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Young Visions Safeguarding Policy Statement – Working with Children, Young People and their Families –

 Last updated 18/09/2020

 

Young Visions is committed to practice which protects everyone we work with from harm, in particular children and young people. Volunteers and staff in this organisation accept and recognise:

 

  1. our responsibilities to develop awareness of the issues which cause children harm (definitions of harm will be outlined in training and can be found at NSPCC.org.uk/learning).

  2. That safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.

 

This safeguarding policy has been written in line with the NSPCC guidance on safeguarding (September 2019) and should be read in conjunction with the NSPCC.org.uk/learning if any further information is required. Young Visions is committed to using the ‘South West Safeguarding and Child Protection Procedures’ to underpin our work.

For their full policies and procedures please visit https://www.proceduresonline.com/swcpp/

 

 

Scope of this policy statement

 

This policy applies to anyone working on behalf of Young Visions, including senior management, paid staff, volunteers, sessional workers, agency staff and students*.

 

*For the purpose of this document all of the above will be referred to as STAFF.

 

Definitions

We understand that it is important to work with the following definition of who should be considered to be a child:

 

A Child is anyone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday.

 Article 1, Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989

 

 

The purpose of this policy statement is:

 

To provide advice in order to meet our commitments of ensuring that any child receiving any kind of support, training, advice or guidance from us is protected from any form of exploitation or abuse.

 

We recognise that:

  • the welfare of children is paramount in all the work we do and in all the decisions we take

  • all children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation have an equal right to protection from all types of harm or abuse

  • some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues

 

 

Legal framework

 

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in the UK. A summary of the key legislation is available from nspcc.org.uk/learning

 

 

We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

 

  • valuing, listening to and respecting them

  • monitoring their responses to Virtual Reality

  • monitoring their responses to particular VR experiences

  • appointing a nominated child protection lead for children and young people,

  • adopting child protection and safeguarding best practice through our policies and procedures

  • code of conduct for staff

  • developing and implementing an effective online safety policy and related procedures

  • providing effective management for staff

  • recruiting and selecting staff safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made

  • recording, storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with UK data protection legislation and guidance

  • making sure that children, young people and their families know where to go for help if they have a concern

  • providing children, young people and their families with accurate and up to date information on help and support

  • using our safeguarding and child protection procedures to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving children, young people, parents, families and carers appropriately

  • using our procedures to manage any allegations against staff appropriately

  • creating and maintaining a respectful learning environment and ensuring that we have a policy and procedure to help us deal effectively with any issues which arise

  • ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in place

  • ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for our children, young people and staff, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance

  • building a safeguarding culture where staff, children, young people and their families treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns.

 

If you would like any additional information or training about any of the above, please email info@youngvisions.online

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