Child Protection Policy

CHILD PROTECTION POLICY

Working Together To Safeguard  Children

 

SAFEGUARDING POLICY
implemented from 2012.

 

SUSSEX FESTIVAL OF DANCE AND SONG

                                65 Station Road, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9DY         
 

VENUE(S):
The Barn Theatre, Southwick,       Windmill Theatre, Blatching         The Hawth, Crawley  

DATES:       

  16– 17th March    2012 , 31st  March – 4th April   2012   and  28th April 2012  

                     PRELIMINARY  STATEMENT:
The safety of children and members of other vulnerable groups is paramount and all, without exception, have the right to protection from abuse.  All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously, responded to swiftly and appropriately and all the festival’s trustees/organisers and /volunteers have a responsibility to report concerns.

 

1     PURPOSE AND FUNCTION OF ORGANISATION:

To advance, promote and encourage generally, and in particular by means of competitive festivals, the study and practice of the arts of Dance and Musical Theatre Singing; To present and promote public performances, concerts and recitals for amateurs To develop greater awareness, participation and appreciation of the arts of dance and song in the wider community.

2     THE FESTIVAL ENVIRONMENT:

Sussex Festival of Dance and Song is mindful of the need to safeguard all children involved in the Festival. Our policy is to inform and involve parents/ guardians/ carers and teachers in order to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, a safe environment during the Festival. Venues used are listed above and are open to the public during the Festival.  The Windmill Theatre is situated in Blatchington Mill School but The Sussex Festival of Danceand Song is an independent  charity and is run mainly by volunteers.

It is the policy of our festival to inform and involve parents / guardians / carers and teachers in partnership with you in order to ensure, as far as it is reasonably practicable, a safe environment at our festival.  We do this by ensuring that you receive a copy of this policy at the time you are making arrangements to attend  our festival.    


TO WHOM DOES THIS POLICY APPLY

This policy relates to children under the age of 18 years and members of vulnerable groups of any age whose needs are identified to the festival organisers by parents/ guardians/carers and/or teachers prior to their arrival at the festival.  This should be done by contacting the address or telephone number at the foot of this document.  Our festival actively seeks, wherever possible, to meet these needs, but must know beforehand in order to prepare support – or to let you know we are unable to help. 

4     FESTIVAL PERSONNEL:

Where Festival Personnel will be supervising children or in one-to-one contact with children at our Festival, where they will be holding children’s records or making decisions about how people interact with children, then they will be required to undertake a voluntary disclosure through the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) Enhanced Disclosure prior to the start of the Festival.  Those disclosures will be processed through the umbrella body which supports the Sussex Festival of Dance and Song ThBritish & International Federation of Festivals. We will ensure that all volunteers working at the Festival will be required to submit contactdetails and references, the details of which we will hold on file and keep to
hand during the Festival.  All Festival Personnel will be identified bybadges, which will include their name, job description and photo identification.  In case of a problem,anyone wearing a badge may be approached at any time and will be able to take you to someone who can help.  All problems will be dealt with discretely, documented and dated. All badges will be issued on a daily basis and will be signed in and signed out.  We will keep a copy of this register to hand at all times during the Festival.

5     PREPARATION FOR ATTENDANCE AT THE FESTIVAL:

This  Policy  is sent to you as parents/ guardians/ carers via your teacher, at the time you are making your arrangements to attend the Festival and your teacher will send back a signed paper to say it has been distributed to you. This ensures that parents/ guardians/ carers and teachers become partners with the Festival in implementing this Policy. Where parents/ guardians / carers are not personally attending with their children, this Policy requires them to be satisfied that their children will be accompanied to the festival and adequately supervised by responsible adults acting on their behalf

6     PERFORMANCE AREAS AND CHANGING AREAS:

The Festival Organisers do provide separate girls and boys changing rooms during the Dance Festival at the Windmill Theatre and the Hawth.  At the Hawth, dressing rooms will be supervised by teachers and chaperones appointed by the schools, previously notified to the Festival and signed at the Stage Door.  At the Windmill Theatre, admission to the dressing rooms will be strictly limited to teachers, chaperones and one parent/responsible adult per performer (female chaperones only will be admitted into girls changing rooms but mothers may enter the boys changing room) The Festival will not accept any responsibility whatsoever for supervising toilet and communal facilities. 

7     PHOTOGRAPHS, VIDEOTAPES and PRESS PHOTOGRAPHY:

The Festival has an official photographer and announcements will be made when s/he is taking photographs so that parents guardians can, if they wish, ensure their child is not included. The Festival does not allow audience members to take photographs or videos during performances and, at every session, requests the audience to this effect.  It is, however, impossible for us to ensure that no photographs at all are taken and it is our policy to make you aware of that.

 8    THE LEGISLATION AND GUIDANCE THAT SUPPORTS THIS POLICY:

The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974; The Children Act 1989; The Police Act 1997; The Data Protection
Act 1998; The Human Rights Act 1998; The Protection of Children Act 1999; The Criminal Justice
and Court Services Act 2000, The Children Act 2004, The Protection of Vulnerable
Groups Act 2006.

9     POLICY REVIEW

The organisers will constantly review their policy revising and enhancing it as necessary.  In doing this they will look to The British & International Federation of Festivals for support and that body, in turn will look to other agencies for good practice, most notably the NSPCC and Arts Council of England policy guidelines..

ContactName:  Adele Mason,
Child Protection Officer, Sussex Festival of Dance and Song.



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