SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN POLICY for
Gigabull Ltd.

1 Introduction
1 Gigabull Ltd. is a for-profit organisation run by:

Gig-A-Bull Ltd Co. No 06373939. 2 Gigabull Ltd. is based at:

101 Shelford Road, Cambridge, CB2 9NB and has its Registered Office at 115c Milton Road, Cambridge CB4 1XE

3 Gigabull Ltd. is managed by a management team (the Team). One of the management team has particular responsibility for safeguarding children.

4 The Team has adopted this safeguarding children policy and expects every adult working or helping at Gigabull Ltd. to support it and comply with it. Consequently this policy shall apply to all staff, managers, trustees, directors, volunteers, students or anyone working on behalf of Gigabull Ltd.

2 Purpose of the Policy

1 This policy is intended to protect children and young people who receive any service from us, including those who are the children of adults who may receive services from us.

2 As an organisation we believe that no child or young person should experience abuse or harm and are committed to the protection of children and young people and this policy is intended to provide guidance and overarching principles to those who represent us as volunteers or staff, to guide our approach to child protection and safeguarding.

3 The risks to children

Nearly every child grows up in a safe and happy environment and it is important not to exaggerate or overestimate the dangers. Nevertheless, there are situations where children need protection including:

Sexual abuse
Grooming
Physical and emotional abuse and neglect Domestic violence

Inappropriate supervision by staff or volunteers
Bullying, cyber bullying, acts of violence and aggression within our schools and campuses
Victimisation
Self-harm
Unsafe environments and activities
Crime
Exploitation

4 Universality of Protection We recognise that:

the welfare of the child is paramount
all children regardless of race, gender, religious belief, disability, age, sexual orientation or identity have a right to equal protection from harm.
some children are more vulnerable to harm as a result of their circumstances, prior experiences, communication needs or level of dependency.
working with children, young people, their parents and/or guardians, carers or other agencies is essential to protecting their wellbeing.

5 Safeguarding children at events / activities

1 There are three kinds of events/activities:

1.1 those open to adults and children of all ages, 1.2 those for children accompanied by a 'parent',

1.3 those for unaccompanied children, which are sometimes run alongside other events/activities.

2 At events and activities open to all ages, children under 16 must be accompanied throughout by an adult over the age of 18 who not only brings the child but also takes the child home again afterwards. Young people aged 16 or 17 may attend unaccompanied if they bring the written consent and mobile telephone number of one of their parents.

3 At events and activities for children accompanied by a 'parent', children under 16 must be supervised throughout the event by an adult over the age of 18 who not only brings the child to the event but also takes the child home again afterwards. If a lone adult brings more than one child, then the children will have to stay together, so that the one adult can supervise them. Young people aged 16 or 17 may attend unaccompanied if they bring the written consent and mobile telephone number of one of their parents.

4 At events and activities for unaccompanied children, children under the age of 16 must be enrolled by a responsible adult before being left with the event leader. The enrolment must record the child's name, age and address and the names and addresses of the child's parents, plus the parents' mobile telephone numbers. Young people aged 16 or 17 may attend unaccompanied if they bring the written consent and mobile telephone number of one of their parents.

5 Both event and activities are to be defined broadly to include any occasions where Gigabull Ltd. will be providing a service.

6 Disclosure and barring

1 Gigabull Ltd. offers the following activities for children:

One to one music lessons, group music lessons, master classes, workshops and musical performances.

2 Some of our activities may therefore require adult participants or adult leaders to undergo DBS and/or police checks under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006. The required level of checking (if any) will broadly reflect the degree and frequency of unsupervised access given to other people's children.

3 The Team will take very seriously any allegation of impropriety on the part of any member of Gigabull Ltd. A member of Gigabull Ltd. who discovers anything amiss should get in touch immediately with the following:

Mr Pascha Milner or Susan Milner DSL

4 The Team will review the allegation and the likely risk to children and, if appropriate, will consider banning the member from future events or revoking his or her membership or both, but only in full accordance with the rules and procedures of Gigabull Ltd.

