Safeguarding Policy

Activate Rawmarsh

 

Safeguarding Policy Children and Young People

 

Activate Rawmarsh supports children, young people and families in Rawmarsh and the surrounding area.  The charity seeks to serve the needs of children and young people, promoting holistic development and in doing so takes seriously the welfare of all children and young people who are involved in activities run by the organisation.  This policy covers all children under 18 – a separate policy covers adults.

 

Activate Rawmarsh aims to ensure that they are welcomed into a safe, inclusive, caring environment with a happy and friendly atmosphere.  Activate Rawmarsh recognises that it is the responsibility of each one of its Board, staff, paid and unpaid, to prevent the abuse of children and young people and to report any discovered or suspected abuse or neglect.

 

This policy is to be read by all staff, volunteers and Trustees and provides an overarching commitment to keeping children safe.

 

Child Protection is:

– a part of safeguarding and promoting welfare

– to protect specific children who are suffering or are at risk of suffering significant harm

All agencies and individuals should aim to proactively safeguard and promote the welfare of children so that the need for action to protect children from harm is reduced.

 

 

Activate Rawmarsh recognises its responsibility to implement, maintain, and regularly review this policy and procedures, which are designed to prevent and to be alert to such abuse.  Details of the different types of abuse are in the Safeguarding Procedures for Children and Young People.

 

Activate Rawmarsh is committed to supporting, resourcing and training those who work with children and young people and to providing supervision.   Project Co-ordinators will produce a training plan for their area by the end of October each year for the following calendar year.  Details are in the Safeguarding Procedures for Children and Young People

 

A notice will be displayed at each entrance to the building giving details of the designated Child Protection Officers (CPO) with whom concerns can be raised.  Procedures for disclosures and reporting are in the Safeguarding Procedures for Children and Young People together with our Cause of Concern Form.

 

This Safeguarding Policy and Procedures will be reviewed on an annual basis.

 

All the procedures for the implementation of this policy including recruitment, selection and training of staff and volunteers etc are documented separately in Safeguarding Procedures.

 

Other related policies include:

  • Recruitment and selection Policy
  • Whistle-blowing Policy
  • Volunteer Policy
  • Health & Safety Policy
  • Core standards of behaviour

 

 

 

 

Contact names and numbers

 

Designated Child Protection Officers for Activate Rawmarsh:

Leomi White (Project Co-ordinator)

Diane Brownett (Chair of Trustees)

Caroline Langston (Centre Development Manager)

Contact telephone number: 01709 719478

 

NSPCC 08088005000

Childline 08001111

 

MASH (Multiagency safeguarding Team) 01709 336080 (local authority)

 

 

Legislation and Guidance

(From NSPCC website https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/child-protection-system/england#skip-to-content)

The Children Act 1989 provides the legislative framework for child protection in England. Key principles established by the Act include:

  • the paramount nature of the child’s welfare
  • the expectations and requirements around duties of care to children.
  • This is strengthened by the Children Act 2004, which encourages partnerships between agencies and creates more accountability, by:
  • placing a duty on local authorities to appoint children’s services members who are ultimately accountable for the delivery of services
  • placing a duty on local authorities and their partners to co-operate in safeguarding and promoting the wellbeing of children and young people.
  • the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel was established to review and report on serious child protection cases that are complex or of national importance (Sections 12 to 15).
  • the previous model of Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards (LSCBs) has been replaced by local safeguarding partners who will publish reports on local safeguarding practice reviews (Section 17).
  • child death review partners are required to review each death of a child normally resident in their area and identify matters that are relevant to public health and safety and children locally (Section 24).
  • local authorities must appoint personal advisers for care leavers up to the age of 25 (Section 3).
  • Social Work England is created as a regulatory body for the social work profession in England (Section 36).
  • relationships education will be provided to primary school children and relationships and sex education will be provided (instead of sex education) in secondary schools (Section 34).

 

 

This Safeguarding Policy and Procedures will be reviewed on an annual basis.

 

Signed:

 

 

Caroline Langston 27/10/22