The Italia Conti Associate Schools believe that it is always unacceptable for a child or young person to experience abuse of any kind and recognises its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all children, young people and vulnerable adults by a commitment to practice which protects them.

All children have the right to be safe from harm and abuse

This school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all its pupils.  Section 175 of the Education Act 2002 places a duty upon the school to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

Safeguarding is defined as:

• Protecting children from maltreatment;

• Preventing impairment of children's 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 to have the best life chances.

Our school will fulfil local and national responsibilities in line with the following:

• Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015

• Keeping Children Safe in Education 2015.

All school staff receives Safeguarding training about what constitutes abuse and know the signs and symptoms of abuse.

The school is committed to providing an environment where children can play, learn, develop and achieve and where they are safeguarded and are enabled to tell or communicate if they are being harmed in some way. We are committed to ensuring that all staff are sensitive to issues of race, culture, gender and diversity but these issues should never be a barrier to sharing and reporting concerns about children.

All staff including teaching and non teaching staff, temporary, clerical, volunteers and student assistant have a statutory responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and must be aware of and fully conversant with this policy. All staff must have access to the policy and follow the school’s procedures and guidance at all times.  For the purposes of this document, the term ‘staff’ will apply to those listed above.

It is neither the role nor responsibility of those working with children in the school to assess, diagnose or investigate whether a child is at risk of or suffering harm or abuse. It is the responsibility of all staff to be aware of the need to report any concerns about a child to the Designated Safeguarding Lead as a matter of priority or In the absence of the DSL, staff should report any concerns to the Associate School Principal/Proprietor or deputising manager who will report to the DSL who will act in accordance with this policy and statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children, Keeping Children Safe in Education.

The Designated Safeguarding Lead Officer for ITALIA CONTI is Catherine Cooper safeguarding@italiaconti.co.uk

We recognise that:

      • The welfare of the child/young person is paramount

      • All children, regardless of age, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, sexual

        Orientation or identity, have the right to equal protection from all types harm or abuse.

      • Working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and their agencies

         Is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

The purpose of the policy:

To provide protection for the children and young people who receive part time performing arts training under the tutorage of the Italia Conti Associate School 

To provide staff and volunteers with guidance on procedures they should adopt in the event that they suspect a child or young person may be experiencing, or be at risk of, harm.

This policy applies to all staff, including senior managers, paid staff, volunteers and professional workers, deputising staff, students or anyone working on behalf of Italia Conti Associate School

We will seek to safeguard children and young people by:

Valuing them, listening to and respecting them, adopting child protection guidelines through procedures and a code of conduct for staff and volunteers.

• Recruiting staff and volunteers safely, by ensuring that all adults working with children in the school community have undergone appropriate checks as to their suitability to work with children in line with the Department of Education, & the Disclosure & Barring Service.

• Sharing information about child protection and good practice with children, parents, staff and volunteers. Sharing information about concerns with agencies who need to know, and

• Involving parents and children appropriately

• Providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support and training.

Supporting Children

We recognise that a child who is abused or neglected may find it difficult to develop and maintain a sense of self worth. We recognise that children may feel helpless and humiliated and may blame themselves for what has or is happening to them. Our school may provide a vital source of stability in the lives of children who have been abused or are at risk of harm. We recognise that the behaviour of a child in these circumstances may range from that which is perceived to be ‘normal’ to aggressive or withdrawn.

 

We aim to support the children in our school by:

Encouraging a sense of self worth and assertiveness whilst not condoning bullying and aggression.  Bullying in itself may result in the threshold of significant harm being met and we take seriously our responsibility to challenge bullying behaviours in accordance with Italia Conti’s anti-bullying policy;

Promoting a caring and safe environment within the school

The school has regard to the statutory Prevent Duty Guidance, specifically paragraphs 57-76 of the guidance, concerned specifically with schools

We are also committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually. Next review October 2016

The school continually promotes an ethos of respect for children, and they are encouraged to speak to a member of staff in confidence about any worries they may have.

The Prevent Duty

From 1st July 2015 all schools are subject to a duty under section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”,  known as the Prevent duty.  The school recognises that protecting children from the risk of radicalisation is part of the school’s wider safeguarding duties and is similar in nature to protecting children from other harms, whether these come from within their family or are the product of outside influences.

The school has regard to the statutory Prevent Duty Guidance, specifically paragraphs 57-76 of the guidance, concerned specifically with schools.

We are also committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually. Next review October 2016