The purpose and scope of this policy statement
The purpose of this policy statement is:
to protect singers who receive Shuffletunes’ services from harm. This includes the children of adults who use our services. to provide staff and volunteer helpers with a clear understanding of the requirements of safeguarding singers, and providing guidance for issues that may arise.This policy applies to anyone working on behalf of Shuffletunes.
Legal framework
This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that
seeks to protect children and vulnerable people in England. A child is anyone under the age of 18, and a vulnerable person is one defined by the definitions of a vulnerable adult within the 2014 Care act (an adult who receives services to support them in their lives). Shuffletunes is a limited company, and has one self employed operator. ‘Singers’ refers to anyone that pays Shuffletunes to work with them as a customer.
We believe that:
all singers that we work with, should never experience abuse of any kind we have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all singers, including children, to keep them safe and to practise in a way that protects them.We recognise that:
- the welfare of children is paramount when working with them
working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers andother agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare all children, 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 or abuse
some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previousexperiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues, and extra safeguards may be needed to keep children who are additionally vulnerable safe from abuse.
We will seek to keep vulnerable adults and children safe by:
valuing, listening to and respecting them adopting safeguarding best practice through our policies ensuring staff working for Shuffletunes Ltd have a DBS check in place recording and storing and using information professionally and securely, in linewith data protection legislation and guidance making sure that all the singers that we work with know where to gofor help if they have a concern using an open, immediate and transparent communication with protection agencies, including the police communicating appropriately to manage any allegations against staff and volunteersappropriately creating and maintaining an positive and trusting environment in which to operate ensuring that our members know how to communicate with the MD to address any abuse issues ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for all our employees and singers by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance building a safeguarding culture where employees and singers treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns.Working with organisations
Sometimes we are employed by schools or organisations that work with children. In these circumstances, Shuffletunes will expect to be treated as visitors, and made aware of the process for keeping children safe. The responsibility to ensure that children are made safe lies with the organisation that is responsible for the day to day care of the children involved. This means teachers, education providers, parents, carers or authorities.
Sometimes we perform to vulnerable adults. We expect to be treated as visitors in their environments, and be directed to the safeguarding officer responsible for their processes. Any issues will be recorded and shared with the relevant authorities.
Our process for reporting:
If a child, or vulnerable adult communicates a concern to a Shuffletunes employee, that employee will record what has been said in writing or recording where appropriate, immediately, and further that information directly to the police, ensuring all details relevant are passed on and an incident number is recorded.
