Basic Safeguarding Training

This policy is to be read in conjunction with Clubland Playscheme’s Safeguarding Policy and Child Protection Procedure.

1. WHAT SAFEGUARDING IS

According to the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children), Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm.

Safeguarding means:

• protecting children from abuse and maltreatment
• preventing harm to children’s health or development
• ensuring children grow up with the provision of safe and effective care
• taking action to enable all children and young people to have the best outcomes

Child protection is part of the safeguarding process. It focuses on protecting individual children identified as suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. This includes child protection procedures which detail how to respond to concerns about a child.

Safeguarding is not just about protecting children and vulnerable adults from harm, neglect, and failure to act. It also encompasses broader aspects of care, including:

• children’s health and safety, including their mental health
• communication between staff and in partnership with parents/carers and school
• ensuring ratios of staff to children (1:15) are maintained
• ensuring safe physical environments
• meeting the needs of children with medical conditions
• meeting the needs of children who have special educational needs or disabilities (SEND)
• online safety and associated issues
• providing appropriate first aid
• providing intimate care
• the use of reasonable force

2. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR KEEPING CHILDREN SAFE

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children, their families and carers has a role to play in safeguarding children.

All members of Clubland staff come into regular contact with children and are therefore well placed to notice signs of abuse.

3. FORMS OF ABUSE

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. The four main forms of child abuse are listed below. We remember these using the acronym PENS:

• 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.
• 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. Children can also suffer from indirect emotional abuse when they are subjected to Domestic Abuse (which involves an adult threatening, bullying or hurting another adult in their family or who they’re in a relationship with).
• 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.
• 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. This also includes peer-on-peer sexual abuse, which is where sexual abuse takes place between children of a similar age or stage of development.

For all types of abuse it is likely that there will be a significant change in the child’s behaviour. Here are some possible signs related to each form of abuse:

• Physical abuse may present in the form of unexplained broken bones, bruises, marks or burns in places which would not naturally occur through play or the account of an injury not matching up between child and parent/carer, and being scared of a particular person.
• Emotional abuse may present in the form of becoming withdrawn, having a low-self esteem, self-harming, and inappropriate behaviour by a parent/carer.
• Neglect may present in the form of the child being consistently hungry and malnourished, unclean/poor hygiene, having bad dental hygiene, and wearing inappropriate clothing for the weather.
• Sexual abuse may present in the form of knowledge and language of a sexual nature above their age, finding it uncomfortable to sit or walk, inappropriate behaviour displayed by a member of staff or any other person, such as inappropriate sexual comments, excessive one-to-one attention beyond the requirements of their role, or inappropriate sharing of images.

Other types of abuse include:

• Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)
• Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
• Criminal Exploitation
• Peer-on-peer Abuse

Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) is a type of sexual abuse. When a child or young person is exploited they're given things, like gifts, drugs, money, status and affection, in exchange for performing sexual activities. Children and young people are often tricked into believing they're in a loving and consensual relationship. This is called grooming. They may trust their abuser and not understand that they're being abused.

Children and young people can be trafficked into or within the UK to be sexually exploited. They're moved around the country and abused by being forced to take part in sexual activities, often with more than one person. Young people in gangs can also be sexually exploited.

Sometimes abusers use violence and intimidation to frighten or force a child or young person, making them feel as if they've no choice. They may lend them large sums of money they know can't be repaid or use financial abuse to control them.

Anybody can be a perpetrator of CSE, no matter their age, gender or race. The relationship could be framed as friendship, someone to look up to or romantic. Children and young people who are exploited may also be used to 'find' or coerce others to join groups.

CSE can happen in person or online. An abuser will gain a child's trust or control them through violence or blackmail before moving onto sexually abusing them. This can happen in a short period of time.

When a child is sexually exploited online they might be persuaded or forced to:

• send or post sexually explicit images of themselves
• film or stream sexual activities
• have sexual conversations

Once an abuser has images, video or copies of conversations, they might use threats and blackmail to force a young person to take part in other sexual activity. They may also share the images and videos with others or circulate them online.

Gangs use sexual exploitation:

• to exert power and control
• for initiation
• to use sexual violence as a weapon.

Children or young people might be invited to parties or gatherings with others their own age or adults and given drugs and alcohol. They may be assaulted and sexually abused by one person or multiple perpetrators. The sexual assaults and abuse can be violent, humiliating and degrading.

Sexual exploitation can be difficult to spot and sometimes mistaken for "normal" teenage behaviour. Knowing the signs can help protect children and help them when they've no one else to turn to.

Signs of sexual abuse and grooming:

• unhealthy or inappropriate sexual behaviour
• being frightened of some people, places or situations
• being secretive
• sharp changes in mood or character
• having money or things they can't or won't explain
• physical signs of abuse, like bruises or bleeding in their genital or anal area
• alcohol or drug misuse
• sexually transmitted infections
• pregnancy

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is when a female's genitals are deliberately altered or removed for non-medical reasons. It's also known as 'female circumcision' or 'cutting', but has many other names.

