Working with Children and Young People: From Casting to Wrap

Paul Byrne

Chaperone & Tutor

Paul is an experienced tutor and chaperone who has worked with young people of all age groups across school, residential, TV, film, and theatre settings. He has a background in education, management and pastoral care, and also works one-to-one with adult dyslexic and autistic students at university.

Paul has been Pastoral Manager for a UK-wide theatre company, Centre Director for numerous large summer schools for overseas students, Head of Year at a large 11-18 secondary school and Vice-Chair of Governors at a successful primary school. He also established the Secondary Education Division at the Manchester office of one of the largest recruitment firms in the UK.

Paul's professional memberships and qualifications include:

• Qualified Teacher Status with tutoring Professional Indemnity Insurance
• Licensed Chaperone with Freelancer Public Liability Insurance
• Designated Safeguarding Lead training
• City & Guilds-accredited Regulatory Compliance training
• NSPCC Protecting Children in Entertainment training
• Associate Member of Dyslexia Guild (ADG/FE)
• Youth Mental Health First Aid training

His extensive experience, qualifications and continued training reflect his commitment to supporting and safeguarding young people in both educational and creative settings.

Arlene De Cruz

Founder, The Children's Production Support Hub

With over 18 years of experience in the creative industries, Arlene initially started working as a chaperone in 2008 before launching her agency, Chaperones and Tutors Limited in 2011, supporting productions across the UK and internationally.

Drawing on her first-hand experience navigating the challenges productions face when working with children, Arlene supports productions with their responsibilities around regulatory compliance.

In 2013, Arlene was part of the working groups responsible for revisions to the English and Scottish Children's Regulations, which she helped deliver across the UK in 2014, collaborating with the Department for Education (DfE), Pact and the BBC.

Recognising the need for standardised training and compliance, she worked with BECTU to launch the Broadcast and Film Chaperones and Tutors branch in 2017. She then brought her experience, expertise and knowledge together into a practical and effective Children’s Regulations course accredited by City & Guilds and the first of its kind.

During lockdown in 2021, Arlene launched the UK’s first ‘one-stop shop’ for production, The Children’s Production Support Hub (CPSH). The hub provides productions with access to everything they need when working with children and young people in the creative industries, all in one place.