Policy statement

Balham community Centre is committed to responding promptly and appropriately to

all incidents or concerns of abuse that may occur. We are committed to promoting

awareness of abuse issues through our training. We are also committed to empowering, promoting the right to be strong, resilient and listened to.

Child abuse and neglect

Child abuse is any form of physical, emotional or sexual mistreatment or lack of care that leads to injury or harm. An individual may abuse or neglect a child directly, or by failing to protect them from harm. Some forms of child abuse and neglect are listed.

• Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child so as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development. It may involve making the child feel that they are worthless, unloved, or inadequate. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, though it may occur alone.

• Physical abuse can involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may be also caused when a parent or carer feigns the symptoms of, or deliberately causes ill health to a child.

• Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child to take part in sexual activities, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. This can involve physical contact, or non-contact activities such as showing children sexual activities or encouraging them to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.

• Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and emotional needs. It can involve a failure to provide adequate food, clothing and shelter, to protect a child from physical and emotional harm, to ensure adequate supervision or to allow access to medical treatment.

Signs of child abuse and neglect

Signs of abuse and neglect may include:

• Significant changes in a child’s behaviour

• Deterioration in a child’s general well-being

• Unexplained bruising or marks

• Comments made by a child which give cause for concern

• Reason to suspect neglect or abuse outside the setting, eg in the child’s home, or that a girl may have been subjected to (or is at risk of) female genital mutilation (FGM), or that the child may have witnessed domestic abuse.

• Inappropriate behaviour displayed by a member of staff, or any other person. For example, inappropriate sexual comments, excessive one-to-one attention beyond the requirements of their role, or inappropriate sharing of images.

If abuse is suspected or disclosed

When a child makes a disclosure to a member of staff, that member of staff will:

• Reassure the child that they were not to blame and were right to speak out

• Listen to the child but not question them

• Give reassurance that the staff member will take action

• Record the incident as soon as possible (see logging an incident below)

If a member of staff witnesses or suspects abuse, they will record the matter straightway using the Logging a concern form. If a third party expresses concern that a child is being abused, we will them contact Social Care directly.

If they will not do so, we will explain the we are obliged to and the incident will be logged accordingly.

Female genital mutilation (FGM)

FGM is an illegal, extremely harmful practice and a form of child abuse, and is

therefore, dealt with as part of our existing safeguarding procedures.

If FGM is suspected or disclosed

We will follow the same procedures as set out above for responding to child abuse.

Peer-on-peer abuse

Children are vulnerable to abuse by their peers. Peer-on-peer abuse is taken seriously by staff and will be subject to the same child protection procedures as other forms of abuse. Staff are aware of the potential uses of information technology for bullying and abusive behaviour between young people.

Staff will not dismiss abusive behaviour as normal between young people. The presence of one or more of the following in relationships between children should always trigger concerns about the possibility of peer-on-peer abuse.

• Sexual activity (in primary school-aged children) of any kind, including sexting

• One of the children is significantly more dominant than the other (eg much older)

• One of the children is significantly more vulnerable than the other (eg in terms of disability, confidence, physical strength)

• There has been some use of threats, bribes or coercion to ensure compliance or secrecy.

If peer-on-peer abuse is suspected or disclosed

We will follow the same procedure as set out above for responding to child abuse.

Extremism and radicalisation

All childcare settings have a legal duty to protect children from risk of radicalisation and being drawn into extremism. There are many reasons why a child might be vulnerable to radicalisation, eg:

• Feeling alienated or alone

• Seeking a sense of identity or individuality

• Suffering from mental health issues such as depression

• Desire for adventure or wanting to be part of a larger cause

• Associating with others who hold extremist beliefs

Signs of radicalisation

Signs that a child might be at risk of radicalisation include:

• Changes in behaviour, for example becoming withdrawn or aggressive

• Claiming that terrorist attacks and violence are justified

• Viewing violent extremist material online

• Possessing or sharing violent extremist material

If a member of staff suspects that a child is at risk of becoming radicalised, they will record any relevant information or observations on a Logging a concern form, and refer the matter to the Centre manager

Logging a concern

All information about the suspected abuse or disclosure, or concern about radicalisation, will be recorded on the Logging a concern form as soon as possible after the event.

The record should include:

• Date of the disclosure, or incident, or the observation causing concern

• Date and time the at which the record was made

• Name and date of birth of the child involved

• A factual report of what happened. If recording a disclosure, you must sue the child’s own words

• Name, signature and job title of the person making the record.

The record will be given to the Centre Manager who will decide on the appropriate course of action. For concerns about child abuse, the centre Manager will contact Social care. The Centre Manager will follow up all referrals to Social Care in writing within 48 hours. If a member of staff thinks that the incident has not been dealt with properly, they may contact Social Care directly.

For minor concerns regarding radicalisation, the Centre Manager will contact the Local Authority Prevent Co-ordinator. For more serious concerns the Centre Manager will contact the Police on the non-urgent emergency number (101), or the anti-terrorist hotline on 0800 789 321. For urgent concerns the Centre Manager will contact the Police on 999.

Allegations against staff

If anyone makes an allegation of child abuse against a member of staff/volunteer:

• The allegation will be recorded on an incident record form. Any witnesses to the incident should sign and date the entry to confirm it.

• The allegation must be reported to The Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) and to Ofsted.

• Should be informed, and the setting will act upon advice. Any telephone reports to MASH will be followed up in writing within 48 hours.

• Following advice from MASH, it may be necessary to suspend the member of staff pending full investigation of the allegation.

• If appropriate, the Centre Manager will make a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Please refer to the Allegations made against employee/volunteer procedure.

Promoting awareness among staff

We promote awareness of child abuse and the risk of radicalisation through staff training. We ensure that:

• Training is refreshed every three years

• Safe recruitment practices are followed for all new staff

• All staff have a copy of this Safeguarding policy, understands its contents and are vigilant to signs of abuse, neglect or radicalisation.

• All staff are aware of their statutory duties with regards to the disclosure

• receive basic safeguarding training

• All staff receive basic training in the Prevent Duty

Use of mobile phones and cameras

Photographs will only be taken of children with their parent’s permission. Only the setting camera will be used to take photographs of the children. Neither staff nor children nor visitors may use mobiles to take photographs at the setting. For more details, see our Mobile Phone Policy.

Informing Parents

• Parents are normally the first point of contact

• If a suspicion of abuse is recorded, parents are informed at the same time as the report is made, except where the guidance of the Local Safeguarding partnership does not allow this

• This will usually be the case where the parent is likely the abuser. In these cases the investigating officers will inform parents.

Who to contact

Wandsworth Multi-agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)

2nd Floor Town Hall Extension

Wandsworth High street

London

SW18 2PU

Telephone: 0208871 6622

Email: mash@wandsworth.gov.uk

Mash.duty@wandworth.cjsm.net (secure email)

Outside of normal office hours (after 5pm weekdays or on weekends): 020 8871 6000

How to handle allegations against staff

Allegations about staff or volunteers who work with children are overseen by the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO).

The LADO for Wandsworth is Anita Gibbons

ALL LADO referrals should be made through the Wandsworth Multi-agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)

Telephone: 020 8871 6622

Email: mash@wandsworth.gov.uk

If you are making a referral, you should complete the Multi-agency Referral Form (MARF).

In an emergency contact the Police by calling 999

You could also call the NSPCC Freephone Child Protection Helpline on: 080 880 5000.