Policies and finances

Overview

As an organisation, Stay At School is committed to openness and transparency. It is of vital importance to us that we are accountable to all of our staff, volunteers, donors, supporters and beneficiaries. This page provides details and links to help you understand the vision and values that guide what we do and how we do it; and, the standards and benchmarks against which we measure ourselves and others.

Governance

Stay At School is a registered UK charity (1173685) overseen by a Board of Trustees according to our governing document. The Trustees have ultimate responsibility for the charity and its activities. They are appointed because of their commitment to Stay At School and their outstanding experience and skills. The Board meets at least four times per year, with all Trustees maintaining a strong interest in the ongoing operations related to their particular specialist areas.

Delivery activities in Nepal are led by a local NGO, Stay At School Nepal, which is subject to the scrutiny of its own Executive Committee along with local administrative and legislative requirements.

Child protection

Stay At School works to advance the education of children and young people in Solukhumbu and wider Nepal by providing and developing infrastructure, facilities, and other educational services to improve the attendance, attainment and well-being of pupils; enabling them to achieve their fullest potential and create opportunity for themselves and others.

We are committed to child protection and believe that it requires everyone to take responsibility. We recognise that the care, protection and welfare of children is paramount and that all children have the right to be protected from all types of harm. We have a fundamental duty of care towards all children where our programmes and operations facilitate contact with children or have an impact on children.

We have robust child protection and welfare policies in place which reflect statutory guidance and best practice with safeguarding. All staff and volunteers receive guidance on this policy. See our safeguarding policy here.

We have a zero-tolerance approach to any breach of our child protection and welfare policies and are committed to learning continually and improving in order to to ensure the highest standards of behaviour by all associated with Stay At School both here in the UK and in Nepal.

Finances

Stay At School’s financial system is designed to maintain high levels of accountability and transparency. It is underpinned by a series of robust internal controls and the sound maintenance of financial records. We operate an open and accountable system in order to sustain the trust of both our funders and our beneficiary communities and individuals. See here for full details of our financial policies and systems.

Anti-bribery policies

Stay At School recognises its duty to comply with the Bribery Act 2010 and is committed to the implementation of anti-bribery policies and procedures. We attach the utmost importance to these policies and procedures and apply a zero-tolerance approach to acts of bribery and corruption by any of our Trustees, employees, volunteers or partners working on our behalf.

Measurement

We are strongly committed to strengthening our ability to capture and communicate our effectiveness, to learn what does and does not work in our efforts to advance the education of children and young people in Solukhumbu and wider Nepal.