure to help us deal effectively with any bullying that does arise

  • ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in place

  • ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for our children, young people, staff and volunteers, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance

  • building a safeguarding culture where staff and volunteers, children, young people and their families, treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns

  • requiring all student accounts to be linked to a supervisor account.

During our in-school programme sessions:

  • all Norhi employees who attend a school in person hold a valid enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) certificate; evidence of certification is available to schools on request

  • Norhi personnel on school premises will at all times comply with the school’s own safeguarding, visitor and behaviour policies

  • the school retains full safeguarding responsibility for pupils during all programme sessions; Norhi’s programmes are facilitated by the school’s own designated teacher

  • any safeguarding concern identified by Norhi personnel will be reported immediately to the school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) in line with the school’s procedures and with Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2024

  • the in-app leaderboard is visible only to pupils within the same school cohort; no pupil’s personal data is visible to users outside their cohort

  • there is no direct messaging or unsupervised interaction between pupils within the platform

Staff safeguarding

We take the safeguarding of our staff seriously. Any harassment, abuse, bullying or discrimination directed towards a member of the Norhi team is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Reports of any such instances will be investigated and may result in the termination of the relevant contract or engagement.

Contact details

Nominated child protection lead

Name: Vedika Harribarran

Email: vedika@norhi.io

Deputy child protection lead

Name: Jim Tang

Email: jim@norhi.io

NSPCC Helpline 0808 800 5000

This policy statement came into force on 23 February 2026. We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually. This policy statement and accompanying procedures were last reviewed on 22 April 2026.