You might have heard female genital mutilation (FGM) be called a different name. Some common names for FGM include:

• female circumcision
• cutting
• sunna
• gudniin
• halalays
• tahur
• megrez
• khitan

You might have heard some FGM terms that you're not familiar with, including:

• 'Cutter' - A 'cutter' is somebody who carries out FGM. They might use things like knives, scalpels, scissors, glass or razor blades to carry out the procedure.
• 'Cutting season' - This refers to the summer months – often July, August and September – when many girls are on break from school. This is often the period when girls have time to undergo FGM. Girls might be flown abroad during this time, so it's important to be aware of this risk.

FGM is a form of child abuse. It's dangerous and a criminal offence in the UK. We know:

• there are no medical reasons to carry out FGM
• it's often performed by someone with no medical training, using instruments such as knives, scalpels, scissors, glass or razor blades
• children are rarely given anaesthetic or antiseptic treatment and are often forcibly restrained
• it's used to control female sexuality and can cause long-lasting damage to physical and emotional health

FGM can happen at different times in a girl or woman's life, including:

• when a baby is new-born
• during childhood or as a teenager
• just before marriage
• during pregnancy

A child who's at risk of FGM might ask you for help. But some children might not know what's going to happen to them. So it's important to be aware of the signs.

Signs FGM might happen:

• A relative or someone known as a 'cutter' visiting from abroad
• A special occasion or ceremony takes place where a girl 'becomes a woman' or is 'prepared for marriage'
• A female relative, like a mother, sister or aunt has undergone FGM
• A family arranges a long holiday overseas or visits a family abroad during the summer holidays
• A girl has an unexpected or long absence from school
• A girl struggles to keep up in school
• A girl runs away – or plans to run away - from home

Signs FGM might have taken place:

• Having difficulty walking, standing or sitting
• Spending longer in the bathroom or toilet
• Appearing quiet, anxious or depressed
• Acting differently after an absence from school or college
• Reluctance to go to the doctors or have routine medical examinations
• Asking for help – though they might not be explicit about the problem because they're scared or embarrassed

Criminal Exploitation is child abuse where children and young people are manipulated and coerced into committing crimes.

County Lines is the police term for urban gangs exploiting young people into moving drugs from a hub, normally a large city, into other markets - suburban areas and market and coastal towns - using dedicated mobile phone lines or “deal lines”. Children as young as 12 years old have been exploited into carrying drugs for gangs. This can involve children being trafficked away from their home area, staying in accommodation and selling and manufacturing drugs. This can include:

• Airbnb and short term private rental properties
• budget hotels
• the home of a drug user, or other vulnerable person, that is taken over by a criminal gang- this may be referred to as cuckooing

Signs that cuckooing has taken place include:

• signs of drugs use
• more people coming and going from the property
• more cars or bikes outside
• litter outside
• you haven’t seen the person who lives there recently or when you have, they’ve seemed anxious, distracted or not themselves

Children living in these properties are at risk of neglect and other types of abuse.

Peer-on-peer Abuse occurs when a young person is exploited, bullied and/or harmed by their peers who are the same or similar age; everyone directly involved in peer-on-peer abuse is under the age of 18. Peer-on-peer’ abuse can relate to various forms of abuse, and crucially it does not capture the fact that the behaviour in questions is harmful to the child perpetrator as well as the victim. It includes but is not limited to:

• physical and sexual abuse
• sexual harassment and violence
• emotional harm
• on and offline bullying
• teenage relationship abuse

Signs that peer-on-peer abuse could be occurring include:

• sexual activity of any kind, including sexting
• one of the children is significantly more dominant that the other
• one of the children is significantly more vulnerable than the other (e.g. in terms of disability, confidence, physical strength)
• there has been some use of threats, bribes or coercion to ensure compliance or secrecy

4. PREVENT (PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM RADICALISATION)

We're here to protect children from harm. It can be hard to know when extreme views become something dangerous. And the signs of radicalisation aren't always obvious.

Radicalisation can be really difficult to spot. Signs that may indicate a child is being radicalised include:

• isolating themselves from family and friends
• talking as if from a scripted speech
• unwillingness or inability to discuss their views
• a sudden disrespectful attitude towards others
• increased levels of anger
• increased secretiveness, especially around internet use

Children who are at risk of radicalisation may have low self-esteem, or be victims of bullying or discrimination. Extremists might target them and tell them they can be part of something special, later brainwashing them into cutting themselves off from their friends and family.

However, these signs don't necessarily mean a child is being radicalised – it may be normal teenage behaviour or a sign that something else is wrong.

As an early years provider, we already focus on children’s personal, social and emotional development, however to help prevent the radicalisation of children, we promote British Values in an age appropriate way. We do this through ensuring children learn right from wrong, mix and share with other children and value other’s views, know about similarities and differences between themselves and others, and challenge negative attitudes and stereotypes.

5. Related Policies

See also related policies: British Values Policy, Child Protection Procedure and Safeguarding Policy.