7 Health and safety aspects of safeguarding children

1 Before starting any event for unaccompanied children, the Team will carry out a risk assessment and then take steps to minimise all risks to health and safety. Parents and children will be made aware of any particular risks and of the steps to be taken to minimise those risks. The Team will keep a record of all risk assessments.

2 Sufficient adults must be present at any event for unaccompanied children to enable one adult to deal with any emergency while another adult supervises the children not directly affected by the emergency.

3 In all relevant circumstances the rules attached in Appendix A will be applied.

9 Policy on the prevention of bullying

We will not tolerate the bullying of children either by adults or by other children. If any incident of child-on-child bullying should arise at a Gigabull Ltd. event, those involved will be separated

immediately and the parents of the children involved will be asked to deal with the matter. The Team will review all incidents of child-on-child bullying and assess the likely future risk to children. If appropriate, the Team will consider banning a child from future events, but only in full accordance with the rules and procedures of Gigabull Ltd. Allegations of adults bullying children will be dealt with under paragraph 6.3 above.

10 Photographing children

People must expect to have their photograph taken at many of our events and we reserve the right to publish suitable photographs of those attending, along with the names of members involved.

11 Managing behaviour, discipline and acceptable restraint

1 Adults supervising children at Gigabull Ltd. events must never use any form of corporal punishment. If physical restraint is absolutely necessary to prevent injury to any person or to prevent serious damage to property, then the minimum necessary restraint may be used — but for that purpose only.

2 Unacceptable behaviour at Gigabull Ltd. events for unaccompanied children will generally be stopped by separating the children from each other and from the group. The miscreants will be suitably supervised and will be returned as soon as possible to the care of their parents.

3 Gigabull Ltd. may apply a further disciplinary sanction; namely the banning of the child from one or more future events over the following 18 months. Any such sanction would be determined and applied by the following officer:

Mr Pascha Milner

4 A parent who is aggrieved by this ban may appeal to Gigabull Ltd. who will hear the views of all relevant persons. The decision of Gigabull Ltd. is then final. Any such appeals should be made to, and will be determined by the following officer:

Mrs Susan Milner

12 Other Policies
This safeguarding policy should be read together with the following policies and resources:

Appendix A

13 Legal Framework
This policy has been drawn up in accordance with the following:

Children Act 1989
United Convention of the Rights of the Child 1991
General Data Protection Regulation
Human Rights Act 1998
Sexual Offences Act 2003
Children Act 2004
Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
Protection of Freedoms Act 2012
Children and Families Act 2014
Special educational needs and disability (SEND) code of practice - Guidance on the special educational needs and disability (SEND) system for children and young people aged 0 to 25, from 1 September 2014
Information sharing: advice for practitioners providing safeguarding services
Working together to safeguard children (2017)

NOTE: This Policy was approved by the following officer on 20/12/2019 and is due for review every 2 Year.:

Mr Pascha Milner

Appendix A

Further rules and guidelines to be applied for the safeguarding of children

Appendix A: Gigabull Ltd. Safeguarding policy. Revised 20/12/2019

Key Points

• Gigabull is dedicated to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of its pupils.

• It is the duty of all members of staff, both teaching and non-teaching, to play an active role in ensuring the safety and promoting the welfare of the children in the companies care.

• All members of staff are expected to be aware of and follow the Safeguarding procedures. In particular they need to be aware of their duty to report concerns, the guidance for identifying child abuse, what to do if a child makes an allegation of child abuse and issues about confidentiality.

• Members of Gigabull Ltd do not investigate serious allegations of Child abuse themselves. As required, serious allegations will be reported to Social Services and, if necessary, the Police.

• Alongside the Director, the following people have specific responsibility for Child Protection matters at the company: Susan Milner - Designated Safeguarding Lead. (DSL)

• Where requested any member of staff (freelance or employed) must complete the Educare Learning Ltd. Child protection in Education online training modules.

