ARGYLL DANCE COMPANY

CHILD PROTECTIONSAFE GUARDING & CHILD PROTECTION POLICY Argyll Dance Company  (ADC) is fully committed to safeguarding and protecting the welfare of all children, young people and adults that attend our offerings. We especially recognise our responsibility to take all reasonable steps to promote safe practice and to protect children and young people from harm, abuse and exploitation. We acknowledge our duty to act appropriately to any allegations, reports or suspicions of abuse. All staff and volunteers will work together to encourage the development of an ethos which embraces difference and diversity and respects the rights of children, young people and adults. This policy applies to our staff, sub-contractors, volunteers, dancers or anyone working on behalf of or in association with ADC. We aim to update this policy as and when necessary and will, alongside our supporting school policies, always be viewable on our website. This policy may also be referred to by parents/guardians. THE PURPOSE OF THIS POLICY IS TO: 1/ Protect children and young people who dance at ADC including in regular classes, performances, workshops, holiday camps or any other activities linked to our dance school 2/ Provide parents, staff and volunteers guidance for our approach to child protection and what they should do if they suspect a child, young person or adult may be experiencing, or is at risk of harm The safety and welfare of our dancers is our primary focus All children, whatever their age, gender, sexuality, race, disability, educational attainment or economic circumstance have the right to protection from abuse – equality is at the heart of our business We recognise some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other potential issues All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately ADC WILL SEEK TO SAFEGUARD OUR PARTICIPANTS BY: Ensuring everybody has the right to dance and be themselves Treating all dancers and parents with respect and dignity Putting the welfare of every student first Providing enthusiastic and constructive criticism to dancers rather than negative criticism Valuing the views of our dancers Focusing on the benefits of dance helping individuals personally and socially as well as physically Ensuring our Teachers are appropriately vetted and part of the PVG Scheme, monitored by Disclosure Scotland Ensuring all Teachers are fully insured Ensuring that we have a trained Designated Child Protection Officer (DCPO) and Deputy Designated Child Protection Officer (DDCPO) at our school Ensuring that there is an appropriate number of First Aiders on-site at any given time Ensuring all staff/sub-contractors/volunteers will provide a positive role model – including any class assistants Taking action to stop any inappropriate behaviour and never accepting bullying of any form Ensuring all contact and medical details for every child is up to date and available at the place of teaching or performance DESIGNATED CHILD PROTECTION OFFICERS (DCPO) AT TLC: The DCPO is Donna Martin who can be contacted on 07903524883The Deputy DCPO is Lauren Mckelvie, who can be contacted via email at argylldanceco@outlook.comADC has a Designated Child Protection Officer (DCPO) who is in charge of ensuring that the Safeguarding & Child Protection Policy is adhered to. In their absence, there is a Deputy DCPO available. WHILST IMPLEMENTING THIS POLICY, ADCWILL ENSURE that all paid staff/volunteers understand their legal and moral responsibility to protect children and young people from harm, abuse and exploitation Ensure that all staff, sub-contractors and volunteers understand their duty to report concerns that arise about a child, young person, adult or a worker’s conduct towards these groups to the DCPO or Deputy DCPO The DCPO will refer any child protection concerns to the statutory child protection agencies (i.e. Police and/or Social Services) Children, young people and parents will be informed of who the DCPO/Deputy DCPO is and be able to raise any safeguarding concerns & know that these will be taken seriously and acted upon – the DCPO and Deputy DCPO will also be noted on our website OUR SAFEGUARDING PROCEDURES: Managing Sensitive Information Permission will be sought from parents for photographs and/or videos to be taken of their children and further permission will be sought from parents for these photographs and/or videos to be used as marketing material or other purposes names will not be used alongside photographs on social media or websites, unless we have been given explicit consent from parents/guardians Photography in a performance setting (ie. competitions/in class performances) is only permitted for your own child – any photography/videography containing other children must be immediately deleted and not shared – unless you have explicit consent