Safeguarding Children
Introduction
WestEnd Flamingo fully recognises the contribution it can make in protecting children through our work in schools. Student’s welfare and safety is of paramount importance to our work.
WestEnd Flamingo adheres to guidance by DfES ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (2015). Safer recruitment practices include scrutinising applicants, verifying identities and rights to work in UK, academic or vocational qualifications, obtaining professional and character references, checking previous employment histories and ensuring that all candidates have the health and physical capacity for the job. It also includes undertaking interviews and undertaking appropriate and regular checks through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Checks.
For the purpose of this policy, the duties of WestEnd Flamingo in terms of ‘safeguarding’ refer both to children and vulnerable adults with whom our staff and facilitators may come into contact with through the course of their work in schools and other educational establishments.
Definition of Safeguarding
Safeguarding is defined as:
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• Protecting children/vulnerable adults from maltreatment;
• Preventing impairment of children's/vulnerable adults health or development;
• Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and
• Taking action to enable all children/vulnerable adults to have the best life chances.
Our Responsibilities
WestEnd Flamingo is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children we come into contact with and we believe that:
• All children/vulnerable adults have the right to be protected from harm;
• Children/vulnerable adults need to be safe and to feel safe in school and other similar establishments;
• Children/vulnerable adults need support which matches their individual needs, including those who may have experienced abuse; • All children/vulnerable adults have the right to speak freely and voice their values and beliefs;
• All children/vulnerable adults must be encouraged to respect each other’s values and support each other;
• All children/vulnerable adults have the right to be supported to meet their emotional, and social needs as well as their educational needs
We work with schools to contribute to the prevention of abuse, victimisation, bullying, exploitation, extreme behaviours, discriminatory views and risk-taking behaviours. All of our staff have a role to play in safeguarding children and protecting them from abuse.
WestEnd Flamingo will fulfil our local and national responsibilities as laid out in the following documents:-
Working Together to Safeguard Children (DfE March 2015)
Keeping Children Safe in Education: Statutory guidance for schools and colleges (DfE July2015)
Mental Health and Behaviour in Schools: Departmental Advice (DfE March 2015)
Mandatory Reporting of Female Genital Mutilation (2015)
Purpose
This policy sets out WestEnd Flamingo’s approach to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults. It applies to all aspects of our work and to everyone working for WestEnd Flamingo, including permanent and temporary employees, contractors and self-employed contracted inspectors.
Strategic Context
WestEnd Flamingo’s strategy is underpinned by 3 core principles:
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children and students first
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independence
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accountability and transparency
This means that everything we do should be in the interests of children and young people. This includes ensuring that the providers we regulate and inspect have effective procedures for keeping children and vulnerable adults safe from abuse, neglect and exploitation.
Definitions
WestEnd Flamingo uses definitions of the term ‘safeguarding’ from statutory guidance.
Safeguarding children is defined in Working together to safeguard children as:
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protecting children from maltreatment
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preventing impairment of children’s health or development
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ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
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taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes
Safeguarding vulnerable adults is defined in the Care and support statutory guidance issued under the Care Act 2014 as:
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protecting the rights of adults to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect
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people and organisations working together to prevent and stop both the risks and experience of abuse or neglect
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people and organisations making sure that the adult’s wellbeing is promoted including, where appropriate, taking fully into account their views, wishes, feelings and beliefs in deciding on any action
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recognising that adults sometimes have complex interpersonal relationships and may be ambivalent, unclear or unrealistic about their personal circumstances and therefore potential risks to their safety or well-being
Recruitment
WestEnd Flamingo carries out safe recruitment checks on everyone who works for us. All roles require a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) or Disclosure Scotland check and references before the individual joins us. Many individuals, including all inspectors, will be subject to an enhanced DBS check and a check of social media because their role may bring them into regular contact with children and vulnerable adults.
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Anyone interviewed for a post with WestEnd Flamingo, either internally or from outside the organisation, will need to show an understanding of safeguarding that is relevant to the role that they are applying for.
Expectations of Staff and Inspectors
Everyone working for WestEnd Flamingo has a responsibility to familiarise themselves with this safeguarding policy and the procedures that go with it. They must maintain a proper focus on the safety and welfare of children and vulnerable adults in all aspects of their work.
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Anyone who works for WestEnd Flamingo must inform their manager if they or any adult living in their household become(s) the subject of an allegation involving a safeguarding concern or abuse against a child or vulnerable adult. If anyone is in doubt whether the situation or allegation is relevant they should:
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refer to the definitions of safeguarding and protection of vulnerable adults
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seek advice from their manager
Any allegations of misconduct towards children and/or vulnerable adults by those working for WestEnd Flamingo will be managed using the procedure in ‘Management of safeguarding complaints made against an Ofsted worker’ (Ofsted internal guidance, 2017).
