SAFEGUARDING & CHILD PROTECTION POLICY
Tenterden Studio Dance Co./Tenterden Ballet Studios is fully committed to safeguarding the welfare of all children and young people up to the age of 18. We recognise our responsibility to take all reasonable steps to promote safe practice and to protect children from harm, abuse and exploitation.
We believe that no child or young person should be the subject of neglectful or abusive behaviour.
We will promote and maintain the welfare of every child in our care and seek to protect them from harm regardless of race, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief or any other form of identity or creed. We will create a safe and welcoming environment for all.
To protect children and young people in our care, we will:
• Value and respect children and listen to what they have to say
• Work with children, parents and relevant organisations
• Share our policy with all staff, parents and students
• Ensure all required checks are made when hiring staff and that those in regular contact with children hold a current DBS check
• Provide appropriate training and support to all staff
• Take responsibility for children and young people’s safety when in our care
• Seek permission from parents before taking images (photographs or videos) of students and inform them how and where the images will be used
• Report suspected neglect or abuse to the nominated member of staff, relevant organisation, or police.
• Ensure that this policy is regularly updated
Additional guidance can be found in the following documents at the end of this policy:
A) Appropriate Physical Contact in Dance
B) Chaperoning Students to and from Dance Events
C) Use of Photographs and Film of Children
A) Appropriate Physical Contact in Dance
Teaching dance is a physical activity and a teacher will sometimes need to make physical contact with a student to show an idea or to correct the student’s position. This can include:
• Lifting
• Adjusting arms, legs, rib cage, hips, feet, hands
• Moving one student in relation to another
Where contact is needed, we will remain sensitive to the student’s wishes and put their welfare first. In all cases, we will say why and how we will be correcting the student’s position before making any contact. We encourage students to report any concerns.
B) Chaperoning Students to and from Dance Events
When chaperoning students to an event, we will:
• Provide parents and students with information about what the event is for
• Provide parents and students with the full address of the event
• In cases where the event is taking place in a large building, we will also give the room or studio number where possible
• Have a planned journey route that is shared with parents, students and chaperones
• Make sure that students are aware of what they should do if they get lost
• Ask parents and students for their contact details in case of emergency
• Have a clear idea of how students will be cared for while at the event
We will ensure that chaperones hold all required checks and licences and are aware of our Child Protection Policy.
C) Use of Photographs and Film of Children
We recognise that taking images of students in our care may not always be appropriate and that some children and parents may not want images taken at any time. Therefore, before taking images of a child or young person, we will:
• Make clear to the child and parent where and when the image will be taken
• Clearly identify the person who will be taking the image
• Explain how the image will be used, e.g. whether it will be posted on social media or printed to be displayed at the school
• Seek written agreement from parents that images can be taken of their child.
• Where we have publicly displayed images at our school or on social media, parents and students may withdraw their permission at any time. In such cases, the images will be removed as soon as is reasonable and without question.
We ask that any parent wanting to take photographs at our events only do so with our prior permission. Permission will only be granted on the agreement of all present.