  Duty to Report

  Any member of staff who either knows of, is told of, or strongly suspects any incident of physical or sexual child abuse occurring (within a School in which we operate) to a pupil of a School at home or outside must report the information the same day to safeguarding personal within that School unless it involves an allegation against a member of staff at the School in which case it should be reported directly to the Head. Suspected incidents within the Company but outside any School should be reported the same day to the Director (Pascha Milner) or the Designated Safeguarding Lead (Susan Milner).

  If the allegation or suspicion is about the Director, the report should be made either to the Social Services Local Area Designated Officer (LADO) (Children and Young People’s Service LADO@cambridgeshire.gov.uk Tel:01223 727 967 ). (Out of Hours Service Tel: 01733 234 724).

  Child abuse to be reported includes abuse of a pupil by a staff member or other adult, abuse at home which a pupil reports to staff, abuse by a stranger outside school, and abuse of one pupil by another pupil. In the case of abuse by a pupil, or group of pupils, the key issues identifying the problem as abuse (rather than an isolated instance of bullying or ‘adolescent experimentation’ which would be anticipated to be within normal bounds of a community) are:

  • •

The frequency, nature and severity of the incident(s), The ages and relative ages of the pupils involved,

• Whether the victim was coerced by physical force, fear or by a pupil or group of pupils significantly older than him or her, or having power or authority over him or her,

• Whether the incident involved a potentially criminal act, and whether if the same incident (or injury) had occurred to a member of staff or other adult, it would have been regarded as assault or otherwise actionable.

  The Companies Duty To Report

  The Company will refer information to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) if it is clear that a person has harmed, or poses a risk of harm, to a child or vulnerable adult. The Company will report any individual who is barred from working with children who has tried to work in any capacity at the Company. We also agree to supply information about individuals to the DBS as and when requested to do so.

  The Company also has a duty to refer information to Children and Young People Services if it is believed or suspected that a child is suffering or is likely to suffer Significant Harm. Any such referral must be made as soon as possible when any concern of Significant Harm becomes known – the greater the level of perceived risk, the more urgent the action should be. The suspicion or allegation may be based on information which comes from different sources. It may relate to a single incident or an accumulation of lower level concerns. When in doubt, concerns must be shared.

  Investigations into Child Abuse are always externally managed. Members of the Company do not investigate reports of physical or sexual abuse themselves. Alleged victims, perpetrators, those reporting abuse and others involved will not be interviewed by members of staff beyond the point at which it is clear that there is an allegation of abuse. The interviewing of children and adults involved will be carried out by specially trained staff only (external to the company), following procedures in line with government requirements and in the light of the recommendations of past inquiries into the handling of child abuse issues.

  “Low Level” Concerns

  Where the Company has ‘low level’ concerns that do not amount to allegations or suspicions of specific abuse, but which may indicate the possibility of abuse occurring, the Director or Designated Staff member should discuss these with the Social Services Local Authority Designated Officer as appropriate.

  Where low level concerns have been raised but not evidenced the Company may deem it appropriate to conduct an initial investigation to clarify its course of action. Where there is found to be evidence of concerns then the Company will report its findings to Children and Young People Services.

  Where low level concerns relate to staff conduct or behaviour, but do not amount to potential abuse, then the Company may choose to take appropriate disciplinary action.

  The Company should consider taking, and as necessary should take, disciplinary action against any member of staff or agent of the Company, where it believes pupils are at risk of abuse from that member of staff, even in cases where there is to be no criminal prosecution. Disciplinary proceedings and grounds for concern over pupils’ welfare may be based on ‘balance of probability’, rather than ‘beyond reasonable doubt’. In cases where a member of staff resigns following an allegation, the investigation should still be concluded and any findings reported to the DBS.

  The Company acknowledges that its policy could lead to an investigation being triggered which does not substantiate the allegation made, as well as those that do. It is a basic assumption that it is better to endure some ‘false alarms’ than to fail to initiate specialist investigation of instances of real abuse.
  False and vindictive allegations will not be taken likely and damages may be pursued.

