Safeguarding
Safeguarding
Kingsworth International School ultimate goal is to have policies, procedures, and training in place so that if child abuse in any form is suspected, observed or disclosed to any member of the community, that person will have the knowledge, information, and resources necessary to ensure that the child is safe, that the situation is communicated promptly, professionally, and effectively, and the suspicion or incident is reported to the appropriate authorities.
This document supports this goal through outlining the essential components of a Student Safeguarding Policy.
Staff members at Kingsworth International School must report suspected incidents of child abuse or neglect whenever the staff member has reasonable cause to believe that a child has suffered, or is at significant risk of suffering abuse or neglect. Reporting and follow up of all suspected incidents of child abuse or neglect will proceed in accordance with administrative regulations respective to this policy. Furthermore, cases of suspected child abuse or neglect may be reported to local authorities, the local child protection agency, appropriate employer, and/or to the appropriate child protection agency in France.
Kingsworth International School will distribute this policy annually to all parents and applicants, will communicate this policy annually to all students, will provide training for all staff, will make every effort to implement hiring practices to insure the safety of children, and will review the policy annually for compliance and effectiveness. The policy will also be posted on our web page.
In the case of a staff member reported as an alleged offender, Kingsworth International School will conduct a full investigation following a carefully designed course of due process, keeping the safety of the child at the highest priority.
Physical contact with pupils is a very sensitive subject. The general rule is to avoid physical contact with pupils if possible. In that way your actions cannot be misconstrued. However, there are situations where physical contact is necessary and there may be other situations where you cannot avoid physical contact.
Protecting yourself from vulnerabilityInteractions between adults and students should always be appropriate, and to protect them from false allegations, adults should always ensure that they are seen to be appropriate.
Adults in this context refers to :
· Teachers
· Classroom Assistants
· Auxiliary Staff (administration, canteen, transport, cleaning)
· Playground Assistants
· External Staff (after school activities, physical education)
· Volunteers
· Parent Helper
All adults must adhere to the following:
· Ensure that you do not touch or hold a pupil in a way that might be considered indecent.
· Minimal physical contact should be used only in the following situations :
· To prevent or treat injury;
· To ensure safety;
· As a means of instruction;
· To meet the requirements of the sport;
· To comfort a student in distress;
· Toileting and intimate care (see guidelines below).
· Children should not be kissed by members of staff under any circumstances.
· Under no circumstances should staff members use touch to satisfy their own need for physical contact or reassurance.
· Never show favour to individual children.
· Corporal punishment in any form should not be used.
· Avoid situations in which you are alone with a student. This includes not transporting a student alone in your car or other transport, and working with a student behind closed doors.
· When it is necessary to speak privately with a student, find a space out of earshot, but within sight of others for your conference.
· The privacy of students in situations such as toileting, showering and changing clothes should be respected.
· Sexual jokes, comments of a personal sexual nature, inappropriate physical contact, massages or sexual gestures are not appropriate behaviour for an adult staff member or volunteer.
· Social media/online/ mobile phone : Maintain your own strict privacy settings on personal online profiles and do not maintain contact with students on social media and in any other online forums, such as gaming. Staff members must not give personal mobile phone numbers to students nor take theirs. Always use your and students’ Kingsworth email addresses to communicate.
Physical contact is indecent or inappropriate if it:
· Includes touching the groin, genital area, buttocks, breasts or any part of the body that may cause distress or embarrassment;
· Occurs in a private place;
· Involves kissing a child on the face, lips or any other body part;
· Tickling and stroking is not appropriate, neither is playing with hair; either the child playing with an adult’s or an adult playing with a child's. (Quickly putting their hair back up is acceptable, but just into a ponytail so that it is quick).
It is always the adult's responsibility to set and respect boundaries. When a student attempts to involve an adult in inappropriate behaviour, the adult must reject the overture and inform the Designated Safeguarding Lead of the incident. All children need contact with familiar, consistent staff members to ensure they can grow and develop socially and emotionally. Throughout the day children in the early years setting seek touch as a means of comfort and support and our role as practitioners require us to protect and support children at all times. In some circumstances this may result in physical intervention. however we must do this within a framework that keeps the children and ourselves safe.
This policy is not intended to prohibit casual, informal or incidental touch as used as part of a normal relationship, such as comforting a child, giving reassurance and congratulating. General reparative touch may be used by staff members working with children who are having difficulties with their emotions as a means of calming, soothing and containing distress for a worried, angry or sad child. At times children need to be cuddled, encouraged, held and offered physical reassurance.
To promote good practice and to minimize the risk of safeguarding concerns being raised the following guidelines must be followed:
· Although it is recognised that it is appropriate to cuddle children, cuddles should only be given when sought by children needing comfort to support their emotional development. Adults must never initiate cuddles and if the child is very upset then the adult must ask the child if they want a cuddle.
· Children should not be kissed by the adult members of staff under any circumstances.
· Inappropriate tickling and over-boisterous play are discouraged. Any form of boisterous play should be initiated by the child and take place at appropriate times.
· There should be no inappropriate questions such as asking children to tell them they love them.
· If it is necessary for a child to be sitting on a member of staff’s lap for emotional comfort, the child is to be facing sideways. Lap sitting face to face with legs straddled around the adult, is deemed inappropriate and could make a child feel intimidated. Lap sitting with a child’s back towards the adult provides no emotional support and doesn’t allow for interaction.
