This safeguarding policy applies to all Chief Instructors, instructors, students, parents, volunteers and other members associated with Leading Martial Arts.
The nominated Child Protection & Safeguarding Officers for Leading Martial Arts :
Designated Safeguarding Lead
Designated Safeguarding Deputy
Key Definitions
Anyone under the age of 18 should be considered as a child for the purposes of this policy.
A vulnerable adult is a person over 18 who is or may be in need of community care services by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness. A vulnerable adult is or may be unable to take care of him or herself, or is unable to protect him or herself from significant harm or serious exploitation.
Leading Martial Arts acknowledges the duty of care to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children and vulnerable adults and is committed to ensuring that safeguarding practice reflects statutory responsibilities/Government statutory guidance:
The policy recognises that the welfare and interests of children and vulnerable adults are paramount in all circumstances. Leading Martial Arts believes that a child or vulnerable adult should never experience abuse of any kind. We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and vulnerable adults and to keep them safe.
It aims to ensure that regardless of age, ability or disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, socio-economic background, all children and vulnerable adults:
As part of our safeguarding policy, Leading Martial Arts will:
Definitions of abuse
Physical Abuse
Physical Abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a child.
Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a children.
Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or vulnerable adult to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child/vulnerable adult is aware of what is happening.
The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example, rape or oral sex) or non- penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside of clothing.
They may also include non-contact activities, such as involving
children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse (including via the internet).
Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as so can children.
Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development.
It may involve conveying to children that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person.
It may include not giving the child opportunities to express their views, deliberately silencing them or ‘making fun’ of what they say or how they communicate. It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed 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. It may involve seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another. It may involve serious bullying (including cyberbullying), causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, though it may occur alone.
Neglect
Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development. Consider neglect when
Dealing with a disclosure
If you have concerns about a student’s safety or well being, you must act on these.
It is not your responsibility to decide if someone has been abused but you must act on your concerns. Abuse may become apparent in a few ways:
Any concerns should be reported to the Designated Safeguarding Lead in the first instance and if not available, the Deputy should be informed.
Disclosures will always be taken seriously and if abuse is disclosed, Leading Martial Arts will always make sure that the person at risk will have their needs met and will prioritise their safety and protection from further abuse.
If a student discloses abuse, it is important to stay calm and reassure the student. Find time to listen to the child in an appropriate place, do not ask too many questions and remember it is not your job to investigate. When asking questions, remember TED- Tell, explain, describe. Reassure them that they are not to blame and have done the right thing. Explain to them that what they say is confidential but do not promise secrecy. Explain that you will need to share information and who you will be sharing it with. Make a record of everything that was said, and any actions taken, as soon as possible using the incident form. It is vital that clear and concise notes are made at the time or soon after the disclosure. These notes maybe used in a criminal investigation. Things to record are:
Any disclosures of abuse must be reported to the Designated Safeguarding Lead. They will contact and involve the appropriate people/agencies such as Children’s Social Care
If it is felt that a criminal incident has taken place, the police must be contacted.
Dropping off/picking up arrangements
Parents are welcome to stay and watch their child train. We ask that parents of cubs (ages 4-6 years) stay and watch. If a parent wishes to leave their child, we will ensure that we walk the student to the door to be collected by the adult. Parents/guardians must let us know if someone else is picking up.
The doors to the building will remain locked during training and people will need to ring the doorbell and one of the Chief Instructors will answer it. If a child needs the toilet, they must go to the adult watching. If there is no adult, the student will be asked to use the disabled toilet so that no one else can enter the toilet at the same time.
Monitoring the policy
It is the responsibility of the Designated Safeguarding Lead to monitor and update this policy. It will be reviewed every year.
Date of policy March 2022
Review date March 2023
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