The purpose of this policy is:  

• to protect children, young people and vulnerable adults who receive Pontydysgu’s services. This includes the children of adults who use our services.
• to provide staff, volunteers and associates with the overarching principles that guide our approach to safeguarding and child protection.

 

This policy applies to anyone working on behalf of Pontydysgu, including senior managers, paid staff, volunteers, agency staff, interns and students.

 

Legal framework

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in Wales. A summary of the key legislation is available from https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/child-protection-system/wales/



Related policies and procedures

This policy should be read alongside our organisational policies procedures, including:  

• Role of the designated safeguarding officer  
• Disclosure Procedure
• Reporting and Responding to Allegations against Staff
• Code of Conduct  
• Organisational Code of Conduct
• Whistleblowing Procedure

 

We believe that:  

Children, young people and vulnerable adults should never experience abuse of any kind; we have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children, young people and vulnerable adults, to keep them safe and to practise in a way that protects them.

 

We recognise that:  

The welfare of the child is paramount;  all children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation have a right to equal 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.

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

• Valuing, listening to and respecting them  
• Appointing a Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO) for children, young people and vulnerable adults,
• Adopting child protection and safeguarding best practice through our policies, procedures and code of conduct for staff, volunteers and associates.
• 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.  
• Recruiting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made  
• Recording and storing information professionally and securely  
• Sharing information about safeguarding and good practice with children, their families, staff and volunteers via leaflets, posters, group work and one-to-one discussions  
• Using our safeguarding 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.