Child Safeguarding Policy

Policy Purpose and Aims

Children and young people at CASPA have the right to expect sensitive and empathetic treatment from staff and volunteers. Confidentiality is essential, and information should be shared on a need-to-know basis only. All staff and volunteers must ensure the welfare and safety of all children and young people who access CASPA. Concerns may arise from observations of the child (e.g. injury, behaviour, appearance and nature of play or work produced), or because of something said by the child, another child, or an adult. See Appendix A for definitions of child abuse and neglect and possible signs of radicalisation. All CASPA staff and volunteers must recognise potential risks of harm, abuse, or neglect to children. Concerns should be discussed with your designated person immediately for timely referrals.

Responsibilities of individuals

The Board of Trustees are responsible for reviewing this policy annually and appointing CASPA’s Designated Safeguarding Lead. The Head of Programmes & Services, Elizabeth Mungeam is the Designated Safeguarding Lead who is responsible for

• Implementing the policy and ensuring that all staff/volunteers are aware of, have access to and understand this policy.
• liaising with the Play and Youth Service, LBB teams including Children’s Social Care, The Disabled Children Team, The Bromley Police Child Protection Team, the Local Authority Designated Officer and any other agencies on individual cases of suspected or identified child abuse
• co-ordinating action within CASPA on child protection issues;
• ensuring all staff and volunteers are familiar with the child protection procedures set out in this document;The Senior Programme Delivery Manager, Miranda Webberley is the Deputy Designated Safeguarding lead (DDSL) and is responsible for:
• Ensuring staff and volunteers are aware of their individual responsibilities and know how to report and manage a safeguarding concern
• Acting as first point of contact for staff to report Safeguarding concerns.
• Ensuring parental consent is sought for all children and young people taking part in any on- or off-site activities/events via TeamUp.The HR Officer is responsible for
• Sourcing and coordinating adequate bi-annual Safeguarding training for all staff and volunteers
• ensuring all new starters (staff and volunteers) complete the relevant Safeguarding training during the onboarding process
• keeping an accurate register of completed training recordsAll CASPA staff and volunteers are responsible for:
• Ensuring they have read this Safeguarding Children policy when they join CASPA and when it is updated
• Complying with the policy and their responsibilities
• Making the leadership team aware if they feel this policy is not being followed

Policy Procedures and Guidelines

All CASPA staff and volunteers must report safeguarding concerns to the Programme Delivery Manager or Club and Trip Lead (this depends on who is managing club/trip at the time you raise your concern). They will become the Designated Person for the case. Appendix B details safeguarding staff contact details. If in doubt about any safeguarding concerns, consult with the Programme Delivery Manager or your Club/Trip Lead in the first instance. Do not ignore concerns, even if these are vague. Your first responsibility is to the child. Individual staff and volunteers should not investigate concerns. This is the role of the statutory agencies. However, if a child does say something, it is vital to listen carefully so that it can be reported accurately. As soon as you can, write down your concerns and record the facts accurately onto MyConcern. These notes must be given to your Designated Person immediately and will help to ensure accuracy in recalling events. The Designated Person has login details for MyConcern and can support you with recording your concern. Do not record opinions or interpretations, only stick to the facts of what you have been told or what you observed.

• Listen – do not ask questions or interrogate.
• Remain calm, open and neutral – If you are shocked, upset or angry the child will sense this and this may prevent them from talking further.
• Reassure – The child has done nothing wrong – reassure them it is all right and safe to talk.
• Do not promise to keep it secret – Explain to the child that what they have said cannot be kept secret and that you will tell someone who can help.

The following flowchart outlines how all staff and volunteers report safeguarding concerns:

Safeguarding Process

Once a concern has been identified and reported, a safeguarding process takes place. You may need to take further action, but your designated person will support you. Prompt referral allows more time to support the child and family before the situation becomes severe. If a child is believed to be in immediate danger, the police must be informed – dial 999 for immediate assistance or call the police on 101 if you suspect a crime has been committed. CASPA staff and volunteers will be led by the Local Authority / Council Children’s Team or the Police in all cases. The chart below illustrates an overview of the CASPA Safeguarding Process once a concern has been raised.

