Safeguarding Children and Child Protection Policy
Policy Aims:
Providing children and young people with appropriate safety and protection whilst in the care of our theatre school.
All staff/volunteers/adults to make informed and confident responses to specific child protection issues.
This Policy
This policy must be read and understood by all members of staff at Egan Performing Arts. We will make sure this policy is accessible to all staff, parents and students, where appropriate, and will make sure that all teachers / staff members can understand this policy by having regular training and is always accessible.
All staff, volunteers and adults at Egan Performing Arts must adhere to this policy and must understand their duties and responsibilities regarding safeguarding. A copy of this policy will be available at all times. All staff, volunteers and adults have a strict duty never to subject a child to any form of harm or abuse. Failure to adhere to these procedures will be treated as gross misconduct.
Our Responsibility
At Pips Dance Academy we recognise we have a responsibility to protect and safeguard the welfare of all children and young people we work with and have an explicit duty to do so under the Children Act 1989 and 2004 and the Education Act 2002 (England). At Egan Performing Arts we believe that the welfare of the child is of paramount importance. That no child should be treated any less favourably than others in accessing services that meet their needs and that all children without exception have the right to protection from abuse regardless of their gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality or beliefs.
A ‘child’ is anyone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday. The fact that a child has reached 16 years of age, is living independently, in further education, or working does not change his/her entitlement to services or protection as a child. Our guidelines apply to all children and young people until their 18th birthday. This therefore means that anyone in the dance school who is over the age of 18 is classed as an adult and therefore should adhere to the policies as an ‘adult’.
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people means:
Protecting children from maltreatment, preventing impairment of a child’s health or development,
ensuring that children are growing up with the provision of safe and effective care and taking action to ensure that children have the best life chances.
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At Egan Performing Arts we will do this by:
• Identifying and responding to concerns about a child or young person
• Providing a safe and happy dance environment
• Having policies available on the website and accessible at any time
• Thinking about equality and diversity and representation and support in your school
• Using safer recruitment strategies such as all staff having DBS check and references before they join your team
At Egan Performing Arts all concerns and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously. It is the responsibility of all staff, volunteers and adults to take steps to protect children, to keep them safe from hazards and to take appropriate action in the event of an accident. It is the responsibility of all staff, volunteers and adults to take reasonable steps to protect children and young people from harm and abuse while in contact with our school and our staff and to report any incident of or suspicion of abuse to the Designated Safeguarding Lead or in their absence directly to the appropriate statutory authority.
Designated Safeguarding Lead
At Egan Performing Arts our designated safeguarding lead is Laura Egan.
Managing Injury
If a child has a physical injury and there are concerns about abuse attention should be sought for the injury first then procedures for referring to children’s social care/ children’s social work services should then be followed. Contacting the emergency services for medical treatment must not be delayed for any reason.
Managing Recruitment
All individuals working at Egan Performing Arts as staff or chaperones and have contact with children and young people are required to hold a valid, clear DBS check. All staff and volunteers will be recruited in line with safer recruitment guidance. No staff will be employed or able to volunteer if they are barred from working with children and in the event of an incident where a member of staff has to be dismissed ( or chooses to leave) because they have harmed a child DBS will be notified.
Managing Allegation
If any member of staff or volunteer has concerns about the behaviour or conduct of another individual within the organisation the nature of the concern should be reported to Laura Egan the school principle and designated safeguarding lead. The member of staff who has a concern or to whom the allegation or concern is reported should not question the child or investigate further. Laura Egan will report the matter to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO). If allegation or concern is raised about a member of staff, outside of work, this may still present a risk of harm to children for whom that member of staff is responsible and as such the general principles of this policy still apply.
Harm to Children
Everybody working with children at Egan Performing Arts must be alert to the needs of children and the risk of harm. All staff, volunteers and adults should be able to recognise, and know how to act upon evidence that a child’s health or development is being impaired or that a child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. At Egan Performing Arts we will make every effort to protect children from harm when they are visiting our setting/ attending our classes.
We Will Ensure:
Appropriate recruitment and selection procedures.
Provision of safeguarding training for all staff and volunteers.
Ensuring all staff and volunteers hold clear current DBS checks.
We will take all reasonable steps to ensure health safety and welfare for all those who access our organisation.
We will take all practicable steps to ensure that no one working with us or for us would put a child in a situation of unreasonable risk to their health and safety.
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We will not harm or abuse children within our care and will take all reasonable steps to ensure no one working with us or around us within the community could harm or abuse a child in our care. We will ensure good reporting to our Designated Safeguarding Lead and onward to children’s social care wherever we suspect harm and will foster an environment of good communication, transparency and trust.
Staff will not communicate with students on social media platforms in a private manner. Laura Egan owns Whatsapp groups for parents that are used to share appropriate class information. Footage of children from class shared in these groups must remain there and not be shared with parents out side of the group if pictures contain footage of other children.
