Safeguarding Children

and Child Protection Policy

1 Introduction

Southpaw’s policy applies to all Trustees, members of staff, volunteers and freelance workers contracted by Southpaw who will be called ‘staff’ for the purposes of this policy.

2 Southpaw policy statement

Southpaw is committed to safeguarding and protecting the welfare of all children that come into contact with our work. We recognise our responsibilities to take all reasonable steps to promote safe practice and protect children from harm, abuse and neglect. We endeavour to promote the highest standard of care and have developed this safeguarding policy to support personnel (whether employed, volunteers or freelance) putting into practice our organisational commitment.

Southpaw recognises its duty of care to safeguard children as detailed under the Children Act 1989 and 2004 and Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018.

Southpaw believes that:

· The welfare of children is paramount

All children have an equal right to protection from risk of abuse and to be kept safe from harm, regardless of their age, race, religion, nationality or status, ability, gender, language, or sexual orientation/identity or other characteristic.

All concerns and allegations should be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately. Southpaw will ensure that:

All activities involving children are managed in an exemplary manner and of exceptional quality in line with best practice and guidance, with consideration given to risk assessments and risk management as a routine aspect of our work.
Directors, board members, staff, volunteers, contractors and partners are clear about their responsibilities and know how to respond appropriately, supported by good practice in recruitment and procurement.
Sound selection and recruitment procedures and good practice for all individuals working with the organisation whether in a paid or voluntary capacity are in place
Individuals receive support through education and training, to be aware of and understand best practice and how to manage any welfare issues which may come to light.

Southpaw recognises:

· The needs of all children, minority ethnic groups, disabled children and other hard to reach children. We recognise that they may face barriers in terms of communication and access that we need to overcome to ensure their safety. Where necessary we will refer to specialist organisations accordingly, e.g. SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) sector.

It is not the responsibility of directors, board members, staff, volunteers or contractors to determine if abuse has taken place, but it is their responsibility to act upon and report any concerns.

Its commitment to embedding and promoting safeguarding throughout the organisation at every level of operation.

In summary, the purpose of this policy is to:

1. To safeguard and promote the wellbeing of children with whom Southpaw comes in to contact with.

2. To provide everyone with guidance on how they should behave if they are concerned a child may be experiencing or be at risk from abuse or harm.

3. To guide everyone on how to respond to, and report, concerns.

3 Organisational responsibilities

This policy is designed to set out and define how Southpaw can support all children who come into contact with our work to be safe and free from neglect or abuse. In the context of child protection, children and young people refers to anyone under 18 years of age (The Children Act 1989).

We will endeavour to protect and safeguard children by:

Valuing them, listening to and respecting them.

Adopting this policy and adhering to our associated policies and procedures.
Ensuring a robust safer recruitment process including, all necessary checks are made in the recruitment of all Southpaw workers, including trustees, staff, volunteers and contractors.
Ensuring the appropriate permissions and risk assessments are completed and that effective risk management procedures are in place and signed off by the Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL).
Sharing information about our safeguarding and child protection procedures with children, parents, partner organisations, schools, Southpaw staff, directors, board members and contractors so that roles and responsibilities are clear.
Reporting disclosures and other concerns to agencies with responsibility for children and young people, involving children, partner organisations, school staff and parents appropriately.
Providing effective management of staff and volunteers through supervision, support and training.
Maintaining up to date knowledge on best practice, current and forthcoming legislation and procedures.
Embedding and promoting child protection and safeguarding throughout the organisation and partnerships.
Providing information, guidance and training for all Southpaw staff regarding best practices in safeguarding children.

4 Employee responsibilities

Everyone who represents Southpaw (directors, board members, staff, volunteers, contractors and partners) has a responsibility to ensure the safety of children with whom they work, have read, understood and adhere to this policy and other related procedures.

All staff working within Southpaw must:

Read this policy.
Understand the different categories of abuse and neglect and how to recognise the signs (see Appendix 1).
Understand their responsibility to report concerns that a child is being, or at risk of being, abused or neglected. This includes reporting any concerns they may have regarding another member of staff or volunteer’s behaviour towards a child or children.
Know who to contact if they suspect abuse and who the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is.
Carry out a risk assessment for all activity with children and young people using the templates and training provided.
Have effective risk management and reporting systems in place for all activity with children and young people.
Always follow-through on our values commitment to keep children and young people safe from harm.

For information, please find Guidance Notes on Bullying and Good Practice Guidelines in Appendices 2 and 3.