Contact with the family

Before speaking to the child’s family, check with your Designated Person, who may seek advice from an external organisation. In cases where a physical injury causes concern, discuss this with the parent/carer. If the explanation suggests the injury was non-accidental (or a failure to protect the child from harm), the parent or carer should be advised to contact Social Care. In cases of possible neglect or emotional abuse, the concern is likely to have built up over time. For possible neglect or emotional abuse, if concerns have accumulated over time and persist despite discussions about help, make an immediate referral to Bromley Children and Families Hub (C&F Hub) in Bromley or whichever borough you are working (see Appendix C). Where there are suspicions of sexual abuse, the Designated Person will seek immediate advice from the Social Care Department before discussing the matter with the family.

Concern about a member of staff or volunteer

If you have concerns regarding the welfare of any child arising from suspected abuse or harassment by another member of staff or volunteer this should be reported immediately to your Designated Safeguarding Lead (or if the concerns are about them then report it to the CEO who then becomes the Designated Person handling the case). Steps will be taken to support anyone who reports concerns about potential child abuse. The designated person will support you to record the allegations. Confidentiality will be prioritised and appropriate support considered for those involved. The Designated Person will report any concerns or allegations regarding a member of staff or volunteer to the LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer) immediately (See Appendix C). Any member of staff or volunteer who wishes to raise a concern outside of the organisation can access confidential advice from LBB Social Care.

Requests for assistance by other agencies

CASPA should assist local authority Social Services or the Police when enquiring about the welfare of children. Information about a child must be shared on a ‘need to know’ basis only. When such requests are received by telephone, always maintain security by checking the telephone listing before calling back and record the conversations directly after they have taken place. Always advise your Designated Person of this contact.

Appendix A

Child abuse and neglect

Child abuse and neglect is a generic term encompassing all ill-treatment of children including serious physical and sexual assaults as well as cases where the standard of care does not adequately support the child’s health or development. Children may be abused or neglected through the infliction of harm, or through the failure to act to prevent harm. Abuse can occur in a family or in an institutional or community setting. The perpetrator may or may not be known to the child. There are four main categories of abuse:

1. Neglect
2. Physical abuse
3. Sexual abuse
4. Emotional abuse

These categories overlap and an abused child does frequently suffer more than one type of abuse.

1. Neglect

Neglect is defined as not meeting a child’s basic physical and psychological needs. It is a form of child abuse that can have serious and long-lasting impacts on a child’s life – it can cause serious harm and even death.

The four main types of neglect are:

physical neglect: not meeting a child’s basic needs, such as food, clothing or shelter; not supervising a child adequately or providing for their safety educational neglect: not making sure a child receives an education

emotional neglect: not meeting a child’s needs for nurture and stimulation, for example by ignoring, humiliating, intimidating or isolating them

medical neglect: not providing appropriate health care (including dental care), refusing care or ignoring medical recommendations.

Neglect can happen at any age, sometimes even before a child is born.

2. Physical abuse

Physical abuse is defined as deliberately hurting a child and causing physical harm. It includes injuries such as: bruises, broken bones, burns, cuts.

It may involve hitting, kicking, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning, scalding, drowning any other method of causing non-accidental harm to a child.

Physical abuse may also happen when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child.

Breast ironing or breast flattening, a practice of using hard or heated objects to suppress or reverse the growth of breasts, is a recognised form of child abuse.

3. Child sexual abuse (CSA)

Sexual abuse is when a child is forced or persuaded to take part in sexual activities. This may involve physical contact or non-contact activities and can happen online or offline. Children and young people may not always understand that they are being sexually abused.Children and young people of any age, including very young children and babies, can experience sexual abuse.

Contact abuse involves activities where an abuser makes physical contact with a child. It includes:

• sexual touching of any part of the body, whether the child is wearing clothes or not
• forcing or encouraging a child to take part in sexual activity
• making a child take their clothes off or touch someone else’s genitals
• rape or penetration by putting an object or body part inside a child’s mouth, vagina or anus.

