Better Schools. Better Futures.
Safeguarding Statement
In any organisation working with children, safeguarding is not one priority among many, it is the foundation on which every other commitment, programme, and relationship must stand.
At the heart
Safeguarding sits at the heart of everything Aprender does. Every child in every school we reach, from Uganda to Sierra Leone, Lebanon to Zambia, Nepal to Brazil, has the right to learn in an environment that is safe, respectful, and free from harm, and we hold ourselves accountable to that right in every classroom, every coaching session, and every partnership we enter into.
To ensure our practice reflects the very highest international standards rather than our own judgement alone, Aprender is a proud member of Keeping Children Safe, the leading global authority on ending child abuse, exploitation, and neglect in organisations, and we align our policies, training, and reporting procedures with their International Child Safeguarding Standards.
More than a policy
Through our membership, we draw on independent expert guidance, peer learning across a global network of safeguarding practitioners, and continually updated resources that shape how we recruit and induct our Apto Fellows, how we train the in-country Apto Coaches who carry our work into schools, and how we listen to and act on any concern raised by a child, family, colleague, or partner.
Safeguarding is not a policy document for us; it is a daily, organisation-wide commitment, and our membership of Keeping Children Safe gives us, and the communities, funders, and partners who trust us, the confidence that we are continually held to the rigorous, child-centred standards every child everywhere deserves.
How we do things
At Aprender, we are committed to providing a safe, healthy and inclusive environment for everyone who works with us or is impacted by our work. We have a robust safeguarding policy supported by training, a code of conduct, and mandatory Disclosure and Barring (DBS) checks.
All coaches and volunteers are trained to recognise and report concerns, even though they do not work directly with children.
We operate a zero-tolerance approach to harm or abuse, investigating all concerns and reporting to authorities where appropriate. Our safeguarding practices are regularly reviewed against UK Government and Charity Commission guidance, overseen by Rhiannon Corlett, our designated Safeguarding and Child Protection trustee. As members of the Keeping Children Safe organisation, we are committed to ensuring our work does no harm and supports safe, healthy development for all children.