Safeguarding policy statement
THE PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THIS POLICY STATEMENT
Saltwater SUP are a professional Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) school and social club established in 2017. We originally started operating from our local beach at Chalkwell and have grown over the last few years and expanded our locations to include Hadleigh Country Park. We have a team of British Stand Up Paddle Association (BSUPA) qualified instructors who teach a wide variety of paddleboard classes from those new to the sport all the way to those looking to master the activity.
At Saltwater SUP we are committed to increasing the number of people enjoying SUP and want to facilitate people from all ages, ethnic and social backgrounds. We want everyone to find SUP’ing fun, rewarding, enjoyable, but most importantly safe. Children and young people have the right to be treated equally and, here at Saltwater SUP, we will always strive to ensure that this always happens.
We have a responsibility to protect children and young people from harm. The purpose of this policy statement is to communicate how we are committed to protecting children and young people. This policy is also relevant for the children of adults who use our services. This policy should give confidence to everyone that participates in an activity with Saltwater SUP, including staff, volunteers, seasonal workers, agency staff and students that we take our responsibility to provide a safe and enjoyable environment seriously.
LEGAL FRAMEWORK
This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England. Saltwater SUP have enhanced procedures (available on request) for safeguarding children which are in line with the Southend, Essex and Thurrock (SET) Child Protection Procedures and Safeguarding Adults Guidelines found here.
A summary of the key legislation is available from www.nspcc.org.uk/learning.
AALA LICENSE
We hold a current AALA License, a HSE license that is legally required to take under 18s on paddle board trips without the child’s parental/legal guardian being present.
For any watersport activities (most familiar watersport activities include canoeing, kayaking, dragon boating, wave skiing, white-water rafting, improvised rafting, sailing, sailboarding and windsurfing) to be licensable, they need to be done on ‘specified water’ – this is the sea, tidal waters (eg estuaries), inland waters more than 50 metres from the nearest land excluding any island or on turbulent inland waters.
Having the AALA license enables us to run BSUPA courses including Born to Ride and Born to Race, taster lessons, teaching under 18’s how to paddleboard properly and safely adding lots of fun to their learning.
BSUPA (British Stand Up Paddle Association) ACCREDITATION
BSUPA was founded in September 2007 represents British stand up paddleboarding and SUP with focus on training courses, support for events and sup training schemes.
Saltwater SUP is a fully accredited BSUPA school.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
This document should be read alongside our enhanced safeguarding policy (available on request), standard operating procedures, Saltwater SUP risk assessments, BSUPA guidance, SET Child Protection Procedures and Safeguarding Adult Guidelines and any other relevant related documents.
The child protection lead, with assistance from the Health and Safety Officer, will ensure that staff are appropriately trained and can display effective communication and engagement with children, young people and families. There will be processes (as explained in Saltwater SUP’s enhanced policy) in place for recording concerns and reporting information to any appropriate authorities or agencies. All allegations against staff and will be taken seriously and acted upon in line with these procedures.
Confidentially is paramount in any reports however the welfare and safety of a child will be the overriding consideration on whether to share confidential information about them.
No photographs of children will be taken by staff, volunteers or instructors at Saltwater SUP. All parents attending the session will be given advice prior to engagement of the activity on taking photographs at the site.
We have a child protection lead, a deputy child protection lead and the Health and Safety Officer who will all ensure that Saltwater SUP’s enhanced policy is kept up to date and appropriately implemented. The Health and Safety Officer will report safeguarding concerns in the absence of the leads or if the leads are implicated.
In the event that there are concerns about a child, the child protection lead or deputy child protection lead will contact SET to inform their decision making process with regard to the presenting safeguarding concerns. All staff, in the absence of a member of the safeguarding team, may raise concerns directly and have been appropriately trained to do so.
WE BELIEVE THAT:
Children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind.
We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, to keep them safe and to practice in a way that protects them. The creation of Saltwater SUP’s enhanced policy (available on request) is a commitment to this ethical responsibility.
WE WILL SEEK TO KEEP CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE SAFE BY:
Ensuring all staff who work with young or vulnerable people at Saltwater SUP are subject to enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks before employment with us, and are trained in accordance with our enhanced safeguarding policy statement (available on request).
Saltwater SUP is committed to ensuring all concerns raised in respect of child safeguarding or welfare are considered and acted upon in a proper and appropriate manner. The protection and safeguarding of children is paramount and should be primarily based on prevention and best practice. However all risk cannot be eliminated but through good practice, policy and procedures, Saltwater SUP are committed to building an appropriate culture that allows those with concerns to raise them appropriately in the knowledge they will be dealt with properly, we can minimise those risks.
From time to time issues of concern maybe raised and should be dealt with in line with Saltwater SUP enhanced guidance (available on request) and upon advice of competent authorities set out in the SET procedures.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Saltwater SUP recognise that all matters relating to child protection are confidential and the child protection lead will only disclose personal information about participants to other members of staff on a need to know basis only. However, all staff are aware that they have a professional responsibility to share information with other agencies in order to safeguard children.
When considering sharing information the staff will consider the following rules:
• remember that GDPR is not a barrier to sharing information, it provides the framework
• be open & honest with the person from the outset about how information may be shared
• seek advice; do not fail to share information because you are unsure what to do
• share with consent where appropriate and respect the wishes of those who refuse consent unless you believe that there is a risk of harm to child if the information is not shared
• consider safety and well-being of the child and base information sharing decisions on this
• ensure all information shared is Necessary, Proportionate, Relevant, Accurate, Timely & Secure. Ensure any third party or hearsay information is identified and that you have consent to share it
• keep a record of your decision and reasons for it. Record what you have shared, with whom and the purpose
CONTACT DETAILS
Child protection lead
Name: Oliver Nawrat
Deputy child protection lead
Name: Jeff Carr
Email: [email protected]
Health and Safety Officer
Name: Oliver Nawrat
Email: [email protected]
NSPCC Helpline
0808 800 5000
MASH (Southend)
01702 215007
MASH Emergency Duty Team
0345 606 1212
Childline
0800 1111 (Free)
Essex County Council – Children’s Social Care
0345 603 7627 (Out of office hours – 0345 606 1212)
We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually.
This policy was last reviewed on: 19th February 2022
Signed: ……………Oliver Nawrat ………………………… |