Safeguarding Training
WestEnd Flamingo is committed to ensuring that everyone who works for us understands their safeguarding responsibilities and keeps their knowledge up to date.
Acting on Safeguarding Concerns
No one working for WestEnd Flamingo should investigate concerns about individual children or vulnerable adults who are or may be being abused or who are at risk. However, this does not mean that we should do nothing when we learn of a concern. We all have a responsibility to make sure that concerns about children and vulnerable adults are passed to the agency that can help them without delay.
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If anyone is concerned that a child or vulnerable adult is at risk of being abused or neglected, they should not ignore their suspicions and should not assume that someone else will take action to protect that person.
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Concerns about children should be referred to the children’s social care department of the local authority where the child lives. Similarly, concerns about vulnerable adults should be referred to local authority adult services. Our processes for referrals are set out in WestEnd Flamingo's internal guidance ‘Handling safeguarding concerns about children and vulnerable adults’.
If anyone working for WestEnd Flamingo is in any doubt about what to do, they should consult the manager.
Anyone working for WestEnd Flamingo who has concerns about the behaviour of a colleague must always raise this with the manager as quickly as possible.
Learning and Improving
We are determined to keep improving our knowledge and understanding of how best to protect children and vulnerable adults. We will review our own practice regularly to check that we are placing the right emphasis on safeguarding in our work.
We will carry out in-depth reviews of our actions in cases where children suffer serious harm while under the care of providers that we regulate or inspect, and where these cases raise questions about WestEnd Flamingo's practice that need to be examined. The main purpose of the reviews is to learn lessons about when our systems need to improve to protect children better in future. We will also promote a culture in which we are able to highlight and review near misses to learn and improve our practice.
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Different Types of Abuse
• Domestic Abuse
• Sexual Abuse
• Neglect
• Online Abuse
• Physical Abuse
• Emotional Abuse
• Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)
• Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
• Bullying & Cyberbullying
• Child Trafficking
• Grooming
• Harmful Sexual Behaviour
Dealing with a Disclosure of Abuse
If a child or vulnerable person talks to any of our practitioners or staff any risks to their safety or wellbeing, the staff member will need to let the pupil know that they must pass the information on. We are not allowed to keep secrets.
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The point at which they tell the pupil this is a matter for professional judgement. If they jump in immediately the pupil may think that they do not want to listen, if left until the very end of the conversation, the pupil may feel that they have been misled into revealing more than they would have otherwise. During their conversations with the pupils it is best practice for staff to:
•Allow pupils to speak freely
•Remain calm and not overreact – the pupil may stop talking if they feel they are upsetting you
•Give reassuring nods or words of comfort –‘I want to help’, ‘This isn’t your fault’, ‘You are doing the right thing in talking to me’
•Do not be afraid of silences, and allow space and time for pupil to continue.
•Clarify or repeat back to check what you have heard if needed but do not lead the discussion in any way or ask any leading questions
•At an appropriate time tell the pupil that to help them, you must pass the information on
•Do not automatically offer any physical touch as comfort. It may be anything but comforting to a child who has been abused.
•Remember professional boundaries and do not share personal experiences such as ‘that happened to me’.
•Avoid admonishing the child for not disclosing earlier. Saying things such as ‘I do wish you had told me about this when it started’ or ‘I can’t believe what I’m hearing’ may be your way of being supportive but may be interpreted by the child to mean that they have done something wrong
•Do tell the pupil what will happen next, e.g. that you will need to speak to one of their teachers.
•Do write up their conversation as soon as possible and hand it to the relevant person
Please note: It is not the duty of WestEnd Flamingo’s practitioners or staff to seek disclosures. It is simply their role to observe that something may be wrong and report it to the relevant person at the school in question. Alternatively, if a child decides to make a disclosure to a member of WestEnd Flamingo staff, our staff are trained to deal with the disclosure in the correct and appropriate manner and will report this disclosure immediately to the school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL).
Our Actions
If a child or young person chooses to make a disclosure to a member of WestEnd Flamingo staff:
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•This member of staff will follow the Disclosure Process as outlined above.
•The incident will be reported to the relevant Designated Safeguarding Lead at the school as a matter of urgency.
•The incident will also be reported to the WestEnd Flamingo’s main office. Dependent upon the severity of the disclosure made, WestEnd Flamingo may decide to report the matter to the Police or to the relevant area Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)/Child Protection Team in order to further safeguard the child/children in question.
Contact
If you have any safeguarding concerns regarding a particular child or vulnerable adult, in the first instance, please contact WestEnd Flamingo or Ofsted immediately:
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• t: 0777111 9580​
• Ofsted 0300 123 1231
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