Policy for Child Protection

Legislative Requirements

The policy has been revised and refers to Safeguarding Children and Safer

Recruitment in Education (January 2007)

“Working Together to Safeguard Children” 2013

Section 7 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970

Section 11 (4) & 16 of the Children’s Act 2004

Keeping Children safe in Education Sept 2015

Mission Statement

Children have the right to:

• Be valued as an individual
• Be treated with dignity and respect
• Be protected from harm or abuse including physical abuse, sexual abuse, physical punishment, neglect, unnecessary rough handling, malicious teasing or taunting.

The welfare of the child is paramount.

All staff at The Quest School are committed to upholding and maintaining this policy. In all issues of Child Protection the responsibility of every member of staff is exclusively towards the children.

The Directors will appoint a full time member of staff to act as the Designated Child Protection Co-ordinator (DESIGNATED LEAD): Anne Martin

The other delegated member of staff will be:Ashley Carter Mepsted & Nicky Patterson

The DESIGNATED LEAD and deputy DESIGNATED LEAD receive training every 2 years. Staff training is updated in school every year

The DESIGNATED LEAD should make certain that:

All members of staff are aware of their responsibilities towards the children in their care by raising staff awareness and encouraging training which leads to a greater understanding of the signs and symptoms of child abuse and other situations which are a source of concern such as substance abuse.

They know what constitutes abuse and how to proceed when problems are suspected or disclosed.

The School’s Policy and child protection procedures are in line with Kent and Medway Child in Need/Child Protection procedures, they aim for: -

A fully co-operative working relationship with the designated officers of the Authority.

All Staff – both teaching and non-teaching are inducted in the School’s Child Protection Policy. All staff partake and pass online child protection course at induction.

Clear records are kept of any cases of suspected child abuse reported to the local authority and any contemporaneous notes.

Operational guidelines for good practice within school and on offsite activities

• As far as is practically possible, with a pupil; there should usually be more than one adult in any room at any time. An exception to this rule will be during any therapy sessions, such as Music therapy, which are of a confidential nature and when a teacher is working with a specific child for a specified target. Each situation will be risked assessed on an individual basis.
• New members of staff must not work unsupervised with any pupils, or take pupils to the toilet until full DBS clearance has been received.
• When pupils require intimate personal care with toileting or washing, two staff members should be present; otherwise, one staff member supervising is sufficient. If pupils are fully independent with all aspects of toileting and washing, then no direct supervision from staff is required.
• Outside of school no staff member will have any contact with pupils unless agreed and approved by the Board of Management.
• As far as is practically possible, for offsite activities, no one member of staff should take any pupil offsite; there should usually be more than one member of staff on any offsite trip. An exception to this will be when the pupil is working on a specific programme and a full risk assessment of their behaviour has been carried out and approved.
• As far as is practically possible, if pupils are travelling in staff cars, there should be more than one adult in each car.

Guidelines relating to Child Protection Issues

Child abuse can occur as physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse or neglect or any combination of all four types of abuse. Child abuse can occur anywhere and under virtually any circumstances.

Child abuse is characterised by:

• The relationship between the abused child and the person(s) perpetrating the abuse.
• The degree of planning undertaken by the perpetrator(s).
• The level of coercion or intimidation (emotional or physical) involved and the level of criminal activity involved.
• The frequency, nature and severity of the incident(s).

Definitions of Abuse

(Taken from ‘Working together under the Children Act 1989’ by the Dept of Health, Education and Science, the Home Office and Welsh Office in their joint document.)

Physical Abuse

Actual or likely physical injury to a child, or failure to prevent physical injury (or suffering) to a child; including deliberate poisoning, suffocation and Munchausen’s syndrome by proxy.

Emotional Abuse

Actual or likely severe effect on the emotional and behavioural development of a child caused by persistent or severe emotional ill treatment or rejection. All abuse involves some emotional ill treatment; this category is used where it is the main or sole form of abuse.

Neglect

The persistent or severe neglect of a child, or the failure to protect a child from exposure to any kind of danger, including cold or starvation; or extreme failure to carry out important aspects of care, resulting in the significant impairment of the child’s health or development, including failure to thrive.

Sexual Abuse

Actual or likely sexual exploitation of a child or adolescent.

‘Sexual exploitation represents the involvement of dependent, developmentally immature children and adolescents in sexual activities they do not truly comprehend, to which they are unable to give informed consent, or that violate social taboos of family roles.’ (Kempe and Kempe 1978)

We also expect staff to be vigilant against female genital mutilation (FGM), particularly for female pupils from communities which are known to be most at risk. In the event of any indications that a pupil may be a risk of FGM staff need to take timely and appropriate action.

Whilst it is less likely to be relevant to our group of pupils, compared with mainstream school, we have a duty to prevent the radicalisation of pupils under the County-Terrorism and Security Act. This is often referred to as the prevent duty.

Organised Abuse

Organised abuse is sexual abuse where there is more than a single abuser, and the adults concerned appear to act to abuse children and/or where an adult uses an institutional framework or position to recruit children for sexual abuse.

Recognising Signs of Abuse

These indicators are cause for concern but are not proof of abuse.

