Our annual letter for schools about Safeguarding and Quality Assurance arrangements for our Associate tutors / music leaders and organisations is here

Wiltshire Council and GSW Swindon & Wiltshire  remind all schools that Associates are freelance individuals or independent organisations. As such, it remains the responsibility of your school to check that any Associates you are working with meet your school’s safeguarding requirements and other quality related matters.

If your school needs us to provide a specific email confirming that tutors XXX, YYY and ZZZ are Associates and complying with our requirements, that’s fine but we will need their names. please contact admin@smscio.co.uk  It still remains your responsibility to check with the individuals themselves.

If someone has told you that they are an Associate or that they are working for an Associate organisation, but you can’t find them listed in the directory please contact admin@smscio.co.uk

GSW Swindon & Wiltshire checks and requires evidence that Associate’s personal information and documentation is up to date, runs annual DBS Update Service status checks, and requests a self-declaration statement to be signed on an annual basis. If this evidence is not provided, and the Associate does not keep in contact regarding their work in Wiltshire, their Associate status is terminated, and they are removed from the directory.

If you have referred an Associate to your DSL or LADO please also contact GSW Swindon & Wiltshire as this may affect their status as an approved Associate. GSW Swindon & Wiltshire  DSL is Peter Clark pclark@smscio.co.uk and the DDSL is Lynn Hawkins lhawkins@smscio.co.uk