SU CAMPS AND MISSIONS TRAINING

Child Protection

Health and Safety

Aims of this Seminar

✓ To ensure that volunteers have a general awareness of our Child Protection and Health and Safety Policies.

✓ To ensure that all volunteers are familiar with the guidelines contained in the following documents:

“Child Protection at SU Camps and Missions Code of Conduct for Team Leaders and Team

Members.”

“Appropriate Communication Outside of an SUActivity”

Why is this so important?In our Child Protection Policy Statement it says…

“Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to

such as these.’” Matthew 19: 14 (NIV).

1.1 Reflecting our aim to follow biblical principles and recognising the value that Jesus gives to children, we in Scripture Union Northern Ireland seek to ensure the physical, emotional and spiritual well being and development of each child and young person in all our work with them. Within this context Scripture Union is committed to the protection of children and young people from all forms of abuse.

How should I conduct myself while at an SUNI Activity?

You should be familiar with the Child Protection at SU Missions and Camps: Code of Conduct for Team Leaders and Team

Members.

It gives us some Practice Guidelines that we all should follow...

1. You should treat children, and encourage them to treat each other, with dignity and respect at all times. You should never allow inappropriate language or behaviour to go unchallenged.

2. You should never be alone with children in isolation from others, other than in an emergency, without the approval of the team leader. -Meetings with individual children should take place as openly as possible. If privacy is needed, the door should be left open and other team members informed of the meeting.

3. You should never take children alone in a car on journeys, however short. Where this is unavoidable, it should be with the full knowledge and consent of the parents /guardians and of the team leader.

Code of Conduct for Team Leaders and Team Members.

Code of Conduct for Team Leaders and Team Members.

4. You should avoid unnecessary physical contact with children. There may be occasions when physical contact is unavoidable, such as when providing comfort and reassurance for a distressed child. In all such cases, physical contact should take place only with the consent of the child and care should be taken to ensure that it does not take place in any way that might be considered indecent or might be misconstrued.

In extreme cases, it may be necessary to restrain a child physically. Physical restraint should only be used if a child is at risk of causing injury to him/herself or others, or of causing serious damage to property. In such circumstances no more than the minimum necessary force should be used.

Code of Conduct for Team Leaders and Team Members.

5. You should never meet with children outside organised activities without the knowledge and consent of the child’s parent/guardian and of the team leader. Under no

circumstance should you meet with a child or young person on your own.

6.You should respect the children’s right to privacy. Do not invade their privacy, for example, when they are changing, showering or using the toilet. Be sensitive to children who may be shy about communal changing or showering and make allowances for them.

Code of Conduct for Team Leaders and Team Members.

7. You should never: ‣Engage in rough physical games, including

horseplay, other than sports activities which are properly organised and supervised;

‣Engage in sexually provocative games or activities;make sexually suggestive comments about or to a child even in fun;

‣Do things of a personal nature for children that they can do for themselves.

It may sometimes be necessary for you to do things of a personal nature for children, particularly if they are very young or are disabled. These tasks should only be carried out with the full knowledge and consent of the child’s parents/guardians and of the team leader. In an emergency situation that requires this type of help, parents/guardians should be fully informed.

In such situations it is important to ensure that you are sensitive to the child and undertake personal care tasks with the utmost discretion. If possible, another adult should be present.

8. You should avoid any situation that may be open to misinterpretation. If there is any situation with which you are uncomfortable, you should consult your team leader about it.

Code of Conduct for Team Leaders and Team Members.

Responding to Possible AbuseWhat is abuse?

PhysicalThe deliberate physical injury to a child,or thewillful or neglectful failure to prevent physicalinjury or suffering.

Emotional Where children are persistently or severelyemotionally neglected or rejected, for example,by not being given enough love or attention,made to feel worthless, or being intimidated bythreats or taunts.

Sexual Where children are encouraged or forced toobserve or participate in any form of sexualactivity.

NeglectWhere children’s physical and/or psychologicalneeds are persistently or severely neglected or thefailure to protect a child from exposure to any kind of danger.

