Safeguarding March 2023
Apr 18, 2024 04:57 PM
Inspire Dance Safeguarding Children Policy
Inspire dance acknowledges its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of every child and young person who has been entrusted to its care and is committed to working to provide a safe environment for all members. A child or young person is anyone under the age of 18 engaged in any club dance activity.
Key principals -
The child’s welfare is and must always be the paramount consideration.
All children and young people have a right to be protected from abuse regardless of their age, gender, disability, race, sexual orientation, faith or belief.
All suspicious and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately.
Working in partnership with other organisations, children and young people and their parents/carers is essential. We acknowledge that every child or person who participates in dance should be able to take part in an enjoyable and safe environment and be protected from poor practice and abuse. Inspire dance recognises that this is the responsibility of every adult involved in our school.
The Safeguarding Children Policy and Procedures applies to everyone involved with Inspire Dance, whether in a paid or voluntary way.
When recruiting new teachers and volunteers and we will:
• Specify what the role is and what tasks it involves.
• Request identification documents and DBS certificate.
As a minimum we will meet and chat with the applicant(s) as a means of interview before appointing them.
All new teachers and volunteers will have this policy and will attend further training if required.
Current dance members who are regularly caring for, supervising, training or being in sole charge of children and young people will be required to provide evidence of a DBS certificate.
It is accepted that Inspire dance aims to prevent people with a history of relevant and significant offending from having contact with children or young people and the opportunity to influence policies or practice with children or young people.
The appointed Welfare Officer at Inspire Dance is Amy Hunnings. The Welfare Officer is the first point of contact for all Inspire Dance members and others regarding concerns about the welfare of any child or young person.
We acknowledge that bullying is a category of abuse. Bullying of any kind is not acceptable at our dance club. If bullying does occur, all participants or parents/carers should be able to tell and know that incidents will be dealt with promptly. Incidents need to be reported to the welfare officer; Amy Hunnings in writing or via an email and a follow up appointment face to face meeting if and when possible, in cases of serious bullying the appropriate disciplinary procedures will be put into place.
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility if you are worried about a child it is important that you report your concerns as soon as possible no matter how small it may seem.
If the issue is one of poor practice the Welfare Officer will either deal with the matter themselves or seek advice through the appropriate channels.
If the concern is more serious where possible the welfare officer will contact the Local Authority first and then contact the Police or Children’s Services.
If the child needs immediate medical treatment the welfare officer will call an ambulance and tell them there is a child protection concern.
If at any time you are not able to contact the Welfare Officer or the matter is clearly serious then you can either:
− Contact the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board
− Contact the Police
− Call the NSPCC 24 hour helpline for advice 0808 800 5000
Review date; March 2023
Next review date; March 2025