In addition, all Southpaw staff and trustees are required to complete safeguarding awareness training.

5 What to do if you are concerned about a child

Safeguarding children is everyone's responsibility. Safeguarding means protecting children from physical, emotional or sexual abuse or neglect. It also means helping children to grow up into confident, healthy and happy adults.

It is important that everyone in Southpaw is aware that the person who first encounters a case of alleged or suspected abuse is not responsible for deciding whether abuse has occurred. That is a task for the professional child protection agencies following a referral by the Southpaw Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) to them of concern about a child.

If a child or young person discloses to you that abuse or inappropriate behaviour has/may/is taking place you should:

· Listen to the child. Allow them to tell you what has happened in their own way, and at their own pace. Do not interrupt a child who is freely recalling significant events.

· Remain calm. Be reassuring and supportive but try not to respond emotionally.

· Do not ask leading questions. Only ask questions if you are seeking clarification about something they have said. Use TED; Tell, Explain, Describe.

· Make an accurate record of what you have been told, taking care to note any times, dates or locations mentioned. Use the child’s own words.

· Reassure the child they have done the right thing in telling someone and you are glad they told you. Reassure the child that they have not done anything wrong.

· Do not promise to keep their disclosure a secret but reassure the child that you will only share the information with the right people who will be able to help them. Explain what you will do next.

Notify the DSL immediately of any concerns you may have as well as your line manager/project lead.
Notify the person responsible for child safeguarding in the organisation/school that you are working with.

6 Designated Safeguarding Lead

All organisations working with children and young people should have a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) in place.

The DSL will provide a direct point of contact for any staff member or volunteer who has a child protection concern, record any concerns in a clear (and secure) manner, and ensure the appropriate action is taken.

The DSL should also ensure the Child Protection Policy is being fully adhered to.

In incidents where a safeguarding procedure is initiated, the DSL will establish an incident log where they will record any reported incidents or breach of safeguarding policies and procedures. This will be kept in a secure place and its contents will be confidential. Please see Appendix 5 for template.

The Designated Safeguarding Lead for Southpaw is Catherine Johns, they can be contacted on catherine@southpaw.org.uk

If the DSL is not available, staff and volunteers should report to the Deputy DSL who is: Creative Coordinator, Kate Pilbeam. They can be contacted on: Kate@southpawdancecompany.co.uk or 07474 650032.

If neither the DSL nor Deputy DSL is available, advice should be immediately sought from the Children’s Social Care Team in the relevant area, please refer to Appendix 6.

7 Complaints and allegations against staff and volunteers

7.1 Rights and confidentiality

If a complaint or allegation is made against a member of Southpaw staff, they should be made aware of their rights under both employment law and internal disciplinary procedures. This is the responsibility of the Executive Director. Both the alleged abuser and the person who is thought to have been abused have the right to confidentiality under the Data Protection Act (1998). In criminal law the Crown or other prosecuting authority must prove guilt and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Complaints against a representative will always and without exception be investigated. Where there is a complaint against a member of staff there may be three types of investigation:

· A disciplinary or misconduct investigation

A child protection investigation
A criminal investigation

7.2 Internal enquiries and suspension

In the event of an allegation of abuse being made against any Southpaw representative, the individual accused will be suspended following immediate advice by the police and pending further investigations. The temporary suspension of a Southpaw representative in no way implies guilt or innocence. It is a measure intended to protect and reassure both staff and children.

The Executive Director (ED) is responsible for assessing all cases based upon available information. The Southpaw representative against whom an accusation has been made will be required to attend an interview with the ED and a member of the board - or a working group thereof including the DSL as appropriate - as early as possible. Southpaw representatives are entitled to be accompanied to this interview. Minutes will be taken of the interview. The task of the ED with the board is to decide whether the representative should be allowed to continue to work with children on behalf of Southpaw and to agree and oversee an appropriate course of action and decisions in-keeping with the organisation's legal obligations. At all times, the welfare of children will remain of paramount importance.

In all cases where the accusation of abuse is found to be true, the ED will normally terminate the employment, contract or agreement with the individual. Lesser measures may be taken at the discretion of the ED or board and in-keeping with Southpaw terms and conditions of employment and or contract.

Any concern, allegation of actual abuse of a child by an employee, trustee, or volunteer, must be reported to the DSL immediately.

If there are concerns abuse has taken place the Safeguarding Lead will pass this information on the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) for the appropriate area. Please refer to Appendix 6.