These guidelines are for any Kingsworth staff member that finds themselves in an intimate care situation with a student (e.g. Early Years Teachers, first aiders , PE teachers, Overnight Field Trip Teachers). Intimate care can be defined as any care that involves washing, touching or carrying out an agreed procedure to intimate personal areas in order to care for another person. Intimate care tasks are associated with bodily functions, body products and personal hygiene that may involve direct or indirect contact with, or exposure of the genitals. All intimate care is provided in a manner so as to maintain the child or young person’s dignity and confidence. The child or young person is cared for in a way that avoids distress, embarrassment or pain.
· For entry into Early Years grades at Kingsworth, it is an expectation that all children are toilet trained and are able to go to the toilet independently. In the case where a child is not toilet trained or has regressed please inform the parents immediately. Staff need to work in partnership with the child or young person’s parents or carers to discuss their needs as to when the child can reintegrate into the regular school routine.
· When a child needs help going to the toilet or has had an accident, alert another staff member that you are with a child.
· Always where possible, keep the toilet doors open and remain visible.
· Encourage the child to be independent and to do as much as they can by themselves e.g. ‘Can you take toilet paper and wipe your bottom’.
· If possible, especially in the case where a child has been sick/had an accident, use gloves and an apron when trying to clean the child. Ask for additional support if need be.
· Send the soiled clothes home in double plastic bags.
· In the case where a child(ren) is in a cubicle or bathroom with a closed or locked door, knock to inform the child that you are there. Ask the child to dress themselves and to open the door. In the case that the child refuses, ask them to explain why. If the child is not speaking, explain that you will have to call someone to open the door to check on their well-being.
· If a child is using a cubicle/toilet, only one child is permitted with a closed door.
· Cameras and recording devices are never taken into bathroom areas.
· Wherever possible, staff should care for a child of the same gender.
Although the school has a general policy of ‘No Physical Contact’ there may be the occasional time when, after all other avenues have been explored, teachers have a ‘duty of care’ to protect all pupils. If a pupil is becoming a danger to him/herself or others, we have a responsibility to intervene. Obviously our first line of approach will be verbal, using a variety of de-escalation techniques, interventions, instructions, and ways of regulating children’s emotions. Before using appropriate physical contact staff members should try other means of calming, soothing, and containing children’s strong emotions. Methods can include:
· Slowing one’s pace
· Lowering the voice
· Breathing more deeply
· Initially matching the pitch and volume of the child’s emotional display and then regulating it down
· Talking slowly firmly and quietly in an unhurried unflustered way
· Providing clear predictable consistently held boundaries. Where these have not worked, there may be the need to intervene physically to stop someone putting themselves or others in danger. Where this might happen the intervention must be using minimal force, and only enough to stop the incident. Examples of these could be:
· A child running towards a busy road
· An angry child about to hurt someone
· A child who is unaware of personal boundaries
· A child who may hurt other children out of frustration
· A serious fight
· A child damaging school property
The child(ren) must be made aware of what is going to happen if the situation does not stop. In an escalating or dangerous situation, reasonable, calm and considered responses could be:
· Blocking a child's path
· Holding, pushing or pulling away from the incident
· Leading by the arm
· Guiding the pupil away with hand in center of the back If restrictive physical intervention is required, such an incident must be reported fully in writing to the Headteacher, Deputy Head and designated safeguarding lead at the first opportunity, preferably the same day and never more than 24 hours after the incident. This record will include:
· who was involved
· the reason physical intervention was considered appropriate
· how the child was held
· the date and time of the incident
· the length of time the physical intervention had to continue
· any injuries or subsequent distress
· the action taken. Parents will be informed and given a copy of the record form
In the event of an incident, summon assistance as soon as is practicable. Ensure you report all such incidents to the Headteacher, Deputy Head and the designated safeguarding lead
If you have inadvertent physical contact with a pupil, report this immediately (explaining the circumstances in which this occurred). Whilst it is fresh in your memory, write a record of any incident. Give as much detail as you can (including witnesses)
Know that if you can not contact the leadership team for any reasons, you should contact Human Resources, who will immediately take appropriate action
Aligned with the recommendations of the International Task Force on Child Protection, we hold ourselves to a high standard of effective recruiting practices with specific attention to child protection.
Kingsworth International School will:
· Perform ‘live contact’ (phone, Skype, face to face) reference checks of at least 2 references
· Contact all references through business email/business phone numbers
· Verify credentials
· Conduct internet checks of all prospective employees
· Require police background checks
Kingsworth International School is committed to general training for all faculty and staff in student safeguarding and to the training of designated faculty for specific roles in the Student Safeguarding Team. There will be some limited training and research on best training practices, recommended trainers and review of training.
· Maintains a working knowledge of local laws and regulations ensuring that there is an understanding of these by the leadership team and that they are reflected in school policies
· Acts as the point of contact for all internal and external referrals
· Gathers and maintains accurate confidential written reports, minutes of formal and informal meetings in regards to cases
· Conducts a review with the Head of School after any incident occurs to ensure all policies and procedures were followed and identifies if any modifications need to be made
· Acts as liaison when necessary between all government child protection agencies, the police, and the school
· Ensures policies and procedures are reviewed annually
· Collates access to resources, professional development, parent information sessions on community learning around student safeguarding and child protection
· Acts as a support person to students, staff or faculty who make referrals or identify an issue
