Child Protection & Safeguarding Policy – Summary

Our aims are to:

• Promote and prioritise the safety and wellbeing of children and vulnerable adults
• Protect them from abuse, neglect, exploitation and harm (including online)
• Act quickly and appropriately when concerns arise
• Work in partnership with parents, carers, schools and safeguarding professionals

This policy is based on current UK legislation and statutory guidance, including the Children Acts 1989 and 2004, Working Together to Safeguard Children, Keeping Children Safe in Education, and the Prevent Duty.

Who the policy applies to
This policy covers everyone working on behalf of ActiveMe 360, including:

• Directors and senior leaders
• Employed team members and sessional staff
• Volunteers, agency staff and students

All team members share responsibility for safeguarding and must follow this policy and related procedures.

Key safeguarding commitments

We will:

• Ensure all staff and regular volunteers working with children/vulnerable adults have an appropriate enhanced DBS check and are safely recruited
• Provide safeguarding and Prevent awareness training for everyone in suitable roles, refreshed regularly
• Maintain clear procedures for raising and responding to concerns, using CPOMS and agreed local authority pathways
• Create open, trusted environments where children feel able to talk and know who they can speak to
• Share information with relevant agencies where needed to protect children, while following data protection requirements
• Review our safeguarding practice and policy at least annually or following any significant incident or change in guidance

Recognising and responding to concerns

The policy explains the main forms of abuse and harm, including physical, emotional, sexual abuse, neglect, domestic abuse, child-on-child abuse, child trafficking and female genital mutilation (FGM), as well as the signs that may indicate a child or vulnerable adult is at risk.

All team are expected to:

• Listen carefully, take all disclosures seriously and never promise to keep secrets
• Reassure the child or adult that it is not their fault and that they have done the right thing in speaking up
• Record concerns promptly and factually using the Incident Report Form/CPOMS (including exact words where possible)
• Report concerns immediately to the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) or Deputy DSLs
• Call 999 if a child or adult is believed to be in immediate danger

The policy makes clear when consent to share information is required, and when information should still be shared without consent because someone’s safety may be at risk.

Safer recruitment and staff conduct

To reduce the risk of unsuitable people working with children and vulnerable adults, the policy sets out a safer recruitment process including:

• Clear job descriptions and person specifications that reference safeguarding
• Application forms, identity checks, right to work checks and qualification checks
• At least two references (including, where possible, one from a role working with children/vulnerable adults)
• Face-to-face interviews and, where relevant, observed practical sessions
• Enhanced DBS checks (with barred list checks where appropriate), repeated every 3 years

A detailed Code of Conduct explains the standards expected of adults working with children, including:

• Always prioritising the welfare of children and vulnerable adults
• Maintaining professional boundaries and appropriate relationships
• Avoiding being alone with a child where possible and taking steps to reduce risk if that is unavoidable
• Never using personal phones or social media to contact children, or engaging in any behaviour that could be abusive, intimidating, sexualised or discriminatory

Breaches of the code or safeguarding concerns about staff/volunteers are managed through clear disciplinary and safeguarding procedures, including referral to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and, where appropriate, the Teaching Regulation Agency.

Prevent Duty

As part of the national Prevent strategy, we help protect children and vulnerable adults from radicalisation and exposure to extremist views by:

• Raising awareness of the signs of radicalisation and vulnerability
• Encouraging staff to “notice, check and share” concerns
• Following the same safeguarding and referral pathways where there is a risk of extremist influence or terrorist-related activity

Managing allegations and low-level concerns about adults

The policy distinguishes between:

• Allegations that meet the harm threshold (e.g. where a staff member may have harmed a child, committed a relevant offence or may pose a risk of harm) – these must be reported immediately to the DSL and consulted with the LADO within one working day.
• Low-level concerns (LLCs) – behaviours that fall below the harm threshold but are inconsistent with our Code of Conduct (for example, being overly familiar or using inappropriate language). All low-level concerns must still be recorded, reported to the DSL/Deputy DSL and reviewed to identify any patterns.

There is a clear whistleblowing process for any team member who feels unable to raise concerns through normal channels, including routes to the LADO, NSPCC Whistleblowing Helpline and Ofsted.

Photography, social media and IT use

To protect children’s privacy and safety, the policy states that:

• Consent must be obtained before using photographs or video for promotional or public purposes
• Children will not be identified by full name alongside images, and images will only be used for ActiveMe 360 purposes
• Images are stored securely and never on personal devices; staff must not use personal phones or accounts to photograph or film children
• Social media and IT systems must be used responsibly and only for work purposes during sessions, with strict rules around confidential information, inappropriate content and conduct online

Attendance in wraparound and EYFS settings

The Attendance Policy (aligned with EYFS 2025) sets out how we:

• Keep accurate daily registers for each session, including arrival and departure times
• Expect parents/carers to inform us promptly of absences and reasons
• Follow up unexplained absences in a timely way and monitor patterns or trends
• Escalate concerns about prolonged, frequent or unexplained absence through safeguarding procedures and, where needed, to local children’s social care

Records, data protection and review

Safeguarding and child protection records are:

• Stored securely and separately from general records (for children)
• Kept for defined retention periods (e.g. until a child’s 25th birthday or, for adult behaviour concerns, for at least 10 years or until age 65)
• Managed in line with GDPR, our Privacy Policy and Employee Privacy Notice

The policy, procedures and related documents are reviewed at least annually and whenever legislation, guidance or practice changes, or following any significant incident.

Full policy

This page provides only a summary of our safeguarding approach. For full details, including all procedures, definitions and contact information, please refer to our complete Child Protection & Safeguarding Children & Vulnerable Adults Policy.