Code of Conduct for Adults Working with Children and Young people

Future Asset, part of Didasko Education Company Limited

June 2025

The Purpose and Scope of this Code of Conduct

Purpose

This Code of Conduct outlines the behaviour Didasko Education Company Limited expects from all of our staff and volunteers. This includes trustees, volunteers, interns, students on work placement and anyone who is undertaking duties for the organisation, whether paid or unpaid. This code of conduct applies to all of our projects and activities, including Future Asset, Leavers’ Money Skills and the Library of Mistakes.

The Code of Conduct aims to help us protect children and young people under the age of 18 years from abuse and reduce the possibility of unfounded allegations being made.

Didasko and our project staff are responsible for making sure that everyone taking part in our services follows the Code of Conduct, and that they understand the consequences of inappropriate behaviour.

The Role of Staff and Volunteers

In your role as a volunteer at a Didasko Education Company activity you are acting in a position of authority and have a duty of care towards the children and young people we work with. You are likely to be seen as a role model and are expected to act appropriately.

All staff and volunteers working for Didasko projects, including Future Asset, Leavers’ Money Skills and the Library of Mistakes, along with members of the Didasko Board of Trustees, will hold a valid membership of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme, managed by Disclosure Scotland. If an event includes a guest speaker without a PVG scheme membership, a PVG accredited Didasko staff member / volunteer or a teacher must be present.

Responsibility

You are responsible for:

prioritising the welfare of children and young people
providing a safe environment for children and young people
ensuring equipment is used safely and for its intended purpose
having an awareness of issues to do with safeguarding and child protection and taking action when appropriate.
following our principles, policies and procedures including on child protection & safeguarding, whistleblowing and online safety
staying within the law at all times
modelling good behaviour for children and young people to follow
challenging all unacceptable behaviour and reporting any breaches of the Code of Conduct to the Future Asset CEO or the Didasko CEO.
reporting all concerns about abusive behaviour, following our safeguarding and child protection procedures. This includes behaviour being displayed by an adult or child and directed at anybody of any age.

Rights

You should:

treat children and young people fairly and without prejudice or discrimination
understand that children and young people are individuals with individual needs
respect differences in sex, sexual orientation, culture, race, ethnicity, disability and religious belief systems, and appreciate that all participants bring something valuable and different to the group / organisation
challenge discrimination and prejudice
encourage young people and adults to speak out about attitudes or behaviour that makes them uncomfortable.

Relationships

You should:

promote relationships that are based on openness, honesty, trust and respect
avoid favouritism
be patient with others
exercise caution when you are discussing sensitive issues with children or young people
ensure your contact with children and young people is appropriate and relevant to the work of the project you are involved in
ensure that whenever possible, there is more than one adult present during activities with children and young people
if a situation arises, such as a requirement for first aid, where you are alone with a child or young person, ensure that you are within sight or hearing of other adults.

Respect

You should:

listen to and respect children at all times
value and take children’s contributions seriously, actively involving them wherever possible
respect a young person’s right to personal privacy as far as possible
if you need to break confidentiality in order to follow child protection procedures, it is important to explain this to the child or young person at the earliest opportunity.

Unacceptable behaviour

When working with children and young people, you must not:

allow concerns or allegations to go unreported
take unnecessary risks
smoke, consume alcohol or use illegal substances
develop inappropriate relationships with children and young people
make inappropriate promises to children and young people
engage in behaviour that is in any way abusive including having any form of sexual contact with a child or young person.
let children and young people have your personal contact details (mobile number, email or postal address) or have contact with them via a personal social media account other than where contact is specifically requested by a student who is 16 years of age or over via LinkedIn for business purposes only
act in a way that can be perceived as threatening or intrusive
patronise or belittle children and young people
make sarcastic, insensitive, derogatory or sexually suggestive comments or gestures to or in front of children and young people.

Upholding this Code of Conduct

You should always follow this Code of Conduct and never rely on your reputation or that of our organisation to protect you.

If you have behaved inappropriately, you will be subject to our disciplinary procedures. Depending on the seriousness of the situation, you may be asked to leave Future Asset (Didasko Education Limited). We may also make a report to statutory agencies such as the police and/or the local authority child protection services.

If you become aware of any breaches of this code, you must report them to the Future Asset CEO or Didasko CEO. If necessary, you should follow our Child Protection and Safeguarding policy and procedures.

Contacts

Nominated Child Protection Lead

Name: Helen Bradley

Email: helen@futureasset.org.uk

Phone: (+44) 7932 072 840

Nominated Board Member with responsibility for Child Protection

Name: Tony Foster

Email: tony@didaskoeducation.org

We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually.

Code of Conduct updated 2 June 2025

Didasko Education Company Limited

Correspondence address: 33 Melville Street, Edinburgh, EH3 7JF