Physical Signs

• Any injuries not consistent with the explanation given for them
• Injuries that occur to the body in places that are not normally exposed to falls, rough games etc.
• Injuries that have not received medical attention.
• Instances where children are kept away from the group inappropriately.
• Reluctance to change for, or participate in, games or swimming.
• Bruises, bites, burns fractures which would not have an accident explanation.

Emotional Signs

• Changes or regression in mood and behaviour, particularly where a child withdraws or becomes clingy; also depression or aggression.
• Nervousness / frozen watchfulness.
• Sudden under-achievement or lack of concentration.
• Inappropriate relationships with peers and/or adults.
• Attention-seeking behaviour.
• Persistent tiredness.
• Running away/ stealing/lying.

Indicators of possible sexual abuse

• Any allegations made by a child concerning sexual abuse.
• Child displaying excessive pre-occupation with sexual matters and detailed knowledge of adult sexual behaviour, or who regularly engages in age-inappropriate sexual play.
• Sexual activity through words, play or drawing.
• Child who is sexually provocative or seductive with adults.
• Inappropriate bed-sharing arrangements at home.
• Severe sleep disturbances with fears, phobias, vivid dreams or nightmares, sometimes with overt sexual connotations.

Indicators of possible physical neglect

• Child who is often apparently hungry.
• Child showing poor growth and apparent nutritional deficiency.
• Inadequate clothing.

Where a member of staff is told about an abuse, has suspicion about an abuse or has come across evidence of an abuse, they should: -

If a disclosure is made; -

1)Listen carefully and note what is being said to you.

2)Ask the minimum number of questions required to allow you to clarify the information.

3)Do not ask leading questions.

4)Stop asking questions as soon as the adult or child has made the disclosure.

5)Staff members, and other adults, should never give guarantees of confidentiality to children or adults wishing to tell them about something serious.

6)Tell the child or adult who has made the disclosure about what you are going to do next. Tell him/her about the people whom you will be sharing the information with.

7)Ask the person what (s)he would like to happen. Ask him/her if (s)he needs any help (in an extreme situation you may have to evaluate how to protect a child from further abuse at that point in time). Reassure the person involved that (s)he has done the right thing in making the disclosure.

8)Share the information immediately with the DESIGNATED LEAD provided they are in no way implicated, in which case refer to an alternative director.

9)Write down a full report of all of the information that you have and include details of those that you have shared the information with.

10)Check the next day and then 3 days after you have shared the information, what action has been taken.

If abuse is suspected or there is evidence a child has been abused: -

1)Share your concerns immediately with the DESIGNATED LEAD or a Director.

2)Write down your concerns and a record of the conversation had with the DESIGNATED LEAD. Give a copy of your written report to the DESIGNATED LEAD.

3)Check the next day and after 3 days that the appropriate action has been taken.

Contamination of the Evidence: -

Is a concept that all staff must understand. There are designated individuals within the pupils local authority Child Protection Unit and within the Police Child Protection Unit who have the experience and knowledge from previous investigations to enable them to assess the information that they are presented with. These people have the requisite skills with which to conduct investigations and examinations without “contaminating” the evidence. This includes the skills necessary to conduct interviews in a way in which the child or witnesses will not be “led”, so that their evidence is not contaminated should it be needed in Court.

Therefore staff made aware of a suspicion of abuse are instructed not to investigate the suspicion or allegation and to restrict their questioning to that necessary to seek clarification only.

If in doubt contact the Pupils local authority Child Protection Unit.

Action to be taken

The DESIGNATED LEAD together with the directors are responsible for liaising with other agencies regarding actions and decisions concerning alleged or actual child abuse.

Action should be in accordance with the flow diagram below

No contact should be made with parents (except where substance abuse is suspected when parents will be the first point of contact).

Once the Kent and Medway Protection Committee have been informed any subsequent action will be guided by them. The Director or DESIGNATED LEAD will act as the point of reference.

Referralcontact details:

Safeguarding in Education contact details for Quest School:

KCC – West Kent Office: Claire Ray (Area Safeguarding – Education) Office:03000 412284 Mobile: 07920108828

KCC – Principal Officer (Safeguarding) Office:03000 415788 Mobile:07786 191359

Central Duty Team 03000 411111

Urgent child protection outside office hours: 03000 419191

Early help and preventative services: or 03000 419222

Safer Recruitment

“The Quest School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment”

When recruiting a new member of staff, the school office will make certain that any adverts and documents relating to the recruitment process, will emphasis the school’s commitment to safer recruiting, including references that CRB checks will be made.

The School Office will ensure that processes are in place to record the collection of the following data and follow up any gaps in information;

• 2 independent references
• Verification of qualifications and professional status
• Verification of identity
• Verification of medical fitness
• DBS and List 99 checks
• Induction and probationary period
• Child Protection training

A record of the above data will be kept on individual staff files and collated on one central database.

During the probationary period, new staff are supervised accordingly and not left with pupils alone.

Any offer of a role within Quest School is conditional of successful outcomes on the above checks and competence targets set at the start of employment.

Appendix 1 – Body Map

Body map (to be used in conjunction with a record of concern form)

Name of child ______Date of birth______

Quest School Policy for Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment

Previous review date: September 15

Next review date: September 16

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