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Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Introduction
About Goalball UK
Section 1 Introduction and overview of Safeguarding
Purpose
Policy Statement
Legislative Context
Definitions and abbreviations
Section 2 Safeguarding children and young people
Responsibilities
Recognising Abuse
Information Sharing
Monitoring and Evaluation
Section 3 Promoting good practice
Examples of good practice
Relationship of trust
Codes of conduct
Organising away trips
E-Communications and social media
Recruitment and training
Section 4 Appendices and templates
Acknowledgements
This document has been updated in August 2014 and is based upon Goalball UK’s previous version of the Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy. GBUK would like to that the NSPCC Child Protection in Sport Unit and the wider Safeguarding community in other sports NGB for their support and advice.
Introduction
Sport can and does have a very powerful and positive influence on people – especially young people. Not only can it provide opportunities for enjoyment and achievement; it can also develop valuable qualities such as self-esteem, leadership and teamwork. These positive effects can only take place if sport is in the right hands, namely in the hands of those who prioritise the welfare of all children and young people and vulnerable adults and adopt practices that support, protect and empower them.
Goalball UK is committed to working in partnership with all agencies to ensure that information and training opportunities are available to ensure best practice when working with children, young people and vulnerable adults. Adopting best practice will help to safeguard them from actual or potential abuse as well as reducing the likelihood of allegations being made about coaches and other adults in positions of responsibility in goalball.
Whether goalballer are playing in a local or regional club, or representing their county, region or country, we believe that all children, and vulnerable young people have the right to enjoy their sport safely. Equally their parents or carers need to be confident that their children are respected and kept safe.
This policy and procedure will help you to ensure that you are taking active steps to safeguard and protect the welfare of all children and young people who play within the provision of Goalball UK.
About Goalball UK
Goalball UK is recognised by the Sports Councils (UK Sport and Sport England) as the governing body of Goalball in the UK. It is affiliated to the International Blind Sport Federation (IBSA), the international governing body for blind sports including goalball.
Goalball UK is in its infancy as an NGB since being established in 2010 where prior the sport was under the umbrella of British Blind Sport.
GBUK’s current functions can be summarised as follows:
- National league structure
- Club development
- Official education
- Coach education
- Talent pathways
- Corporate Training
GBUK currently has around 300 members affiliated to the sport which includes players, coaches, staff officials, and supporters.
GBUK has a participation figure of 290 (as of July 2014) and this figure is increasing year on year. Additionally, GBUK are a registered charity in England (Charity number 1136892) and is controlled by an elected Board of Directors all of whom work on a voluntary basis for the organisation.
Section 1 Introduction and overview of Safeguarding
Purpose
Goalball is a fully inclusive sport that can encourage a greater appreciation of the abilities of people with a visual impairment amongst sighted people, as well as providing a sport that is designed with vision impairment in mind which can stimulate an interest in activity and support the development of independent orientation and mobility skills for participants. This has great potential to enhance the health and wellbeing of participants of all ages.
To ensure that children can participate safely within the sport, Goalball UK has a duty to take steps to safeguard all children from harm arising from participation in the sport. All children have a right to protection, and the needs of disabled children and others who may be particularly vulnerable must be taken into account.Goalball UKwill endeavour to safeguard all children involved inGoalball UKthrough adherence to this Policy on safeguarding children.
Mike Reilly
Chief Executive
Goalball UK
Policy Statement
The purpose of this policy is to help create a safe sporting environment for children and to protect them from harm; to challenge practice that is harmful to children and ensure our policies are in line with statutory responsibilities and best practice.
The aim of Goalball UK’s Child Protection Policy is to promote good practice by:
· Providing children with appropriate safety and protection whilst in the care of Goalball UK
· Allowing all staff /volunteers to make informed and confident responses to specific child protection issues.
All individuals that are involved in goalball under the jurisdiction of Goalball UK such as players, coaches, officials, staff, parents etc all agree to abide by all Goalball UK policies and procedure, as amended from time to time. Participating and/or being involved with goalball, everyone is deemed to accept and agree to those policies and procedures, which are available through the Goalball UK’s website or on request. Compliance with the spirit of the safeguarding policy is mandatory. It aims to provide clear guidance to everyone involved in the sport, whether in a professional or voluntary capacity. In addition Goalball UK will review this policy every 3 years to keep up to date with current legislation.
General Principles
The guidance provided in this document is based on the following principles:
· The welfare of the child is paramount
· Children have a right to enjoy sport, free from all forms of abuse and exploitation
· All children have equal rights to protection from harm
· All children should be encouraged to fulfil their potential and inequalities should be challenged
· Everybody has a responsibility to support the care and protection of children and young people
· A child is defined as a person under the age of 18 (The Children Act 1989)
· All incidents of poor practice or suspicions of poor practice and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately
· It is the responsibility of the child protection experts and agencies to determine whether or not abuse has taken place, but it is everyone’s responsibility to report concerns
Working in partnership with children, their parents and other agencies is essential for safeguarding; GBUK recognises the statutory responsibilities of the appropriate bodies such as Children’s Social Care Services, the Police, the Local Authority Designated Officers (LADO) and the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) to ensure the welfare of children.
All those involved in the management of young players in goalball have a duty to ensure they:
· Are experiencing the game in a way that is appropriate for their age and ability
· Have coaches and volunteers who are trained appropriately with the right qualification
· Not subject to verbal or racist abuse from any source, especially from the bench and their club affiliates
· Not subject to bullying, threats or undue pressure from any source, including reference to appearance and cyber bullying
· Are encouraged to achieve their full potential at all levels
· Behave on court and off court in an appropriate way according to GBUK guidelines
· Respect and value all playing and training situations and any other goalball situations.
