SAFEGUARDING

Onchan Silver Band and The Isle of Man Brass Academy Safeguarding Policy 2021 – 2022

The Safeguarding of children, young people and adults within the Onchan Silver Band and The Isle of Man Brass Academy is everyone’s responsibility.  All members of our organisation, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, identity, age, disability, racial heritage or religious belief have a right to equal protection from all types of harm. 

The policy is written to provide further information on the following:

1) Aims

2) Legislation and statutory guidance

3) Recruitment procedure

4) Definitions

5) Key indicators of abuse

6)Important contact details

1.Aims

  • To protect children, young people and adults who are members of the band
  • To deliver transparency in our approach and commitment to Safeguarding
  • To provide our members and volunteers with the necessary skills and knowledge to identify, detail and refer any Safeguarding concerns to the Safeguarding Officer
  • Equip all members of our organisation with the key contacts, to make appropriate action in a timely manner to safeguard and promote children’ and young people’s welfare
  • Ensure all members of our organisation are aware of their statutory responsibilities with respect to Safeguarding

2.Legislation and Statutory Guidance

This policy has been written in conjunction with current legislation in the Isle of Man in relation to Child Protection and Safeguarding, including (but not limited to):

  • Children and Young Persons Act 2001
  • Safeguarding and promote the safety of children
  • Safeguarding Act 2018
  • Data protection act 2018
  • Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 2001 – Safer Recruitment
  • Isle of Man Safeguarding Together – iom-safeguarding-together.pdf (gov.im) 

3. Recruitment Procedure

To protect the members of Onchan Silver Band and The Isle of Man brass Academy, any persons which have a significant, direct access to children, young people or adults will be inspected through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) via the Ise of Man Government Vetting Bureau.  The DBs check is an official record stating a person’s criminal convictions.  The DBS check helps to ensure that our organisation is making the right decision during the recruitment process.  DBS checks are especially important in finding suitable candidates to work with children and young people.  It is the responsibility of the bands committee to ensure that all DBS checks are completed annually and all records kept up to date. 

Within our organisation the following roles are subject to relevant and regular DBS checks:

  • Chairman
  • Safeguarding Officer
  • Musical Director
  • Deputy Conductors
  • All Isle of Man Academy tutors
  • Any volunteers

4. Definitions

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children means:

· Protecting children from maltreatment

· Preventing impairment of children’s health or 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 protection is part of this definition and refers to activities undertaken to prevent children suffering, or being likely to suffer, significant harm. Abuse is a form of maltreatment of a child, and may involve inflicting harm or failing to act to prevent harm. Appendix 1 explains the different types of abuse.

 Neglect is a form of abuse and is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development. Appendix 1 defines neglect in more detail. Sexting (also known as youth produced sexual imagery) is the sharing of sexual imagery (photos or videos) by children.

Children includes everyone under the age of 18.

5.Key indicators of abuse

Being able to identify those who maybe experiencing abuse can be difficult, even for those adults who are experienced in working with abused individual.  We would urge anyone who has concerns that a member of our organisation maybe in harm or experiences any form of abuse, to pass on your concerns to our Safeguarding Officer.  Whilst this is not an extensive list, the following indicators may help identify those who maybe suffering from abuse:

  • Unexplained or suspicious injuries such as bruising, cuts or burns, particularly if situated on a part of the body not normally prone to such injuries.
  • An injury for which an explanation seems inconsistent.
  • Descriptions or discussion including what appears to be an abusive act involving him/her.
  • Someone else (a child or adult), expresses concern about the welfare of someone else.
  • Unexplained changes in their behaviour – e.g. becoming very quiet, withdrawn, or displaying sudden outbursts of temper – or behaviour changing over time.
  • Inappropriate sexual awareness.
  • Engaging in sexually explicit behaviour in games.
  • Distrust of adults, particularly those with whom a close relationship would normally be expected.
  • Difficulty in making friends.
  • Being prevented from socialising with their peers.
  • Losing/gaining weight for no apparent reason.
  • Becoming increasingly dirty or unkempt.

6.Roles and Responsibilities

Safeguarding OfficerSian Karran safeguarding@onchansilverband.im
Band ChairmanRobin Turton 
Department of Health and Social Care – Children and Families Team 01624 686179 Childcarerereferrals.dsc@gov.im
NSPCC Helpline 08088005000 help@nspcc.org.uk

Appendix 1

Appendix 1: Types of Abuse Abuse, including neglect, and safeguarding issues are rarely stand-alone events that can be covered by one definition or label. In most cases, multiple issues will overlap.

Physical Abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child.

Emotional Abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and adverse effects on the child’s emotional development. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, although it may occur alone.

Emotional Abuse may involve:

 · Conveying to a child that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person

 · Not giving the child opportunities to express their views, deliberately silencing them or ‘making fun’ of what they say or how they communicate

· Age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. These may include interactions that are beyond a child’s developmental capability, as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction

· Seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another

· Serious bullying (including cyberbullying), causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children Sexual Abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening.

 The activities may involve: · Physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example rape or oral sex) or nonpenetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside of clothing

· Non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse (including via the internet)

· Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children. Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development. Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse.

 Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to:

· Provide adequate food, clothing and shelter (including exclusion from home or abandonment)

 · Protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger

 · Ensure adequate supervision (including the use of inadequate care-givers)

· Ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment

 · It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs.