SAFEGUARDING POLICY
COLLAPSIBLE ONLINE VERSION
Be What You See Consultancy Safeguarding Policy Statement
1. INTRODUCTION
Be What You See Consultancy (BWYS) believes that no child or young person should ever experience abuse of any kind. We recognise that we have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people and to keep them safe. We are committed to working in a way that ensures their continued protection and safety. BWYS is an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) training company. We deliver culture shifting training programmes that upskill participants on how to recognise and challenge problematic behaviour. We then equip them with the skills and knowledge needed to create accessible and inclusive environments. We achieve this through our EDI Champions Programme which is delivered to individuals, working with young people through their school/college and employees through their organisation. For each Young Person’s EDI Champions Programme we work with a maximum of five schools and three pupils per school. The young people come together to attend training delivered by BWYS staff and third sector organisations and charities on the following themes: Anti-Racism LGBTQIA+ awareness Neurodiversity awareness The role of Active Bystanders After receiving training, BWYS works with the pupils and their school/college to design and deliver assembly-style and classroom Diversity Workshops. Purpose and scope of the policy statement The purpose of this policy statement is to: to protect children and young people who receive Be What You See’s services from harm. 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 Be What You See, including senior managers, paid staff, volunteers and those commissioned on behalf of Be What You See such as external consultants, Associate Trainers, third sector organisations and charities. Legal framework This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England, namely the statutory guidance published by the Department for Education in 2023, ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023’1. Supporting documents This policy statement is supported by our organisational policies, procedures, guidance and other related documents. This includes: 1https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65cb4349a7ded0000c79e4e1/Working_together_to_safeguard_chi ldren_2023_-_statutory_guidance.pdf BWYS Child Safeguarding Policy and Guidance which includes: practical guidance for BWYS Staff and volunteers procedure for dealing with disclosures and concerns about a child or young person recording concerns and information sharing DBS checks child protection records retention and storage social media usage and online etiquette managing allegations against staff and volunteers adult to child supervision ratios training for staff working in regulated activity with children photography and sharing images guidance Safeguarding role description for the Designated Safeguarding Lead code of conduct for staff and volunteers behaviour codes for children and young people safer recruitment processes staff disciplinary procedure whistleblowing health and safety Commitment to safeguarding At Be What you See 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 We recognise that: the welfare of children is paramount in all the work we do and in all the decisions we take working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare 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 extra safeguards may be needed to keep children who are additionally vulnerable safe from abuse. We will seek to keep children and young people safe by: valuing, listening to and respecting them appointing a Designated Safeguarding Lead for children and young people adopting child protection and safeguarding best practice through our policies, procedures and code of conduct for staff and volunteers 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 and 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 Designated Safeguarding Lead Name: Viv Richards Email: viv.richards@bewhatyousee.co.uk Position: BWYS Training Manager / Young Persons EDI Champions Programme Lead NSPCC Helpline 0808 800 5000 We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually. This policy was last reviewed on: 16.05.2024