Legislative Context
· Goalball UKs approach to child protection is based on the principles recognised within domestic legislation, international standards and guidance prepared by the government. The following have been taken into consideration.
· The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
· The Children Act 1989
· The Children Act2004
· The Protection of Children Act 1999
· The Human Rights Act 1998
· Working Together to Safeguard Children 2013 (statutory guidance)
· Every Child Matters 2004 (statutory guidance)
· UN Convention on the Rights of a Child 1989
· Standards for Safeguarding and Protecting Children in Sport
Definitions and Abbreviations
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For the purposes of this policy the terms children and young people will be taken to mean a child or an individual under the age of 18. Also In this document the term ‘parent’ will be used but also refers to carers or guardians. ‘Staff’ refers to anyone in a paid or voluntary role in goalball. The terms children and young people will be used interchangeably, recognising that in England, Wales and Northern Ireland the age of attaining majority is 18 years. In Scotland the age of majority is 16 years, but certain circumstances may affect this age and you are always advised to seek advice on this.
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Abbreviations that are used in this document:
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GBUK – Goalball UK
CMG – Case Management Group
CWO – Club Welfare Officer
CPSU – Child Protection in Sport Unit
DBS – Disclosure and Barring Service
LSCB – Local Safeguarding Children Board
VI – Visual Impairment
LADO – Local Authority Safeguarding Officer
NGB – National Governing Body
NSPCC – National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
LSO – Lead Safeguarding Officer
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Section 2 Safeguarding children and young people
All individuals involved in goalball under the jurisdiction of Goalball UK including players, match officials, coaches, administrators club officials and spectators agree to abide by all Goalball UK policies and procedures. Participation in the sport in any way is deemed to indicate acceptance of and agreement with these policies, which are available on the Goalball UK website or on request.
This policy is mandatory for the sport as a whole and provides guidelines for everyone involved in the sport on a professional or voluntary capacity.
Responsibilities
All Goalball UK affiliates and members will:
- To assume the moral and legal responsibility to put in place procedures to provide a duty of care for young people and vulnerable adults, safeguard their wellbeing and protect them from harm.
- Respect and promote the rights, wishes and feelings of young people;
- Recognise that some young people could face additional barriers to getting help because of additional vulnerabilities which could include their ethnicity, gender, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, social background or culture.
- Ensure they adopt best practice to safeguard and protect young people from abuse, and to reduce the likelihood of allegations being made against themselves.
- Accept and abide by the Safeguarding Policy and Procedures and the GBUK Code of Ethics and Conduct as well as all other policies and procedures.
- Respond appropriately to any complaints about poor practice or allegations of abuse
Goalball UK believes that anyone who has the responsibility for the care of a child should “do what is reasonable in all circumstances for the purpose of safeguarding or promoting a child’s welfare” in accordance with the Children Act 1989. Therefore the adoption and adherence to this policy is mandatory for any club, coaches and volunteers affiliated to GBUK. This policy should be read in conjunction with the codes of conduct issued by GBUK (see appendix 7).
Recognising Abuse
This section will help you to identify concerns of abuse or harm of children or young people and then take you through the stages of recognition and responding to concerns that you may have about them, or about others involved in their care or supervision. Material in Sections 3 and 4 will assist with this.
Abuse can occur within many situations including the home, school and community as well as the sporting environment. Some individuals will actively seek employment or voluntary work with children in order to harm them.
A coach, instructor, teacher, official or volunteer in Paralympic sport will have regular contact with young people and be an important link in identifying cases where they need protection. All suspected cases of poor practice should be reported following the guidelines in this document.
All personnel should be encouraged to demonstrate exemplary behaviour in order to promote children’s welfare and reduce the likelihood of allegations being made. One way in which recognition of abuse can be established is through the ‘4 R’s Model’. This model is broken down into 4 points;
1. Recognition – this is the ability to recognise and identify signs and indicators of harm as they are defined in guidance and as they may present during Goalball UK events or activities.
2. Responding – this is the knowledge and confidence to know to whom to report any concerns within the relevant timescales.
3. Referral/reporting – this refers to the knowledge about the local authority services to whom concerns of abuse or harm should be referred.
4. Recording – this refers to the importance of prompt recording at all stages of your involvement in a safeguarding incident.
Each of these stages is explained in detail.
1. Recognition
Poor Practice
The following should be avoided except in emergencies. If cases arise where these situations are unavoidable it should be with the full knowledge and consent of someone in charge (eg Coach, Performance Director). For example, a child sustains an injury and needs to go to hospital, or a child gets delayed at a competition venue due to doping control or classification:
· Spending time alone with children away from others
· Taking or dropping off a child to an event or activity
· Share a room with a child
· Allow or engage in any form of inappropriate touching
· Allow children to use inappropriate language or behaviour unchallenged
· Make sexually suggestive comments to a child, even in fun
· Reduce a child to tears as a form of control
· Fail to act upon and record any allegations made by a child
· Do things of a personal nature for children, that they can do for themselves
· Invite or allow children to stay with you at your home unsupervised
If a child or young person is fully dependent on others, then they should be accompanied by a parent/guardian or appropriately trained carer at all times. Do not take on the responsibility for tasks for which you are not appropriately trained.
Note Some athletes may require assistance with personal care due to being very young or disabled. If a young person needs this level of support it should be made clear to their parent/s that this can only be carried out by a designated carer and not by the coach. Even if the coach is trained in carrying out personal care tasks, this compromises their role as coach and places them and the young person in a vulnerable position. These support arrangements should clearly be in place and agreed to by all parties prior to the activities commencing.