All staff, volunteers and adults have a strict duty to never subject a child or young person to any form of harm or abuse. Failure to adhere to these procedures will be treated as gross misconduct. During the admissions process relevant contact and medical information shall be collected and access to emergency information will be available to teaching staff and volunteers at every session.
Where We Suspect Harm and Abuse
Every member of staff has a duty to be alert to the signs of harm and abuse.
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Where they have concerns, these should be recorded carefully and accurately.
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All concerns should be discussed with the Egan Performing Arts designated safeguarding lead. A decision shall then be made regarding sharing this concern onward to children’s social care/ children’s social work services or the police. Where possible and only if it is safe to do so the teacher who has the concern or the designated safeguarding lead should let the parent / carer of that child know if they intend to raise that concern with children’s social care/children’s social work services and they should seek their permission to share information.
In the absence of the designated safeguarding lead, all concerns should be shared directly with children’s social care/ children’s social work services.
The LADO for Ealing is:
Natalie Cernuda, contactable via asv@ealing.gov.uk or 07890940241 during business hours.
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All information sharing must be Data Protection act and GDPR compliant. Sharing must be discrete, appropriate, honest and accurate but it is important for all staff and volunteers to be aware GDPR and Data Protection law does not create a barrier to sharing safeguarding information and all concerns MUST be shared with the DSL and children’s safeguarding as necessary.
Recognising Harms and Abuse
Below are the definitions of harm to children and young people use these to help you recognise harm and ensure you cause no harm.
Physical abuse: A form of abuse that may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of or deliberately causes illness in a child.
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Emotional abuse: The persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development. It may involve conveying to children that they are worthless, unloved, inadequate, or valued in so far as they meet the needs of another person only, deliberately silencing them or ‘making fun’ of what they say or how they communicate. It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. These may include interactions that are beyond the child’s developmental capability, as well as the over protection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child from participating in normal social interaction. It may involve seeing or hearing the Ill treatment of another. It may involve serious bullying (or cyber bullying), causing children to frequently feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, although it may occur alone.
Sexual abuse: Involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example rape or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing rubbing, touching outside of clothing. They may also include non contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse (including via the internet). Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children.
Neglect: The persistent failure to meet a child’s physical and/ or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development. Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse. Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to: provide adequate food, clothing, and shelter (including exclusion from home and abandonment); protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger; ensure adequate supervision (including the use of inadequate care givers); ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment. It may also include an unresponsiveness to a child’s basic emotional needs.
If A Child Tells Us They Have Experienced Harm and Abuse:
Always listen to what the child has to say with an open mind
Do not ask leading or probing questions
Never stop a child who is talking freely about significant events
Make a note of the discussion, taking care to record the timings, setting and people present, as well as what was said
Do not ask children to make a written statement
Never promise a child that what they have told you may be kept secret.
Explain that you have responsibility to share information
Inform the DSL for your organisation immediately.
Where We Believe Another Teacher Or Responsible Adult Has Harmed A Child
If any member of staff, volunteer or adult has concerns about the behaviour or conduct of another individual within the organisation the nature of the concern should be reported to Pippa Fisher-Coldwell. They will report the matter to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO).
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Pips Dance Academy has a duty of care to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all its students/children whilst taking part in classes and events with our school. We will provide, as far as is reasonably practicable, an environment that is safe and with minimum risk to all who take part.
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Promoting Good Practice
Child abuse can arouse strong emotions in those facing such a situation. It is important to understand these feelings and not allow them to interfere with your judgement about the appropriate action to take. Abuse can occur within many situations including the home, school and outside environments. Some individuals will actively seek employment or voluntary work with young people in order to harm them. A teacher, official or volunteer will have regular contact with young people and be an important link in identifying cases where they need protection. All suspicious cases of poor practice should be reported to the principals.
Good Practice Guidelines
All personnel should be encouraged to demonstrate exemplary behaviour in order to protect themselves from false allegations.
Use of Photographic/filming equipment at events/class
Under no circumstances should inappropriate photographs or film footage of young people be taken. We have requested written parental consent for any photographs or filming that takes place. If any child has a photo taken of them without permission or without them knowing, this will be classed as gross misconduct. No students should use their phone in classes/performances without prior permission granted.
Confidentiality
Every effort will be made to ensure that confidentiality is maintained for all concerned. Information will be handled and disseminated on a need to know basis only.
Bullying
If bullying is suspected, the following actions will take place:
To help the victim and to prevent bullying:
All signs of bullying will be taken very seriously
All children will be encouraged to speak about their concerns. The victim will be helped to speak out and to tell someone in authority.
All allegations will be investigated and actions taken to ensure the safety of the victim.
Victims and alleged bullies will be spoken to separately
Victims will be reassured that they can trust who they are speaking to and they will be helped, but promises must not be made to tell no one else.
Any concerns must be reported to staff immediately so appropriate action can be taken.
Please note that if there are any safeguarding concerns, these must be reported to Laura Egan immediately as the Designated Safeguarding Lead.