Safeguarding Policy for Rising Stars Academy

Rising Stars Academy is fully committed to safeguarding the welfare of all children and young people up to the age of 18. A ‘child’ is anyone who has not reached their 18th birthday.

We recognise our responsibility to take all reasonable steps to promote safe practice and to protect children from harm, abuse and exploitation and our legal duty to act appropriately to any allegations, reports or suspicions of abuse under the Children and Young Persons Act 1963, the Children (Performances and Activities) (England) Regulations 2014, the Children Act 1989 and 2004 and Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018.

All staff and volunteers will work together to encourage the development of an ethos which embraces difference and diversity and respects the rights of children, young people and adults. We believe all children, whatever their age, gender, sexuality, race, disability, educational attainment or economic circumstance have the right to protection from abuse. We recognise some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues.

This policy applies to our paid staff, guest teachers, volunteers, dancers or anyone working on behalf of Spiral Dance Studio. All staff and volunteers have strict obligation to never subject a child or young person to harm or abuse. If this is not followed, any allegations or suspicions of abuse will be taken very seriously and treated as gross misconduct. Our policy can be viewed by parents of children who attend Rising Stars Academy and there will always be a copy kept on site.

The purpose of this policy:
To protect children and young people who dance at Rising Stars Academy including in regular classes, performances, workshops or any other activities linked to the dance school.

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

Designated Safeguarding Lead: Rising Stars Academy has a designated Safeguarding lead (DSL) who is in charge of ensuring that the child protection policy is adhered to. They will also track and record any safeguarding concerns and ensure that any concerns are shared with correct authorities.

The DSL is Emma Bateman and she can be contacted on: 07443761300 or r.starsacademy@gmail.com

Training for this role includes: – Introduction to Safeguarding Children (Level 1): March 2021 Policy update due 11th March 2024. Paediatric First Aid: July 12th 22 Policy update due on: 17th May 2025

Rising Stars Academy Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy

All teachers and volunteers at Rising Stars Academy will read and have access to this policy. They must also understand their legal and moral responsibility to protect children and young people from harm, abuse and exploitation and be able to confirm how they will safeguard the children in their care. This includes how to report concerns that arise about a child or young person, or a worker’s conduct towards a child or young person to the DSL or appropriate authorities.

The DSL will provide this information through trainings and regular meetings. Any updates will be communicated with staff.

Our duties and responsibilities:
● It is our requirement that all staff (teachers & volunteers over 16) have a clear and up-to-date enhanced DBS check and that they have up-to-date safeguarding training.
● Our teachers and volunteers have a duty to report anything concerning that has happened in class or any other concerns to the DSL at the next available opportunity. This must also be confirmed in writing as soon as possible if the initial conversation is verbal.
● Our teachers must take practical steps to keep our children safe from harm and abuse, including no disclosing of sensitive/personal information, keeping children safe from hazards in class and responding appropriately in the event of an accident.

Rising Stars Academy will seek to safeguard children and young people by:
● Ensuring everybody has the right to dance,
● Providing a safe space for our dancers where their views are valued and they are treated with respect and dignity,
● Focussing on the benefits of dance helping individuals personally and socially as well as physically,
● Building an environment of trust and providing space to talk, communicate and be listened to.
● Making sure that children, young people and their families know where to go for help if they have a concern.

Consent to share information:

At Rising Stars Academy , there are certain circumstances where we ask for consent from our parents such as photo/video permissions and performance permissions.

If a teacher discloses information to the DSL and we have concerns about the safety of a child and which must be referred to the relevant Safeguarding team, we will seek consent from the parents/carers involved who will be informed that we are referring a case and why.

If parents, carers or children refuse consent to information being shared, we are still able to refer to the relevant Safeguarding team if necessary.

There are some instances where consent may not be sought:
● In the event of seeking medical attention (child is in immediate danger)
● If obtaining consent from the parent/carer could place the child or another family member at risk
● If having a discussion with parents/carers will put you or a staff member at risk

It is our legal duty to disclose necessary information to relevant authorities as part of our responsibility for child protection.

Any decisions to share information to protect a child from harm must be recorded with the reasons for the disclosure and whether or not the information has been shared. If the information is shared, you must recorded what has been shared and who with.

Child Protection:
Child Protection is part of safeguarding and focuses on protecting individual children identified as suffering or likely to suffer significant harm.

Significant harm is when someone may abuse or neglect a child when harm is inflicted or if there has been failure to act to prevent harm. Children may be abused by those known to them (e.g. family members or in a school/community setting) or by those unknown to them (e.g. on the internet). Abuse can be inflicted by an adult(s) or other children.

All teachers and volunteers must be able to recognise and know how to act upon evidence of harm or abuse where a child’s health or development is impaired. Any concerns must be recorded and shared with the DSL. What we do at Rising Stars Academy to protect our children:
● Treat all dancers and parents with respect and dignity,
● Put the welfare of each child first,
● Ensure all paid staff and volunteers (aged 16+) who will be working with children will have an Enhanced DBS Check,
● Never accepting bullying of any form,
● Ensure all adult members will provide a positive role model (including those helping in classes),
● Take action to stop any inappropriate behaviour,
● Keep informed of changes in legislation and policies for the protection of children,
● Undertake relevant professional development and training,
● Ensure all contact and medical details for every child is up to date and available at the place of teaching or performance
● Ensure good reporting to our DSL and onwards to children’s social care if we ever suspect harm.
● Foster an environment of good communication, transparency and trust

Allegations against staff

Any report of concern about the behaviour of a member of staff or allegation of abuse against a member of staff must immediately be reported to the DSL who will refer to the appropriate Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), If this is an allegation that a member of staff may have caused harm to a child. The member of staff who reports the allegation or the member of staff alleged against must not have any part of any further investigation including questioning the children.

Safer Recruitment Policy:
When recruiting teachers and volunteers, we will follow the following process to ensure that any new staff are suitable to work with children.

We will:
● Advertise vacancies widely
● Ask for identification
● Ask for original copies of any qualifications
● Conduct an interview
● Ask for two references (one must be an employer)
● Ask for evidence of a clean, enhanced DBS check or apply for one (teachers will not be able to start their position until this has come through)
● Ensure new staff are knowledgeable of our policies and safeguarding procedures , bullying or deliberately frightening a child. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all other types of maltreatment but can also occur alone. Physical abuse is defined as deliberately hurting a child and causing physical harm (Department of Health, 2017; Department for Education, 2018). Injuries may be inflicted such as: bruises, broken bones, burns, cuts and may involve hitting, kicking, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning, scalding, drowning and any other method of causing non-accidental harm to a child. Physical abuse may also occur when a parent/carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child. Please note: this is not a complete list but contains examples. It is not your responsibility to determine whether abuse has taken place but simply share your concerns with your DSL. For more information about types of abuse and how to recognise them please visit the NSPCC website (https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/child-abuse-and-neglect) for detailed information. Policy updated on: 27th August 2023