Safeguarding Policy 

Safeguarding Officer at England Sports Group 

Email - welfare@englandsportsgroup.com

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England Sports Group acknowledges the duty of care to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and is committed to ensuring safeguarding practice reflects statutory responsibilities, government guidance and complies with best practice and the Lawn Tennis Association and Sports Coach UK requirements.

 

In addition, our policy and supporting materials are based on guidance given by the NSPCC's Child Protection in Sport Unit. 

The policy recognises that the welfare and interests of children are paramount in all circumstances. It aims to ensure that regardless of age, gender, religion or beliefs, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or socio-economic background, all children:
have a positive and enjoyable experience with England Sports Group in a safe and child centred environment are protected from abuse whilst participating in any activities provided by ESG or outside of the activity are enabled to have the best outcomes.

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England Sports Group acknowledges that some children, including disabled children and young people or those from ethnic minority communities, can be particularly vulnerable to abuse and we accept the responsibility to take reasonable and appropriate steps to ensure their welfare.

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As part of our safeguarding policy England Sports Group will promote and prioritise the safety and wellbeing of children and young people to ensure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities in respect of safeguarding, and is provided with appropriate learning opportunities to recognise, identify and respond to signs of abuse, neglect and other safeguarding concerns relating to children and young people. 
To ensure appropriate action is taken in the event of incidents/concerns of abuse and support is provided to the individual/s who raise or disclose the concern.

We ensure that confidential, detailed and accurate records of all safeguarding concerns are maintained and securely stored to prevent the employment/deployment of unsuitable individuals and ensure robust safeguarding arrangements and procedures are in operation.
 

The policy and procedures will be widely promoted and are mandatory for everyone involved in England Sports Group. Failure to comply with the policy and procedures will be addressed without delay and may ultimately result in dismissal/exclusion from the organisation

Monitoring Policy
The policy will be reviewed every year then every three years, or in the following circumstances: 

• changes in legislation and/or government guidance

• as required by the Local Safeguarding Children Board, UK Sport and/or Home Country Sports Councils and the Football Association and/or Sports Coach UK 

• as a result of any other significant change or event. 
   

Action 
England Sports Group recognises that safeguarding action may be needed to protect children and learners from:  

• neglect 

• physical, sexual or emotional abuse

• bullying, including online bullying and prejudice-based bullying 

• racist, disability, homophobic or transphobic abuse 

• gender-based violence, or violence against women and girls

• peer-on-peer abuse 

• radicalisation or extremist behaviour

• child sexual exploitation and trafficking 

• child criminal exploitation and county lines • the impact of new technology on sexual behaviour, for example ‘sexting’ and accessing pornography 

• teenage relationship abuse 

• substance misuse 

• issues that may be specific to a local area or population, for example gang activity and youth violence 

• domestic violence 

• female genital mutilation 

• forced marriage 

• fabricated or induced illness 

• poor parenting 

• homelessness 

• any other issues that pose a risk to children, learners and vulnerable adults 

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Other responsibilities 
Broader aspects of our duty of care and education, include: 

• children’s and learners’ health and safety and well-being, including their mental health 

• meeting the needs of children who have special educational needs or disabilities 

• the use of reasonable force 

• meeting the needs of children and learners with medical conditions 

• providing first aid 

• intimate care and emotional well-being 

• appropriate arrangements to ensure children’s and learners’ security, considering the local context

• Safeguarding/ Child Protection Policy     
   

Principles and Values 
Children have a right to feel secure and cannot learn effectively unless they do so. 
All children regardless of age, gender, race, ability, sexuality, religion, culture or language have a right to be protected from harm. 
All staff have a key role in prevention of harm and an equal responsibility to act on any suspicion or disclosure that may indicate a child is at risk of harm in accordance with the guidance. 
We acknowledge that working in partnership with other agencies protects children and reduces risk and so we will engage in partnership working throughout the child protection process to safeguard children. 
Whilst the company will work openly with parents as far as possible, the company reserves the right to contact children’s social care or the police, without notifying parents if this is in the child’s best interests.

Leadership and Management 
We recognise that staff anxiety around child protection can undermine good practice and so have established clear lines of accountability, training and advice to support the process and individual staff within that process. 

At England Sports Group any individual can contact the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) or deputies if they have concerns about a young person.

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Training & Qualifications 
All England Sports Group coaching staff must have a current DBS and it must be renewed as often as requested – normally this is every 3 years. England Sports Group follow the recommended guideline of every 3 years to attend Safeguarding courses and renew safeguarding qualifications. 

All staff are expected to be aware of the signs and symptoms of abuse and must be able to respond appropriately. Training is provided as required with briefings at training evenings and separate training is provided to all new staff on appointment as part of their induction. 

Confidentiality
We maintain that all matters relating to child protection are to be treated as confidential. 
Information will only be shared with agencies who we have a statutory duty to share with or individuals within the company who “need to know‟. 
All staff are aware that they cannot promise a child to keep a disclosure confidential.

Referral
Following any concerns raised by staff, the DSL will assess the information and consider if significant harm has happened or there is a risk that it may happen. If the evidence suggests the threshold of significant harm, or risk of significant harm has been reached; or they are not clear if the threshold is met, then the DSL will contact children’s social care. If the DSL is not available, or there are immediate concerns, the staff member should refer to the deputies and directly to children’s social care.
Generally, the DSL will inform the parents prior to making a referral however there are situations where this may not be possible or appropriate particularly when informing parents/carers may place the child at further risk.

N.B. The exception to this process will be in those cases of known FGM where there is a mandatory requirement to report directly to the police, although the DSL should also be made aware.

Dealing with allegations against staff
If a concern is raised about the practice or behaviour of a member of staff this information will be recorded and passed to our DSL. The local authority designated officer (LADO) will be contacted, and the relevant guidance will be followed. If the allegation is against the Director(s), the person receiving the allegation will contact the LADO directly.

Surrey LADO Contact Info
Phone: 0300 470 9100
Out of hours phone: 01483 517898 to speak to our emergency duty team.
Email: emails are dealt with during normal office hours
For concerns for a child or young person: cspa@surreycc.gov.uk
For concerns for an adult: ascm@surreycc.gov.uk

Kingston & Richmond Area
contact the Single Point of Access on 020 8547 5008 (8am to 5.15pm, Monday to Thursday, and 8am to 5pm on Friday. 
Out of hours, phone 020 8770 5000.
 

Essential Resources:
Surrey Safeguarding Children Board

https://www.surreyscp.org.uk/
 

Kingston & Richmond Safeguarding Children Board: https://kingstonandrichmondsafeguardingchildrenpartnership.org.uk/ 
 

Child Protection in Sport Unit

https://thecpsu.org.uk 
 

Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub:

https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/social-care-and-health/concerned-for-someones-safety 
 

Keeping children safe in education: Department for Education, 2018; www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2 

Working Together to Safeguard Children: www.gov.uk/government/publications/workingtogether-to-safeguard-children--2  

PREVENT:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-guidance 
www.gov.uk/government/publications/protecting-children-from-radicalisation-the-preventduty and http://www.hampshirepreventboard.org.uk/ 
Early Years Foundation Stage: www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-yearsfoundation-stage-framework--2 

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Our full Safeguarding Policy for England Sports Group is available to download and print if required,

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