The role of the LADO is to give advice and guidance to employers and voluntary organisations, liaise with the police and other agencies and monitor the progress of cases to ensure they are dealt with as quickly as possible consistent with a thorough and fair process.

The Safeguarding Lead will work with the member of staff’s line manager. The Safeguarding Lead and senior manager will also need to refer to the Disciplinary Policy and Procedure and decide whether the member of staff should be suspended pending a full investigation.

If the member of staff is not happy with the response they receive form the Safeguarding Lead regarding their concern, they should refer to Southpaw’s Whistle Blowing Policy or contact the LADO directly.

8 Disclosure and Barring Service checks

8.1 When we DBS check

Some activity delivered by Southpaw staff may fall under ‘regulated’ activity.[1] In this case staff carrying out these roles will require an Enhanced DBS with a check of the barred list.

If staff are not carrying out regular, unsupervised work with children and young people or other vulnerable groups, they will not need a DBS check.

There may be a lower level of check required in some areas of our work where all regulated activity criteria are met apart from the number of times the activity is carried out in a month. Here we will carry out a Standard DBS check.

Decisions about when we DBS check will be made on a case-by-case basis and regularly reviewed.

8.2 Contracted organisations and individuals

All contractors, e.g., freelancers, consultants, and organisations receiving investment, must sign up to following statement:

If the activity involves work with children, young people or vulnerable adults (“vulnerable people” aged 18 and under), you must take all reasonable steps to ensure their safety. You must have an appropriate written policy and set of procedures in place at all times to safeguard vulnerable people. This will include procedures to check backgrounds and disclosures of trustees, employees, volunteers, or contractors who will have significant direct contact with vulnerable people with the Disclosure and Barring Service. You must make a copy of your policy and procedures available to us upon our written request.

8.3 What we do if a positive DBS disclosure

When considering recruiting an individual with a criminal record a fair risk assessment will be carried out considering all factors relating to the role, the criminal record and the level of risk associated with recruiting the individual concerned.

It may be necessary for Southpaw and or the individual and or organisation to seek advice from National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO) https://www.nacro.org.uk/ They will be able to advise whether the conviction is seen as ‘spent’, offer advice on how much information to disclose at what stage and give clear guidance as to Southpaw’s responsibilities and issues relating to confidentiality.

With lead responsibility for child protection the DSL will be informed of the situation, but at this stage does not necessarily need to know who the individual concerned is.

9 The Policy in Practice

9.1 Southpaw Led Projects

Projects managed by Southpaw will be delivered in line with the company’s safeguarding procedure, which will be agreed in advance of the project with the DSL. The Creative Coordinator will ensure relevant health and safety; risk assessment and insurance measures are taken; and gathering documentation such as parent/carer permission, emergency contacts, medical details and photography permission.

A full risk assessment will be carried out (where necessary in collaboration with partners). This will cover health and safety and safeguarding issues and clearly identify responsibility for all issues. All staff and volunteers involved in the project will be given copies of the risk assessment and made aware of any issues and their own responsibility. The Creative Coordinator will ensure that all DBS checking for staff and volunteers has been carried out as deemed necessary.

The Creative Coordinator or responsible adult at each site of any Southpaw activity will maintain an incident book for the purpose of injury or any other significant incident. Where relevant, the incident book will be passed to Southpaw immediately following the cessation of the project.

9.2 Partnership Projects

Where projects are delivered by Southpaw partner organisations, the lead Southpaw team member will ensure that the project will be delivered in line with the partner’s safeguarding procedure. The DSL will ensure that a project agreement will also confirm that each partner is responsible for the DBS checking of all staff and volunteers supervising activity; ensuring the relevant health and safety, risk assessment and insurance measures are taken; and gathering documentation such as parent/carer permission, emergency contacts, medical details and photography permission.

9.2.1 Dealing with situations where a child is in need

Southpaw will take every reasonable step to ensure that children are protected where:

· Our own staff are directly involved in a project or partnership, including young people involved in the governance of our organisation, those in direct communication with us through our services, products and project activities, and those taking part in work placements.

We contract an individual or organisation to work with a school or young people’s setting.
We work in partnership with another organisation.

9.2.2 Concerns

Southpaw staff and volunteers should be aware of the signs and symptoms of abuse and should make sure they can recognise these in the children they come into contact with. (See Appendix 1). Any concern of abuse must be reported in the first instance to the Southpaw DSL and recorded in the Disclosure Log.

