Warwickshire Youth Choirs

                                     Registered Charity 1211368 (Formerly 1150219)

Warwickshire Youth Choirs (WYC) Safeguarding Policy Statement

The purpose of this policy statement is:

• To protect children and young people who receive WYC services from harm. This includes the children of adults who use our services
• 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 WYC, including senior managers and the board of trustees, paid staff, volunteers, sessional workers, agency staff and students.

Legal Framework

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England including the Children Act 1989, The Children Act 2004, the Children and Social Work Act 2017 and Working Together to Safeguard Children (DFE 2018).

Supporting Documents

This policy statement should be read alongside our organisational policies, procedures, guidance and other related documents.

• Anti-bullying policy
• Photographic policy
• Safer Recruiting policy
• Code of conduct
• Safeguarding procedures
• Health and Safety policy
  

We believe that:

• People, including children, young people and vulnerable adults, should never experience abuse of any kind
• We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all our participants, including children, young people and vulnerable adults, to keep them safe and to practise in a way that protects them.

We recognise that:

• The welfare of everyone (including children, young people and vulnerable adults) is paramount in all the work we do. In all the decisions we take all participants, 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 and abuse
• Some people are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues
• Working in partnership with children, young people, vulnerable adults, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting welfare.

We will seek keep everyone safe by:

• Valuing, listening to and respecting them
• Appointing a nominated safeguarding lead (DSL) from within the senior managers and within the board or trustees???
• Adopting child-protection and safeguarding best practice through our policies, procedures and code of conduct
• Developing and implementing an effective online safety policy and related procedures
• 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, 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 procedures to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving children, young people, vulnerable adults, 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:

Nominated child protection lead (DSL) from senior managers

Name: Emma Cockbill

email: e.cockbill@choristers.org

NSPCC Helpline:

0808 800 5000

We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually

Signed:                                        Name:                                                Date:

E Cockbill                                E Cockbill                                26/09/2025

Review date: Sept 2026