SAFEGUARDING POLICY
Next Level Rugby believes that children have the right to be completely secure from both the fear and reality of abuse, and we are committed to safeguarding all the children in our care from harm.
Next Level Rugby will endeavour to safeguard children’s welfare by:
- Being familiar with child protection guidelines and the procedures outlined in ‘What to do if you’re worried that a child is being abused’.
- Making sure that children and parents are informed of the policy and procedures and regularly review them.
- Taking all allegations of abuse seriously
Recognising Child Abuse and Neglect
Child abuse manifests itself in a variety of different ways, some overt and others much less so. A person may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting harm, or by failing to act to prevent harm. Children and young people may be abused in a family or in an institution or community setting; by those known to them or, more rarely by a stranger.
Physical Abuse: This involves hitting, shaking, throwing, burning, suffocating or any other physical harm. Deliberately causing a child’s ill health also constitutes physical abuse.
Sexual Abuse: This involves forcing or enticing a child to take part in sexual activities, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including penetrative or non-penetrative acts. Showing children pornographic materials, sexual activities, or encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways also constitutes sexual abuse.
Emotional abuse: Varying degrees of emotional abuse is present in virtually all child protection incidents, but can also constitute abuse in its own right. Emotional abuse involves persistent or severe emotional ill treatment or torture causing, or likely to cause, severe adverse effects on the emotional stability of a child. Such behaviour may involve conveying to a child that they are worthless, unloved, or inadequate, or making them feel unnecessarily frightened or vulnerable.
Neglect: Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical, emotional or psychological needs, such as is likely to have a severe impact on their health, development or emotional stability. Neglect may involve failing to provide adequate food, shelter or clothing for a child, or failing to adequately protect them from physical harm or ill health Neglect can also manifest itself in a failure to meet the basic emotional needs of child.
Child Protection Officer
At Next Level Rugby the Child Protection Officer is Peter Talbot. The role of the child protection officer is to:
- Attend appropriate training as identified by The Rugby Football Union (RFU)
- Share Information with staff
- Access information and liaise with outside agencies to ensure information is up-to-date
- Collate information where there are concerns regarding a child
- Refer to the appropriate authorities i.e. School, Club, Ofsted, Social care
What to do if a child discloses
Where a child makes a disclosure to a staff member, they must:
- Listen Carefully
- Take it seriously
- Reassure the child that they are right to tell
- Not ask leading questions
- Explain what will happen next
At no point will a staff member make promises to the child that they can not keep such as, I won’t tell anyone.
The staff member must record the conversation in the child’s words making sure they include:
- Date of the disclosure/concern.
- Date and time of the record being made.
- Name and date of birth of the child/ren.
- Gender
- The child’s address
- A factual report of what happened- recorded in the words of the child, as told.
- A note of any other people involved.
- Printed name of the person making the record and job title.
- Signature.
The Designated Child Protection Officer should be informed and given the record. They will then decide if they need to contact Social Care and/or the police, or make a referral.
The designated Child Protection Officer will also inform the school and Ofsted as soon as conveniently possible.
All records will be treated as highly confidential and they will be stored in a locked cupboard with access only for the Child Protection Officer.
Not all child protection information results in a referral, but small pieces of information may be significant on their own to create a wider picture.
Next Level Rugby main intention is always to work with the parents/carers and seek consent for information to be shared unless doing so places the child at increased risk of significant harm.
If staff feel that the incident has not been adequately followed up, they have a right to call Social Care themselves.
When abuse at home is suspected, Next Level Rugby will continue to welcome the child and the family while investigations proceed.
The organisation recognises that staff members involved in Safeguarding issues will find it distressing and therefore, will offer appropriate support and guidance.
Allegations against staff members and volunteers
If a staff member is concerned over a colleague’s/volunteer’s behaviour towards a child/ren they have a duty to report this to the designated Child Protection Officer.
The designated Child Protection Officer will listen to the member of staff and record the allegations.
If an allegation of any form of child abuse is made by a child against a member of staff or volunteer the designated Child Protection Officer will record the allegation and contact the parents/ carers.
If an allegation is made against a staff member of the site the same procedures will be carried out.
The designated Child Protection Officer will report the allegation to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) and Ofsted. The LADO will advise if other external/internal agencies (e.g. police) should be informed, and we will act upon the advice given to ensure that any investigation is not jeopardised.
A full investigation into the allegations will be carried out to include:
- How the allegations were followed up and resolved
- Any actions taken
- Decision reached
A copy of this investigation will be given to the accused staff member and a copy will be stored on file.
If an allegation is made against a member of staff, it will be factually recorded in the Incident Book stating the actions taken. All witnesses to the incident should sign and date the entry to confirm it.
If an allegation made by a child is deemed to be false the designated Child Protection Officer will still refer the matter to the Children’s Safeguarding and Social Care services as the child concerned may be abused by someone else.
If the allegation by child or member of staff is found to be deliberately invented or malicious then disciplinary action will be taken and in some cases the police will be informed.
Staff Support and Training
Next Level Rugby is committed to ensuring that it meets its responsibilities in respect of child protection through the provision of support and training to staff. Therefore, Next Level Rugby will ensure that:
- All staff have child protection training and will be vigilant to signs and evidence of physical, sexual and emotional abuse or neglect.
- All staff, students and volunteers are carefully recruited, have verified references and have full and up to date enhanced Criminal Record Bureau checks.
- All staff and volunteers are given a copy of the Child Protection policy during their induction, and have its implications explained to them.
- All staff are aware of the main indicators of child abuse.
- All staff are aware of their statutory requirements in respect of the disclosure or discovery of child abuse and the procedure for doing so. All students and volunteers are instructed to report the disclosure or discovery of abuse to the Head Coach.
- Next Level Rugby will take appropriate action in relation to the findings of any investigation into allegations of abuse, consistent with its duties to protect the safety of children and up hold fair processes for staff, students and volunteers.
Safe Caring
All staff understand Next Level Rugby’s child protection procedures and have attended appropriate training courses.
- Every effort will be made to avoid or minimise time when members of staff, students or volunteers are left alone with a child. If staff are left alone with a child, the door of the room should be kept open and another member of staff should be informed.
- Staff will never carry out a personal task for children that they can do for themselves. Where this is essential, staff will help a child whilst being accompanied by a colleague. Unless a child has a particular need, staff should not accompany children into the toilet.
- Staff will be mindful of how and where they touch children, given their age and emotional understanding. Unnecessary or potentially inappropriate physical contact will be avoided at all times.