Safeguarding Policy

Kids Club is committed to building a ‘culture of safety’ in which the children in our care are protected from abuse, harm and radicalisation.

The club will respond promptly and appropriately to all incidents or concerns regarding the safety of a child that may occur. The club’s child protection procedures comply with all relevant legislation and with guidance issued by Warwickshire Safeguarding Children’s Partnership Group.

There is a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) available at all times whilst the club is in session. The DSL co-ordinates safeguarding and child protection issues and liaises with external agencies, for example Social Care and Ofsted.

The club has detailed procedures for suitability checking for new recruits. These procedures are detailed in our Safer Recruitment Policy and all staff responsible for recruitment ensure safe and robust recruitment practice is followed at all times.

The club’s designated DSL is: Leanne Humphries.
Email: dsl@onsidelive.co.uk

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as:

Providing help and support to meet the needs of children as soon as problems emerge.
Protecting children from maltreatment whether that is within or outside the home, including online.
Preventing the impairment of children’s mental and physical health and development.
Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care.
Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

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 abuse and neglect are listed below.

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 also be 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.

Domestic abuse may be psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional.

Signs of child abuse and neglect

Signs of possible 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.
Reasons to suspect neglect or abuse outside the setting, for example 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, either on CPOMS or a green form.

If a member of staff witnesses or suspects abuse, they will record the matter straight away using the logging a concern form. If a third party expresses concern that a child is being abused, we will encourage them to contact social care directly. If they will not do so, we will explain that the club is obliged to, and the incident will be logged accordingly.

All staff recognise that children may not feel ready or know how to tell someone that they are being abused, exploited or neglected, and/or they may not recognise their experiences as harmful. This could be due to their vulnerability, disability or language barriers. They may also feel embarrassed, humiliated or be threatened. Our staff recognise this and, where they have concerns about a child, will raise these with the designated safeguarding lead without unreasonable delay.

Female genital mutilation (FGM)

FGM is an illegal, extremely harmful practice and a form of child abuse and violence against women and girls. FGM is therefore dealt with as part of our existing safeguarding procedures. All of our staff receive training in how to recognise when girls are at risk of FGM or may have been subjected to it.

If FGM is suspected or disclosed, we will follow our procedures for responding to child abuse and contact children’s social care in line with local safeguarding procedures. Where a statutory mandatory reporting duty applies to the professional concerned, it must also be followed. Concerns about a child at risk must be acted on without delay. Call 999 if a child is in immediate danger.

Child-on-child abuse

Children are vulnerable to abuse by their peers. Child-on-child 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 technology and the internet 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 concern about the possibility of child-on-child abuse:

Sexual activity in primary-school-aged children of any kind, including sexting.
One of the children is significantly more dominant than the other, for example much older.
One of the children is significantly more vulnerable than the other, for example in terms of disability, confidence or physical strength.
There has been some use of threats, bribes or coercion to ensure compliance or secrecy.

If child-on-child abuse is suspected or disclosed, we will follow our procedures for responding to child abuse.

Extremism and radicalisation

There are many reasons why a child might be vulnerable to radicalisation, for example:

Feeling alienated or alone.
Seeking a sense of identity or individuality.
Suffering from mental health issues such as depression.
A desire for adventure or wanting to be part of a larger cause.
Associating with others who hold extremist beliefs.

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 DSL.

At Kids Club, all staff are aware that abuse, neglect, exploitation and safeguarding issues rarely stand alone. In most cases, multiple issues will overlap. Staff recognise that children might be at risk of harm inside and outside of their time in our setting, inside and outside of their home and whilst online. Our team exercises professional curiosity to help identify early signs of abuse, neglect and exploitation and acts early in cases where children might need our help or protection.

All staff, but especially the Designated Safeguarding Lead, should consider whether children are at risk of abuse or exploitation in situations outside their families. Extra-familial harms take a variety of different forms and children can be vulnerable to multiple harms including sexual abuse, harassment and exploitation, domestic abuse in their own intimate relationships, criminal exploitation, serious youth violence, county lines and radicalisation.

