OTB SAFEGUARDING POLICY

Policy Statement

OTB Coaching (“we”, “us”) acknowledges its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of every child and young person involved in its classes and is committed to working to provide a safe environment for them.

A child or young person is anyone under the age of 18 engaged in any OTB Coaching activity, including those working or volunteering for us.

Policy Aims

The aim of our Safeguarding Policy is to promote good practice with regard to:

• Providing children and young people with appropriate safety and protection whilst in the care of OTB Coaching
• Allowing our employees and volunteers to make informed and confident decisions relating to child protection issues

Key Principles

The key principles of the OTB Coaching’s Safeguarding Policy are:

• the child’s welfare is, and must always be, the paramount consideration
• all children and young people have a right to be protected from abuse regardless of their age, gender, disability, race, sexual orientation, faith or belief
• all suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately
• working in partnership with other organisations, children and young people and their parents/carers is essential

We acknowledge that every child or young person who plays or participates in football should be able to take part in an enjoyable and safe environment and be protected from poor practice and abuse and we recognise that this is the responsibility of every adult working or volunteering for OTB Coaching.

Safe Recruitment

We are committed to safe recruitment practices for both employees and volunteers and will:

• specify roles and the tasks involved
• request identification documents
• meet and interview applicants as part of the recruitment process
• request references
• request an Enhanced DBS with Barring List Check for all coaches and lead coaches and update these at appropriate time intervals

Whistle Blowing

Any adult or young person with concerns about an adult in a position of trust within OTB Coaching can ‘Whistle Blow” by contacting our safeguarding leads, named at the bottom of this policy.

Alternatively, they may make direct contact with the Police, Children’s Social Care or the NSPCC.

Safeguarding Leads

OTB Coaching has two safeguarding leads, named below. They have current FA Safeguarding Children certification, and this is updated every 3 years in line with FA guidelines.

The safeguarding leads are the first point of contact for all OTB Coaching staff, volunteers, players and parents regarding concerns about the welfare of any child or young person and they will follow up such concerns appropriately.

Harry Lambert – 07803 123411 harry@otbcoaching.co.uk

Samantha Wagland – 07768 978462 sam@otbcoaching.co.uk

 Good Practice Guidelines for OTB Coaching Employees and Volunteers

 Child abuse, particularly sexual abuse, can arouse strong emotions in those facing such a situation. It is important to understand these feelings and not allow them to interfere with your judgement about the appropriate action to take.

Abuse can occur within many situations including the home, school, and the sporting environment. Some individuals will actively seek employment or voluntary work with young people to harm them. A coach or volunteer will have regular contact with young people and be an important link in identifying cases where they need protection. All suspicious cases of poor practice should be reported following the guidelines in this document.

All employees and volunteers are encouraged to demonstrate exemplary behaviour to promote children’s welfare and reduce the likelihood of allegations being made. The following guidelines are examples of how to create a positive culture and climate.

All staff should carry out the training within OTB Coaching’s training hub to ensure awareness of safeguarding issues.

Good practice

Examples of safeguarding good practice at OTB Coaching are:

• Always working in an open environment (e.g. avoiding private or unobserved situations and encouraging open communication with no secrets)
• Treating all young people equally, and with respect and dignity
• Always putting the welfare of each young person first, before winning or achieving goals
• Maintaining a safe and appropriate distance with players (e.g. it is not appropriate for staff or volunteers to have an intimate relationship with a child)
• Building balanced relationships based on mutual trust which empowers children to share in the decision-making process
• Advocating relationships and communications between OTB Coaching staff and players that are professional and appropriate
• Being an excellent role model – this includes not smoking, drinking alcohol or using inappropriate language in the company of young people
• Giving enthusiastic and constructive feedback rather than negative criticism
• Recognising the developmental needs and capacity of young people – avoiding excessive training or competition and not pushing them against their will
• Securing parental consent in writing to act in loco parentis if the need arises to administer emergency first aid and / or other medical treatment
• Keeping a written record of any injury that occurs, along with the details of any treatment given

Responding to allegations or suspicions

It is not the responsibility of anyone working or volunteering for OTB Coaching to decide whether or not child abuse has taken place. However, there is a responsibility to act on any concerns by reporting these to the safeguarding leads or appropriate authorities.

OTB Coaching assures all employees and volunteers that it will fully support and protect anyone who in good faith reports his or her concern that a colleague is, or may be, abusing a child.

The safeguarding leads will always follow up any concern raised regarding child welfare and will take appropriate action where needed. This may include, but is not limited to:

• Internal investigation
• Criminal investigation
• Child protection investigation
• Disciplinary or misconduct action

OTB Coaching Safeguarding Principles

We will seek to safeguard children and young people by:

• Valuing, listening to and respecting them
• Adopting child protection guidelines through procedures and a code of conduct for staff and volunteers
• Following safe recruitment practices
• Maintaining up to date enhanced DBS checks every three years for all team members to whom this applies
• Sharing information about concerns involving parents and children appropriately
• Providing effective management for employees and volunteers through supervision, support and training

We are also committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually

Safeguarding Leads

Harry Lambert – 07803 123411 harry@otbcoaching.co.uk

Samantha Wagland – 07768 978462 sam@otbcoaching.co.uk