Writing a safeguarding children policy

Policy Statement

Whether statutory or voluntary, every agency that works with children and young people should have a safeguarding and child protection policy statement, which sets out its commitment to protecting children from harm.

The NSPCC offer useful guidance on the things that need to be included in your policy statement.

These include:

• recognising and responding to abuse
• responding to allegations of abuse made against a child
• recruiting the right people to work and volunteer with children
• preventing and responding to bullying
• responding to concerns about online abuse
• ensuring photographs and images of children are taken, stored and shared appropriately

Example safeguarding policy statement | NSPCC Learning

Writing a Safeguarding Policy

When writing a safeguarding policy it should be done with the end user in mind.   You want it to be easily accessible, simple to follow and have all necessary contacts.

• It should be written in a clear and easily understandable way there should be no ambiguity in terms of the expectations of staff and volunteers.
• It should have been through a process of endorsement and have an agreed review date.
• Be mandatory for all staff and volunteers. Think about how you will ensure your staff and volunteers know about and have read your policy.
• Be kept under review, ideally annually but to a maximum of every three years or when there is a change in legislation or local guidance.
• Be published on your organisation’s website and visibly available to the children, young people, their parents, carers and families, general public, staff and volunteers.

The NSPCC provide useful guidance on writing a safeguarding policy.

Each organisation should produce a policy which is reflective of its service and its organisational needs.  That said there is information that we would recommend you include in your Safeguarding Policy:

• Safeguarding policy statement – which includes an introduction
• Contact details of the designated person for Safeguarding and their Deputy in your organisation.
• Definitions of abuse. You may also want to include information pertaining to specific types of abuse(e.g. child criminal exploitation, radicalisation, online abuse, peer on peer abuse, domestic abuse, missing children and young people, honour based violence, female genital mutilation, special needs, etc.)
• Training requirements - all staff that work with children and young people should access training to help them recognise and respond to abuse.
• Details of what to do if you are concerned about a child
• Information on Safer Recruitment
• Information on Managing Allegations of persons in a position of trust
• Responsibility of governance/ management committees
• Recording keeping
• Confidentiality & Information Sharing
• Complaints and Whistleblowing
• e – Safety
• Photography and use of images of children
• Visitors
• Contact details Children and Families Services and Police, including out of hours contacts

For guidance on how to write a Safeguarding Adults Policy the Ann Craft Trust provide some useful guidance.