All staff at Kids Club are aware that technology is a significant component in many safeguarding and well-being issues. Children are at risk of abuse and other risks online as well as face to face. In many cases these will take place concurrently. Children can also abuse other children online through abusive, harassing, misogynistic or misandrist messages, the non-consensual sharing of indecent images, and the sharing of abusive images and pornography with those who do not want to receive such content. If staff are unsure, they will speak to the Designated Safeguarding Lead or a deputy.

Logging a concern

All information about suspected abuse, disclosure or a concern will be recorded on the logging a concern form as soon as possible after the event. The record should include:

Date of the disclosure, incident or observation causing concern.
Date and time 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, use the child’s own words.
Name, signature and job title of the person making the record.

The record will be given to the club’s DSL, who will decide on the appropriate course of action. For concerns about child abuse, the DSL will contact social care immediately in line with local reporting procedures. The DSL will follow up 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 Prevent advice, the DSL can contact Warwickshire’s Community Safety team at communitysafety@warwickshire.gov.uk. Where a referral is needed, the DSL will use the current local Prevent referral process. For more serious concerns, contact the police on 101 or the anti-terrorist hotline on 0800 789 321. For urgent concerns, contact the police using 999.

Allegations against staff

If anyone makes an allegation of child abuse against a member of staff, the allegation will be recorded on an incident form. Any witnesses to the incident should sign and date the entry to confirm it.

The allegation must be reported to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) and to Ofsted in line with the applicable reporting requirements. The LADO will advise if other agencies, for example the police, should be informed and the club will act upon their advice. Any telephone reports to the LADO will be followed up in writing within 48 hours.

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

If appropriate, the club will make a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Promoting awareness amongst staff

The club promotes awareness of child abuse and the risk of radicalisation through staff training. The club ensures that the designated DSL has relevant experience, receives appropriate retraining in safeguarding and the Prevent duty, and is aware of the Channel programme and how to access it.

DSLs receive Level 3 training every two years, with regular updates throughout this period.

All staff receive safeguarding training meeting the requirements of EYFS Annex C, refreshed at a maximum of two-year intervals. Annual refresher training will be offered to all staff in the form of quizzes and group training sessions. To help maintain basic skills, staff are supported to implement learning through supervision, team meetings and mentoring.

Procedures to ensure only suitable individuals are recruited include obtaining references before employment commences, conducting identity and qualification checks and recording all vetting information as part of safer recruitment processes. These are understood and followed by all responsible for recruitment in line with our Safer Recruitment Policy.

All staff have a copy of this safeguarding policy, confirm their understanding of its contents and are vigilant to signs of abuse, neglect or radicalisation. All staff are aware of how to respond in a timely way at the earliest opportunity and of their statutory duties regarding disclosure or discovery of child abuse and concerns about radicalisation.

Safeguarding is a permanent agenda item at all staff meetings to ensure the whole team communicates well and is kept up to date. All staff receive basic training in the Prevent duty.

Staff are supported to understand how to keep themselves safe and how to blow the whistle should they be concerned about another adult’s behaviour or practice. Staff are familiar with the safeguarding file, which is kept in the setting.

The club’s procedures refer to Working Together to Safeguard Children and What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused. The DSL and deputy DSLs provide support, advice and guidance to practitioners on an ongoing basis and on specific safeguarding issues as required.

Use of mobile phones and cameras

Photographs will only be taken of children with their parents’ permission. Only the club camera will be used to take photographs of children at the club, except with the express permission of the manager. Neither staff, children nor visitors may use mobile phones or wearable technology, such as smart watches, to take photographs at the club. For more details, see the Mobile Phone Policy.

Contact numbers

Warwickshire Connect: 01926 414144
Emergency duty team (out of hours): 01926 886922
LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer): 01926 745376
Prevent advice: communitysafety@warwickshire.gov.uk
Police: 101 (non-emergency) or 999 (emergency)
Anti-terrorist hotline: 0800 789 321
NSPCC: 0808 800 5000
Ofsted: 0300 123 1231

Adoption and review

This policy was adopted by: Kids Club
Date: 29/07/2026
To be reviewed: July 2027
Signed: Leanne Walsgrove