This policy applies to all Trustees, Committee Members, Members of the Society, volunteers and anyone engaged by the Society to act or work on its behalf.
This purpose of this policy
- To ensure that all young people who take part in the activities of our Society are kept safe,
- To provide adults working with the Society overarching principles that will guide our approach to safeguarding and child protection.
Legal framework
This policy has been drawn up based on relevant law and guidance, including
- Children Act 1989
- Children Act 20014
- Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
- Protection of Freedoms Act 2012
- Data Protection Act 2018
- Working Together to safeguard children 2018
Principles
- All children and young people (by which we mean people under the age of 18) have the right to be safe from all types of harm and abuse.
- We are committed to ensuring that children and young people who take part in the activities of our Society have a safe and positive experience.
- Safeguarding children and young people is the responsibility of all Members of the Society.
We will seek to keep young people safe by:
- Valuing, respecting and listening to them
- Promoting a culture in which all members of the Society feel welcome and supported
- Appointing a member of the Society to be the designated safeguarding lead for children and young people, and ensuring that the identity and role of this person is understood by members of the Society
- Ensuring that arrangements we make for Society activities, such as choosing rehearsal venues, travel arrangements and publicity images are made with health and safety, and safeguarding considerations in mind
- Recording and storing information about all members of the society safely and in accordance with Data Protection Act 2018
- Following the West Midlands safeguarding procedures to respond to any safeguarding concerns about a child or young person involved in the Society, or concerns about the behaviour of a volunteer or person working for the Society in relation to a child or young person.
Contact details
Designated safeguarding lead: DSL@solihullchoral.org.uk
Chair of the committee: Chair@solihullchoral.org.uk
Safeguarding practice guidance.
- Children and Young People joining the society.
New members are asked to complete a short form recording personal information for use in the administration of our activities. For children under the age of 16 the form must be countersigned by their parent or carer, and they should provide a phone number and email address that can used to provide information or seek consent for their child to be involved in activities. Children aged 16 or 17 should be encouraged to provide contact information for their parent or carer.
The membership secretary is responsible for ensuring these contact details are held in society membership records. Records will be held in accordance to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018. This means they will only be made available to members of the society who require them to conduct legitimate business, such as sending out communications to members or securing the return of music.
The membership secretary will also ensure that the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) is made aware of the identity of children and young people who are members.
Young people aged 16 and 17 can arrange their own membership of the society, and may choose not to involve their parents or carers. We can allow them to join most of our activities on the basis of their own consent, however we will encourage them to provide contact information for their parents to be used in an emergency. If a young person declines to provide contact information for their parent or carer the DSL should be made aware of this as occasionally it may indicate that the young person is lacking support at home and may be vulnerable.
We would not normally allow a young person of any age to take part in activities that involve being away from home overnight without the knowledge and consent of their parent or carer.
- Providing a safe environment for children and young people.
When planning rehearsals, concerts, social events and any other activities the society will ensure that consideration is given to ensuring safe access and participation to all our members.
When society activities take place on the premises of a school, or another building where children’s activities are being held, members will use only the parts of the premises being made available for our use and comply with any other requests which have been made to maintain a safe environment for children such as signing in, wearing visitors’ badges etc.
If members of the society offer to assist children under 16 to travel to venues, they must include the child’s parent or carer in making the arrangements. It is advisable to ensure that parents of young people aged 16 or 17 are also included in such arrangements. In an emergency the child/young person’s safety is paramount and if a parent/carer cannot be contacted then a member of the committee should be contacted to discuss a plan to support the child/young person.
If a member of the society, volunteer or anyone engaged by the Society to work on its behalf provides regular support to a young member, it may count as a regulated activity, see safer recruitment guidance below.
- Concerns about a child who is a member of the society
If a member, volunteer or anyone engaged by the Society to work on its behalf has safeguarding concerns about a child or young person who is a member of the society they will share their concerns with the DSL.
The government guidance What to do if you are worried a child is being abused provides advice about what you might see or hear to indicate a child is being abused.
If there are signs the child or young person may be experiencing abuse or neglect the DSL will make a referral to the Local Authority that the child or young person lives in, and will require information from the membership database to do this.
- Concerns about the behaviour of a member of the society, volunteer or anyone engaged by the Society on its behalf in relation to a child or young person.
Any person who is concerned about the behaviour of a society member (including members of the Committee), volunteer or someone engaged by the Society of its behalf in relation to a child or young person, should report their concerns to the chair of the committee, or if they are concerned about the chair, the designated safeguarding lead.
If a concern is raised about the behaviour of a member of the society, volunteer or anyone engaged by the Society on its behalf in relation to a child or young person, then the Chair and/or DSL will consult with the relevant Local Authority Designated Officer for advice and agree a plan on how to investigate.
- Safer Recruitment
Any roles, paid or unpaid, undertaken for the society which involve unsupervised teaching, training, instruction, supervision or driving children for more than 3 days in a 30 period will require 2 satisfactory references and an enhanced DBS check. DBS checks for this purpose can be requested via Making Music which acts as an umbrella agency. Further safer recruitment advice can be found at Safer recruitment | NSPCC Learning.
Date: 1 November 2022
Date for Review: 1 November 2023