· If anyone sees or suspects abuse of a child or young person, they should make the person with lead responsibility for child protection in the partner organisation aware of the problem (e.g., the DSL in schools).

If they suspect that the person with legal responsibility is the source of the problem, they should make their concerns known to another DSL and the Chair of Governors (in schools).
The individual must make a record of what they have witnessed as well as their response and pass this on to the DSL. They must always make their line manager (or project manager) aware of the situation, in case there is a follow-up.

10 Support

Consideration will be given to the kind of support that children, parents and members of staff may need. Use of helplines, support groups and open meetings will maintain an open culture and help the healing process.

The British Association for Counselling Directory is available from The British Association for Counselling, 1 Regent Place, Rugby CV21 2PJ, Tel: 01788 550899

Consideration will be given to what kind of support may be appropriate for the alleged perpetrator.

11 Allegations of previous abuse

Allegations of abuse can be made some time after the event (e.g., by an adult who was abused as a child or by a member of staff who is still currently working with children) and staff should be prepared for this scenario.

Where such an allegation is made by an adult who was abused as a child, staff should refer to the safeguarding policy for vulnerable adults. In the case of a member of staff who is still currently working with children, staff should follow the guidelines above and report the matter to the DSL who will report it to social services or the police. This is because other children may be at risk from this person. Anyone who has a previous criminal conviction for offences related to abuse is automatically excluded from working with children. This is reinforced by the details of the Protection of Children Act 1999.

12 Data Protection

For comprehensive information on data protection, please refer to the Southpaw General Data Protection Regulation Policy and Privacy Statement, however here the information pertains specifically to Child Safeguarding and is therefore outlined below.

Where information of a personal nature from participants or staff is required, it will be treated confidentially and securely stored for the duration necessary only. Where such information is collected, the need will be clearly communicated and only shared with partners as agreed by the parties involved. Data collected is reviewed, deleted or renewed every two years. Data will only be held once a young person is contacted and consent given again to continue holding information whilst ensuring that it remains accurate and up to date.

12.1 Permissions and consents

Written permission from a parent or person with legal parental responsibility must be given for a child or young person to do the following:

· use ICT and internet equipment if under 16.

be photographed or filmed if under 12, recommended if under 16.
take part in activity and projects if under 18.

Use of photographs and video:

· parents or guardians of children and young people will be asked to give their permission for photographs to be taken.

parents or guardians of children and young people must give prior written permission for the use of any photographs or video.
children’s names will not usually accompany photographs. Where they are used, we will have the permission of either their parent or school. Then only first names will be used by Southpaw.

The following template must be used:

Southpaw Photograph and Film Consent Form.

13 Online safety

Because of the increased dangers faced by children online, online safety has been reflected in this policy and in staff training. Based on the systems we have in place, and the commissioning of new systems, we will ensure that appropriate filtering and monitoring systems are in place.

Because we recognise that no filter can block all undesirable material, we take a whole organisation approach that is best practice with regards to online safety. This policy is linked to the Digital Policy covering all aspects of company information technology and internet activity. With regards to online safety and child protection, this policy covers social media, Southpaw’s website and microsites. We will use guidance provided by the UK Safer Internet Centre and will do what is appropriate in terms of Southpaw’s services, products and marketing to ensure that filtering and monitoring measures taken are proportionate to the risk.

13.1 Social media

The Executive Director is responsible for the Digital Policy and Action Plan. The corporate and project use of social media tools are included in this policy in addition to use of IT equipment.
Southpaw staff are never allowed to connect with children they are or have worked with through Southpaw on social media as a ‘friend’ or other connection.
If social media is planned for use in project or activity, a meeting needs to happen with the Executive Director and DSL prior to initiating.
Southpaw contact details will always be included on our social media sites so that any issues or concerns can be reported directly to Southpaw
If you have any concerns regarding content generated by users on social media sites linked to Southpaw, this should be reported to the Data Protection Officer.
Online concerns can also be reported immediately to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) at the same time as the Southpaw Data Protection Officer.

13.2 Southpaw website

Children are advised that they should protect their own privacy online, the Southpaw website includes the Southpaw Privacy Statement.
The Executive Director is responsible for the team that administers the Southpaw website in adherence to this policy.

Policy Review

Southpaw is committed to reviewing this policy and procedures annually or when changes in legislation require it to be updated.

Reviewed 7 June 2024

Reviewed 19th July 2025

[1] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/739154/Regulated_Activity_with_Children_in_England.pdf