Safeguarding Policy

VIBES & MINDS Safeguarding Policy Statement

January 2020

The purpose and scope of this policy statement is:

to protect children and young people who receive VIBES & MINDS services from harm. This includes the children of adults who use our services.
to provide staff and volunteers, as well as children and young people and their families, with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection.

This policy applies to anyone working on behalf of VIBES & MINDS, paid staff, self-employed staff, volunteers, sessional workers, and students.

Legal Framework

This policy has been drawn up in accordance with all relevant and applicable legislation and guidance available to VIBES and MINDS, in the jurisdictions it operates within the United Kingdom.

This policy is in accordance with the following:

Children Act 1989
United Nations Conventions on the rights of the child
Children Act 2004
General Data Protection Regulation
Data Protection Act 2018

Supporting Documents

Policies, procedures, guidance, and other related documents, provided on request.

Dealing with Disclosures and concerns about a Child or Young Person.
Managing Allegations Against Staff and Volunteers.
Recording Concerns and Information Sharing.
Code of Conduct for Staff and Volunteers.
Behaviour Codes for Children and Young People.
Photography and Sharing Images Guidance.
Safer Recruitment.
Online Safety.
Health and Safety.
Induction, Training, Supervision, and Support.
Adult to child supervision ratios.

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 practise in a way that protects them and enhances their wellbeing.
We help to provide Prevention; teaching children about their emotions/feelings, regulation of emotions, brain-mind-body concepts, mindfulness techniques such as breathwork, yoga, relaxation, meditation and affirmations all helps to build a better understanding of their self, bringing about a better self-esteem, resilience, and awareness of their individual welling.
We help to provide Intervention: teaching children through Talk therapy, Brain-mind-body concepts, Art, music, Mindfulness (as above) all help children to deal with any traumas, developmental struggles, and Mental health awareness.
We believe that teaching children from a young age about their wellbeing & Mental health will help them to develop a more stable and connected child, providing them with techniques through Mindfulness that will last them through life journeys to deal with any struggles they may find.
We believe that it is important for a child to learn about the brain functionalities, Mind over matter policy and the effects these can have on our body.

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.
Working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers, and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

Behaviours and Management:

Working in large groups, (more than 12 children) within an organisation such as schools, universities i will ask for a teacher/teaching Assistant to be present.
Disclosure of any safeguarding issues from VIBES and MINDS will be reported to the headteacher.
I will ask for Disclosure to be made to myself of any child that is requiring extra support, physically & mentally and safeguarding in place.
If a parent/carer is accompanying a child in a session / family session you will be responsible for your children while in a session.

Consent:

I will provide all parents/children that come to VIBES and Minds with a consent & information worksheet to be filled out by the parent/carer, this is to be returned to VIBES and MINDS before 1-2-1, classes, workshops, parenting & families sessions can take place.
VIBES and MINDS expects all information given to us regarding a child’s wellbeing, to be made truthful, and honest.
When working within organisations such as schools, pre-schools, universities etc I expect the organisation to have full consent from children & parents/carers.

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

Valuing, listening to and respecting them.
Adopting child protection and safeguarding best practice through our policies, procedures, and code of conduct for staff and volunteers.
Developing and implementing an effective online safety policy and related procedures.
Providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support, training, and Quality assurance measures so that all staff and volunteers know about and follow our policies, procedures, and behaviour codes confidently and competently.
Recruiting and selecting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made.
Recording, storing, and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance.
Sharing information about safeguarding and good practice with children and their families via leaflets, posters, group work and one-to-one discussions.
Making sure that children, young people, and their families know where to go for help if they have a concern 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 and volunteers appropriately.
Creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment and ensuring that we have a policy and procedure to help us deal effectively with any bullying that does 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, staff, and volunteers, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance.
Building a safeguarding culture where staff and volunteers, children, young people, and their families, treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns

Contact Details

Nominated Child Protection Lead Name: Debs Clark

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Telephone Number: 07896 529229

We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually.

Policy was last reviewed on 4^th January 2021

Signed: Deborah Clark