When An Allegation Of Physical Or Sexual Abuse Is Made

Any staff member to whom an allegation of physical or sexual abuse is made should:

1. Limit any questioning to the minimum necessary to seek clarification only, strictly avoiding ‘leading’ the pupil or adult who has approached them by making suggestions or asking questions that introduce their own ideas about what may have happened. (Do not ask questions like ‘Did s/he do x to you?’, using instead a minimum number of questions of the ‘Tell me what has happened’ type).

2. Stop asking any more questions as soon as the pupil or adult has disclosed that he or she believes that something abusive has happened to him or her, or to someone else.

3. Tell the informing pupil or adult that the staff member will now make sure that the appropriate people are brought in to follow the problem up (these will include the specialist social worker, and that worker may need to involve the police).

4. Ask the informing pupil or adult what steps they would like to be taken to protect them now that they have made an allegation, and assure them that the Company will try to follow their wishes.

5. Refer the matter the same day, with all relevant details, to the Director, DSL, or if in a School the Designated Staff with specific responsibility for Child Protection or the Head. (If this cannot be done, the staff member him/herself should contact the Social Services Local Area Designated Officer).

6. Make a handwritten record as soon as possible of what they have been told, and make a copy of this available to the Director (Pascha Milner) or Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) Susan Milner. If the incident refers to a pupil of member of staff within a School in which we operate the incident should be reported to the Designated Staff or Head.

When An Allegation Is Passed On

On receiving an allegation of physical or sexual abuse, the Director, Designated Staff, DSL or the Head of any School should:

1. Take any steps needed to protect any pupil involved from risk of immediate harm. (This may involve allocating an appropriate member of staff, as far as possible a person chosen by the pupil him/herself to stay with him or her. Similarly an inspector receiving an allegation of abuse at any school may stay with the pupil concerned until suitable arrangements for his/her protection are made.)

2. Not interview or investigate the allegation further, but refer the matter the same day to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO). He/she should speak personally to the LADO and not rely on leaving a message.

3. Consult the LADO (or officer deputising for him/her) and follow his/her advice about contacting parents, other staff, police, doctor or alleged perpetrator or witnesses direct. Agree with the LADO (or social services officer deputising) any necessary next steps in relation to:

• Informing a pupil’s parents (there are circumstances where it would be inappropriate to inform parents immediately when an allegation has been made)

• Medical examination or treatment for the pupil (again, there are circumstances where medical evidence will be needed)

• Immediate protection that may be needed for a pupil who has been the victim of abuse, a pupil who has given information about abuse, and a pupil against whom an allegation has been made (each of these may now be at risk)

• Informing other appropriate people at a School or within the Company (including any other members of staff) of the allegation and its investigation. (Care should be taken at this stage, as knowledge of an allegation or impending investigation can lead to a serious risk of the alleged perpetrator ‘covering up’ evidence that may be sought by police or putting pressure on others to remain silent). It may also irreversibly stigmatise a victim of false vindictive accusation.

• Informing the placing authority, if there is one.

• (Contacting the LADO will initiate an independent investigation if this proves to be necessary, and the LADO will arrange, within pre-set time limits, the involvement of the relevant specialist police personnel and if necessary a meeting of the agencies who may need to be involved).

1. Inform the pupil or adult who made the initial allegation of what the next steps are to be, having agreed these with the LADO. (It may be helpful for the call to the LADO to be made while the pupil or adult is waiting, so that he or she can be told the likely next steps immediately after the call. If this is not possible the pupil or adult should be told the next step as soon as possible after the call).

2. Inform the Head of the School in question (unless they are the subject of any of the allegations or suspicions) of the allegation and the action taken as above, and agree necessary further action in line the Schools policy.

3. The Director and or Head make the decision whether to suspend from duty, pending investigation, any staff member who is alleged to have abused a pupil or pupils. (The decision to suspend should be based on firm grounds such as the accused could impede an investigation, there is a continued threat of harm or the allegations are so serious that they are likely to be grounds for dismissal.)

