The Annual Declaration is an important part of our process for ensuring that staff across the Acer Trust are aware of the required statutory information and training.
The activities can be done over time. However, the actual Declaration Form must only be submitted once, so please ensure you have completed all the activities before completing the Declaration Form.
You must be aware of what is in the Safeguarding Policy.
Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy (DRAFT)Please note, this policy has been updated in line with KCSiE 2025 and Oxfordshire County Council guidelines. Once approved by the Board of Trustees and adopted by the School Governing Body, the Policy will be circulated to all school staff. You will not need to read it in full again, as we will provide a summary of any changes from this draft version.
If you experience an adult in school behaving in a way that is of concern, this must be reported. This policy tells you how. You must be aware of its contents.
You must read the specific information regarding named staff for the school(s) that you work in.
You must complete the online training module (that ensures that you have read the key parts of Keeping Children Safe In Education) including taking the quiz at the end.
Please note that, as of September 2025, you will need to log into Atlas using your work email address. If you have any difficulty logging in, please contact the HR Team.
This gives some practical reminders of behaviours for staff. You must read this.
You must read this guidance relating to sexual harassment in the workplace.
Sexual Harassment Guidance Note
This has some useful reminders about safe use of school IT and data. All staff must read this.
IT & Data Acceptable Use Policy
If you are concerned about wrongdoing or misconduct in the organisation, you should report this. This procedure tells you how. You must be aware of it.
If you are a member of TEG, a Governor or a Trustee, you must complete an Annual Declaration via GovernorHub annually.
If you are not a member of TEG, a Governor or a Trustee, please read the following:
Do any of the following apply to you:
A close family member works for a company that provides, or may provide, services to the school/Trust.
An individual or close family member owns a business that sometimes does work for the school/Trust.
An individual is in a relationship with another member of staff, a governor, trustee or Member.
An individual also sits on the governing board of another school or trust.
An individual's child attends the school at which they work, or another school within the Trust (if your child is sitting GCSE or A Level exams at your school, you will also need to respond under Activity 11.
Then you need to complete the Declaration of Interests Form.
This policy gives an overview of what schools should have in place. Staff are asked to be aware of it. Specific information on health & safety, such as what to do if the Fire Alarm sounds, is covered separately in staff meetings and the staff handbook.
Everyone who drives to or from work, or uses their vehicle for work needs to read pages 1-4 of the Driving at Work Policy
Please note that any employee who uses their own car to do journeys in connection with their work must be covered for business use on their insurance policy. This may include regularly driving to a meeting, undertaking regular Work Experience visits, taking mail to the Post Office, picking up something for any school purpose, etc. It is likely that most employees will require a “Business use” endorsement on their motor insurance. This is not mandatory and we cannot offer to pay any extra premium (many companies will give it free if you stress it is for ‘occasional use’) and you can ask for this at the renewal of your insurance.
Where a journey is considered a one-off, the Trust’s motor insurance policy may be utilised. Your School Business Manager/HR Team/Health & Safety Manager will be able to advise you in this instance.
In addition to reading the Driving at Work Policy, if you are a regular user, e.g. you work across more than one site in our Trust, you need to complete Driving at Work Form. You do not need to do this if you occasionally drive for work e.g. for a one-off course, or you only drive for your commute.
This section is for staff who work in a Secondary School. This includes all invigilators, and Central Team staff who ever work in one of our Secondary Schools. You should not complete this section if you work in a Primary School.
You must read the following:
Each exam centre must (under JCQ Guidelines Section 5.3j):
any member of centre staff taking at your own centre (school) qualifications which includes internally assessed components/units;
any members of centre staff who are teaching and preparing members of their family (which includes son/daughter, step-family, foster family and similar close relationships) or close friends and their immediate family (eg sons/daughters) for qualifications which include internally assessed components/units.
2. Maintain an internal records of all instances where:
exams office staff have members of their family (which includes step-family, foster family and similar close relationships) or close friends and their immediate family (e.g. son/daughter) being entered for examinations and assessments either at the centre itself or other centres;
centre staff are taking qualifications at their own centre which do not include internally assessed components
centre staff are taking exams at another centre
In the Annual Declaration, you will be asked to give details if any of the above exam situations applies to you.
Now you have done all the reading/ completing specific forms/ training, please complete the Annual Declaration Form to confirm this.
Complete the Annual Declaration
If you have any questions about the Annual Declaration, or any of the above documents or activities, your HR link will be able to help. Please reach out to them using the following details:
hrnorth@acertrust.org.uk (Cooper and Glory Farm)
hrsouth@acertrust.org.uk (Chalgrove, Icknield, Stadhampton and Watlington)
hrwest@acertrust.org.uk (Botley, Matthew Arnold and Wood Green)
hr@acertrust.org.uk (Central Team)
Acer Trust Arnolds Way Oxford OX2 9JE