Safeguarding Policy
Keeping children safe is everyone's responsibility.
Sunny Kids Shine Ltd works with children and families as part of its Mental Health Services.
The purpose of this policy statement is:
- To protect children and young people who receive Sunny Kids Shine’s services. This includes the children of adults who use our services
- To provide parents, staff and volunteers with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection.
This policy statement applies to anyone working on behalf of Sunny Kids Shine, 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. A summary of the key legislation and guidance is available from nspcc.org.uk/childprotection.
We believe that:
- Children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind
- We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, to keep them safe and to practise in a way that protects them.
We recognise that:
- The welfare of the child is paramount
- All children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation have a right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse
- Some children 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, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.
We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:
- Valuing, listening to and respecting them
- Appointing a nominated child protection/safeguarding lead for safeguarding
- Developing child protection and safeguarding policies and procedures which reflect best practice
- Using our safeguarding procedures to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving children, young people, parents, families and carers 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
- Sharing information about child protection and safeguarding best practice with children, their families, staff and volunteers via leaflets, posters, group work and one-to-one discussions.
- Recruiting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made
- Providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support, training and quality assurance measures • Implementing a code of conduct for staff and volunteers
- Using our procedures to manage any allegations against staff and volunteers appropriately
- 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
- Recording and storing information professionally and securely.
This policy is reviewed annually and was last reviewed on 1st July 2023.
We do update these policies and terms and conditions from time to time, so please make sure that you check them regularly to ensure that you are always up to date with the latest revision.