Non-contact abuse involves activities where there is no physical contact. It includes:

• flashing at a child
• encouraging or forcing a child to watch or hear sexual acts
• not taking proper measures to prevent a child being exposed to sexual activities by others
• making a child masturbate while others watch
• persuading a child to make, view or distribute child abuse images (such as performing sexual acts over the internet, sexting or showing pornography to a child)
• making, viewing or distributing child abuse images
• allowing someone else to make, view or distribute child abuse images
• meeting a child following grooming with the intent of abusing them (even if abuse did not take place)
• sexually exploiting a child for money, power or status (child sexual exploitation).

For more information please visit Child abuse and neglect | NSPCC Learning

4. Emotional abuse

Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional ill-treatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent effects on the child’s emotional development, and may involve:

• Conveying to children that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only in so far as they meet the needs of another person;
• Imposing age or developmentally inappropriate expectations on children. These may include interactions that are beyond the child’s developmental capability, as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction;
• Seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another e.g. where there is domestic abuse;
• Serious bullying, causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger;
• Exploiting and corrupting children.

Some level of emotional abuse is involved in most types of ill-treatment of children, though emotional abuse may occur alone.

Self harm

If a young person is self-harming it may be difficult to start a conversation with them. They might be doing it because they don’t have the words to explain what they’re experiencing.

The reasons children and teenagers self-harm will be different for everyone.They might not be able to name any one reason they’re self-harming.

For many young people, the physical pain is a distraction from the emotional pain they’re struggling with.

Some experiences or emotions can make self-harm more likely in children, including:

• experiencing depression, anxiety or eating problems
• having low self-esteem or feeling like they’re not good enough
• being bullied or feeling alone
• experiencing emotional, physical or sexual abuse or neglect
• grieving or having issues with family relationships
• feeling angry, numb or like they don’t control their lives.

Signs of self-harm in children and teenagers

It can be hard to recognise the signs of self-harm in children and teenagers, but as a parent or carer it’s important to trust your instincts if you’re worried something’s wrong. Signs to look out for can include:

• covering up, for example by wearing long sleeves a lot of the time, especially in summer
• unexplained bruises, cuts, burns or bite-marks on their body
• blood stains on clothing, or finding tissues with blood in their room
• becoming withdrawn and spending a lot of time alone in their room
• avoiding friends and family and being at home
• feeling down, low self-esteem or blaming themselves for things
• outbursts of anger, or risky behaviour like drinking or taking drugs.

For further information please visit Understanding Child Self-Harm & Keep Them Safe | NSPCC

Signs that could indicate a child is being radicalised include:

Radicalisation can be difficult to spot, but signs that could indicate a child is being radicalised include:

• a change in behaviour
• changing their circle of friends
• isolating themselves from family and friends
• talking as if from a scripted speech
• unwillingness or inability to discuss their views a sudden disrespectful attitude towards others
• increased levels of anger
• increased secretiveness, especially around internet use
• accessing extremist material online
• using extremist or hate terms to exclude others or incite violence
• writing or creating artwork promoting violent extremist messages

Appendix B

Appendix C

Bromley LSCB – How to refer a child (bromleysafeguarding.org)

Call: Children’s services (Mon-Fri, 8:30am-5pm): 020 8461 7373 / 7379

Out of hours/weekends/public holidays: 0300 303 8671

Email: Bromley Children and Families Hub (C&F Hub) candfhub@bromley.gov.uk

LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer) Telephone: 0208 461 7775 or 0208 313 4325.

NSPCC Child Protection Help line ‌Telephone: 0808 800 5000 18 or under: 0800 1111

Bromley Police Telephone: 101

Extremism and Radicalisation Contacts

ACT Early Support Line on 0800 011 3764

Anti-Terrorism Hotline on 0880 789 321

London Borough of Bromley Community Safety: prevent@bromley.gov.uk