6th August 2026
Social Media & Online Presence Policy
1. Purpose
Tara Professional Recruitment Ltd is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects everyone connected with our organisation to share this commitment.
This policy outlines:
The standards we expect when using social media in connection with Tara Professional Recruitment.
How social media and publicly available online information may be considered as part of our safer recruitment and vetting processes.
Our commitment to conducting online searches fairly, proportionately and lawfully.
This policy should be read alongside our Safer Recruitment Policy, Privacy Policy, Data Protection Policy and Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy.
2. Scope
This policy applies to:
Employees.
Temporary workers and agency workers.
Candidates seeking work through Tara Professional Recruitment.
Contractors and consultants.
Anyone representing or acting on behalf of Tara Professional Recruitment.
3. Our Commitment
As an ethical education recruitment agency, we recognise that social media plays an important role in professional networking and communication.
We encourage the responsible use of social media whilst ensuring that:
Children and young people remain protected.
Professional standards are maintained.
Confidential information is safeguarded.
Schools, candidates and clients can have confidence in our recruitment processes.
4. Expected Standards of Social Media Use
Individuals associated with Tara Professional Recruitment are expected to use social media responsibly and professionally.
Users should:
Act honestly and with integrity.
Communicate respectfully and professionally.
Protect confidential information relating to schools, pupils, candidates and clients.
Avoid content that could damage the reputation of schools, education professionals or Tara Professional Recruitment.
Maintain appropriate professional boundaries at all times.
Individuals working in educational settings should not:
Contact pupils through personal social media accounts.
Accept or initiate social media requests with pupils.
Publish photographs or information that could identify children without appropriate authority.
Share confidential school information.
Post material that could reasonably call into question their suitability to work with children.
5. Social Media Searches During Recruitment
In accordance with our commitment to safer recruitment and the principles contained within Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), Tara Professional Recruitment undertakes proportionate online searches of publicly available information as part of our recruitment and vetting process for candidates seeking work in education.
The purpose of these searches is to identify any publicly available information that may be relevant to an individual's suitability to work with children and young people.
Online searches are carried out to:
Support safeguarding responsibilities.
Identify information that may indicate potential safeguarding concerns.
Help verify professional conduct and suitability for employment within education.
Support schools in meeting their safeguarding obligations.
These searches form one element of our wider safer recruitment process and do not replace any statutory pre-employment checks.
6. How Searches Are Conducted
Our online searches:
Are limited to publicly available information.
Do not require access to private accounts.
Never involve requesting passwords or access credentials.
Are undertaken consistently and fairly.
Focus only on information relevant to safeguarding, professional conduct and suitability to work with children.
Are carried out in accordance with UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and recognised safer recruitment best practice.
Searches may include publicly available information from:
Search engines.
Professional networking platforms.
Public social media profiles.
Public news articles.
Other publicly accessible online content.
We do not monitor candidates' ongoing social media activity after registration unless a safeguarding concern is reported or further checks become necessary during the course of an assignment.
7. Fairness and Equality
Tara Professional Recruitment is committed to ensuring that online searches are conducted fairly, consistently and without discrimination.
We will not make recruitment decisions based upon:
Protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.
Lawful political opinions.
Religious beliefs.
Lifestyle choices unrelated to safeguarding or professional suitability.
Other personal information that is not relevant to the role.
Where publicly available information raises a genuine safeguarding or professional concern, candidates will normally be given an opportunity to explain or clarify the information before any recruitment decision is made, unless exceptional safeguarding circumstances apply.
8. Confidentiality and Data Protection
Information identified during online searches will:
Be handled confidentially.
Only be shared where necessary for safeguarding or recruitment purposes.
Be retained only in accordance with our Privacy Policy and applicable data protection legislation.
Be accessible only to authorised personnel involved in the recruitment process.
9. Reporting Online Concerns
Employees, candidates and workers who become aware of social media content that raises safeguarding concerns should report this immediately to Tara Professional Recruitment.
Concerns will be assessed and, where appropriate, referred in accordance with our Safeguarding and Safer Recruitment procedures.
10. Policy Review
This policy will be reviewed annually, or sooner where there are changes to legislation, statutory guidance, APSCo compliance standards or Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance.
Related Policies
Safer Recruitment Policy
Safeguarding Policy
Privacy Policy
Data Protection Policy
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy
Code of Conduct