SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN - OUR POLICY

We in pact are committed to protecting children from harm, and to promoting their welfare and well-being.

All workers in this organisation accept and recognise our responsibilities to the children we care for or with whom we come into contact. We aim to create an atmosphere where children and young people feel welcomed, valued and safe.

Policies and procedures
pact has developed a Safeguarding Children Policy which every member of staff is expected to follow and which is available in staff handbooks and on the pact community intranet site.

Volunteer workers and student placements are also expected to familiarise themselves with the policy, and to follow the procedures which are detailed within it.

All volunteers working in prisons, in prison visitors' centres, or with children and families in the community, are required to undertake an Enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check.

Staff who have regular direct contact with children are required to undertake Safeguarding training, usually provided by Local Safeguarding Children?s Boards. Regular volunteers are also expected to undertake training where their work brings them into contact with children.

The Safeguarding Panel
pact has an established panel of professional staff and managers with relevant expertise within the organisation who are available to staff and volunteers to provide guidance, advice and support (including out of hours).

The panel also meets regularly to monitor whether we are meeting our own standards and expectations, and to continuously review and improve our practice.

We will

• make our centres and services as safe, child-friendly and welcoming as possible
• ensure that activities with children take place where there is more than one person present or they are in clear view and hearing of other adults
• avoid unnecessary or inappropriate physical contact
• respect a young person?s right to privacy
• be willing to listen to children or young people when they raise any concerns they may have and deal with them appropriately and effectively
• be aware that our behaviour will be an example to the children and young people who we encounter through our work
• be sensitive to the feelings of any child or young person who is reporting bullying or abuse of any kind

We will not:

repeat any information we may hear about suspected child abuse to anyone other than appropriate line managers, members of the pact Safeguarding Panel, or the appropriate statutory authority

If a pact worker suspects child abuse has taken place or it has been reported to them, they will be expected to take the following steps:

• listen sympathetically
• reassure the child
• make sure we can identify the child concerned
• record all the known facts
• report in detail to a line manager
• if the line manager is unavailable contact a member of pact's Safeguarding Panel (contact details below)

If you have any concerns about a child, or would like to know more, please contact us.

Safeguarding Panel telephone: 020 7490 3139