THE PURPOSE OF THIS POLICY IS TO:

1/ Protect children and young people who dance at TLC including in regular classes, performances, workshops, holiday camps or any other activities linked to our dance school

2/ Provide parents, staff and volunteers guidance for our approach to child protection and what they should do if they suspect a child, young person or adult may be experiencing, or is at risk of harm

The safety and welfare of our dancers is our primary focus All children, whatever their age, gender, sexuality, race, disability, educational attainment or economic circumstance have the right to protection from abuse – equality is at the heart of our business We recognise some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other potential issues All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately

TLC WILL SEEK TO SAFEGUARD OUR PARTICIPANTS BY:

Ensuring everybody has the right to dance and be themselves Treating all dancers and parents with respect and dignity Putting the welfare of every student first Providing enthusiastic and constructive criticism to dancers rather than negative criticism Valuing the views of our dancers Focusing on the benefits of dance helping individuals personally and socially as well as physically Ensuring our Teachers are appropriately vetted and part of the PVG Scheme, monitored by Disclosure Scotland Ensuring all Teachers are fully insured Ensuring that we have a trained Designated Child Protection Officer (DCPO) and Deputy Designated Child Protection Officer (DDCPO) at our school Ensuring that there is an appropriate number of First Aiders on-site at any given time Ensuring all staff/sub-contractors/volunteers will provide a positive role model – including any class assistants Taking action to stop any inappropriate behaviour and never accepting bullying of any form Ensuring all contact and medical details for every child is up to date and available at the place of teaching or performance

DESIGNATED CHILD PROTECTION OFFICERS (DCPO) AT TLC:

The DCPO is Kerri Love, who can be contacted on 07538187387

The Deputy DCPO is Leah Keiro, who can be contacted via email at tlc_inverness@yahoo.com

TLC has a Designated Child Protection Officer (DCPO) who is in charge of ensuring that the Safeguarding & Child Protection Policy is adhered to. In their absence, there is a Deputy DCPO available. WHILST IMPLEMENTING THIS POLICY,

TLC WILL ENSURE

that all paid staff/volunteers understand their legal and moral responsibility to protect children and young people from harm, abuse and exploitation Ensure that all staff, sub-contractors and volunteers understand their duty to report concerns that arise about a child, young person, adult or a worker’s conduct towards these groups to the DCPO or Deputy DCPO The DCPO will refer any child protection concerns to the statutory child protection agencies (i.e. Police and/or Social Services) Children, young people and parents will be informed of who the DCPO/Deputy DCPO is and be able to raise any safeguarding concerns & know that these will be taken seriously and acted upon – the DCPO and Deputy DCPO will also be noted on our website

OUR SAFEGUARDING PROCEDURES:

Managing Sensitive Information Permission will be sought from parents for photographs and/or videos to be taken of their children and further permission will be sought from parents for these photographs and/or videos to be used as marketing material or other purposes names will not be used alongside photographs on social media or websites, unless we have been given explicit consent from parents/guardians Photography in a performance setting (ie. competitions/in class performances) is only permitted for your own child – any photography/videography containing other children must be immediately deleted and not shared – unless you have explicit consent from that child’s parents/guardians All personal information will be stored in line with our privacy policy viewable on our website

Unsupervised Contact / Unsupervised Teachers:

TLC will ensure that no unauthorised adult has contact with the children In circumstances where there is only 1 staff member present, we will take adequate and appropriate steps to minimise risk associated with operating our offerings in this way (ie. having an assistant present in the room) – however please note this is not always possible

Physical Contact:

Staff/Volunteers will maintain a safe and appropriate distance from children Staff/Volunteers will only carry out physical contact with students when it is absolutely necessary, in relation to the particular activity (e.g. tumble) Staff/Volunteers will seek the consent of the child prior to any physical contact and the purpose of the contact shall be made clear (e.g. Adjustments to complete a technique/move safely and correctly)

Student Disclosure / Reporting to Staff and what we will do:

Remain calm and in control but not delay in taking action Listen carefully to what has been said, allowing the student to tell us at their own pace and ask questions only for clarification - we will not ask questions that provoke a specific answer Not promise to keep it a secret and use the first opportunity we have to share the information with the DCPO or Deputy DCPO and make it clear to the student that we will need to share the information with others and that we will only tell the people who need to know and who should be able to help Reassure the student that they ‘did the right thing’ in telling someone Tell the student what we will do next Speak immediately to the DCPO or Deputy DCPO (the people with responsibility for child protection) - it is that person’s responsibility to liaise with the relevant authorities, usually Social Services or the Police Never investigate or take sole responsibility for a situation where a student makes a disclosure As soon as possible after the disclosing conversation, make a note of what was said, using the students’s own words - noting the date, time, any names that were involved or mentioned, and who we passed the information on to, making sure we sign and date our record The DCPO or Deputy DCPO will discuss concerns with a parent/carer if this was thought not to place the student at further risk - when the disclosure is about something a parent/carer has done, the DCPO or Deputy DCPO should always seek advice from Social Services first – Students are encouraged to speak to the DCPO or Deputy DCPO in the event of any abuse, bullying or welfare concerns. If a student chooses to confide in us that abuse, bullying or other serious matter has taken place, we will:

Parents:

TLC believes it to be important that there is a partnership between parents and us. Parents are encouraged to be involved in the activities of TLC and to share responsibility for the care and safeguarding of students. All parents will be informed of this policy and can read it at any time via our website All parents have the responsibility to collect (or arrange collection of) their children after classes, rehearsals or performances – they are responsible for ensuring a recognised adult (or someone that we have been made aware of) collects their child from our offerings

E-Safety:

Cyber bullying by children via texts will be treated as seriously as any other type of bullying – TLC will treat these allegations in the same manner as verbal/physical bullying When engaging in online offerings that involve use of a webcam, we will encourage students to dress appropriately and to always use a webcam/engage in online offerings in the vicinity of a parent/guardian (in the same room) - if these measures cannot be achieved, we will discourage the student from taking part until the measures are met

Allegations against Staff:

We truly hope that this would never be an issue, given our Teaching staff are appropriately vetted through the PVG Membership Scheme and have extensive professional experience working with children, young people and adults for many years however if there are any concerns about the behaviour of a member of staff or allegation of abuse against a member of staff, these must immediately be reported to the DCPO or Deputy DCPO using the contact details noted in the pages above. The appropriate DCPO must then escalate the allegation by consulting Management (if appropriate) or engaging the necessary services for advice (e.g. Social Services/Police)

Complaints about this policy/TLC conduct:

Complaints can be raised directly to the DCPO or Deputy DCPO using the contact details noted above. Failing this, we encourage anyone with concerns to contact Social Services at Social Care Direct, or by following the Whistleblowing procedure detailed below

Whistleblowing:

If any of our Staff members, Sub-Contractors or Volunteers are concerned about conduct they have witnessed at TLC, we would encourage them firstly to speak to the DCPO or Deputy DCPO. If you are unable to do this due to the nature of the concern, we encourage you to contact the NSPCC Whistleblowing line by calling 0800 800 5000

CONTACTS

Social Services Highland

This is a third party organisation serving the highland that can assist with any advice regarding how to escalate concerns regarding the welfare of a child or a young person

08457 697284

NSPCC

This is a third party organisation that can assist with any advice regarding how to escalate concerns regarding the welfare of a child or a young person

0800 800 5000 / help@nspcc.org.uk

Last Updated 01/07/2024