Confidentiality

Adults in the Company should never give absolute guarantees of confidentiality to pupils or adults wishing to tell them about something serious. They should however guarantee that they will only pass on information to the minimum number of people who must be told in order to ensure that the proper action is taken to sort the problem out, that they will never tell anyone who does not have a clear ‘need to know’, and that they will personally take whatever steps they can to protect the informing pupil or adult from any retaliation or unnecessary stress that might be feared after a disclosure of alleged abuse has been made.

The Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is Responsible For:

Procedure

• Holding and being conversant with current local and national child protection procedures and inter-agency working.

• Keeping up to date through training. It is a requirement that this takes place at least every two years.

• Reviewing and updating the Companies Safeguarding Policy. Any deficiencies or weaknesses in the Safeguarding policy and procedures must be remedied without delay.

• Liaison over Safeguarding matters with the local Social Services Department.

  Raising Awareness

• Briefing and guiding teaching and non-teaching staff on Safeguarding matters. This includes the briefing of new staff as part of their induction. Staff must receive Safeguarding training at least every three years. Part-time and voluntary staff who work with children are to be made aware of the arrangements for Safeguarding and their responsibilities.

• Ensuring that regular staff complete ‘Educare’ online Safeguarding training programs endorsed by Gigabull Ltd.

• Ensuring that the Safeguarding procedures are followed within the company that each member of staff has access to the procedures and an understanding of them.

  Referrals

• Receiving reports of alleged or suspected child abuse within the company or reported by a pupil relating to incidents at home or outside the school, contacting the Social Services Department, as appropriate, and taking other action in response.

Guidelines

The Company issues guidelines to all staff on the prevention of abuse covering:

• Staff supervision of high risk situations.

• Avoidance of inappropriate physical contact between staff and pupils.

• Avoidance of inappropriately spending time alone with individual pupils.

• The need for all staff to be vigilant in spotting and reporting clear suspicions that abuse may be occurring.

  Information Sheet for Teaching Staff

  All teaching staff should be aware of the basic procedures to be followed should a situation arise in which a pupil wished to confide in them. Please read the following carefully.

  The Four Categories of Significant Harm are:

  • Neglect - Failure to meet a child’s basic physical/psychological needs, including food, shelter, clothing, emotional support, medical care and a protective environment safe from physical harm.

  • Physical Abuse - This includes hitting or shaking a child, or grabbing a child by an article of clothing.

  • Sexual Abuse - This includes physical contact, making children look at pornography or encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.

  • Emotional Abuse - Persistent ill-treatment of a child, which may involve conveying that the child is worthless, unloved, or inadequate. It may also involve the imposition of inappropriate expectations.

What to do when a pupil wants to tell you something that has happened

• Listen very carefully.

• Do not promise confidentiality.

• Ask “open” questions like “tell me what has happened,” and avoid any leading

  questions like “did s/he do *!??**! to you?”

• Make written notes as soon as possible, noting anything that you have said.

• Do not take it upon yourself to investigate what the pupil has told you.

• Do not tell the person about whom the pupil has complained.

• If you think that a child is at risk contact either of the Designated Staff for Child

  Protection immediately.

  Child Protection Officers at Gigabull Ltd:

  Pascha Milner 07834 159837

  Susan Milner 07515 381544

  Writing a Report on what you have been told

• Note the date, time, and your name.

• Note the who/what/where/when of the accusation.

• Note your own opinion if it is relevant, preferably with justification.

• Reflect on why you have logged the incident.

• Hand the report to one of the Child Protection Officers.

  Possible Indicators of Abuse - General Signs

• Changes in normal behaviour/attitude.

• Social withdrawal.

• Restlessness and aimlessness.

• Sleeping and eating disturbance.

• Unexplained change in work ethos.

• Recurrent stomach/headaches.

• Any unexplained bruising.

• Self-harming.

  This is not a definitive list but may be of use when there are concerns.