Although bullying is not defined as abuse, in its moreextreme form it would be regarded as a form of abuse.Bullying can leave children with feelings of worthlessnessand self-hatred; they can feel lonely and isolated. It can takemany forms but Kidscape identifies the main types as:

Emotional Excluding, being unfriendly;Physical Hitting, kicking, theft;Racist Racial taunts, graffiti, gestures;Sexual Unwanted physical contact or sexually abusive comments;Homophobic Because of, or focussing on, the issue of sexuality;Verbal Name calling, sarcasm, spreading

rumours, teasing;Cyberbullying (e.g. bullying via mobile phones; email,

website bullying).

So how might you become aware that a child is suffering harm?

A child may tell you.Someone else may tell you that a child has told them or that they strongly believe a child has been abused.A child may show some signs of physical injury for which there appears to be no satisfactory explanation.A child’s behaviour may indicate to you that it is likely that he or she is being abused.Your awareness of, or suspicion about, abuse may come about as a result of something disclosed to you as a third party (parent, friend, co-worker) who suspects or has been told of abuse.Something in the behaviour of one of the workers or in the way a worker relates to a child alerts you or makes you feel uncomfortable in some way.

Taken from “Our Duty to Care” 2009

If a child discloses to you that he / she has

been abused in any way adhere to thefollowing guidelines:

If a child discloses to you that he/she had been abused in any way adhere to

the following guidelines:

DO DON’T

✓Stay Calm✓Listen and hear✓Reassure the child✓Record✓Report to your team leader or SUNI Child Protection Coordinator✓Record

‣Do not panic‣Do not ask leading questions‣Do not promise to keep secrets (explain that you may have to talk to someone else in order to be able to help)‣Do not inquire‣Do not make a child repeat the story unnecessarily

ANd remember the following...You may wish to involve the team leader in the conversation at an early stage but you should do so only with the consent of the child.In addition to this:✓Maintain confidentiality at all times. Do not discussthe matter with anyone other than your team leader or theSUNI Child Protection Coordinator (Camps and Missions).

✓Continue your relationship with the child from then on asnormally as possible. Do not pursue the matter any further,or refer to it again unless the child initiates the discussion.

‣Do not make any physical examination of the child.‣It is not the role of team members to seek for and to identify symptoms of abuse. Nevertheless it is vital that no child in need of help is ignored.

What if i have a concern?

If you have any concerns about a child being abused, or if any such disclosures are made to you, you must report these immediately to the team leader or, in exceptional circumstances (e.g. a Disclosure of abuse allegedly carried out by a team leader) to the Child Protection Coordinator (Camps and Missions) at Scripture Union.

The Child Protection Coordinator can be contacted at SU headquarters

(028 9045 4806).

Appropriate communication outside of an SU activity

This policy has recently been updated - you should ensure that you have read it carefully. Key points are as follows:

Consider your online footprint:‣You are still connected with SUNI when you are online whether that be your own website, Facebook Page, Twitter, YouTube postings etc. Kids will search for you and try to find you. You need to be a person of integrity online just as much as in person! ‣You should keep up to date about the privacy settings available to you on any Social Networking Site and ensure that your profile has suitable privacy settings which allow you to control who can see the information on your profile. We would recommend that your profile on a Social Networking Website be private or to restrict viewing to those who are over 18.‣You should not post content on your own personal profiles that that you would consider inappropriate to be viewed by an under 18 year old.

When you have met a child or young person in an SUNI context YOU SHOULD NOT:

•Communicate with them via text message, or phone them on their mobile phone.•Communicate with them using any chat facility. E.g. MSN, Facebook Chat, iMessages, BBM.

•Use your personal Twitter account to engage in direct messaging with them. •Invite them to be your friend on any Social Networking Site or blog. •Accept any friend request or Group invite from them on any Social Networking site.•Seek out their profiles or blogs. •Contact them using their Facebook e-mail address. •Put photos or video of any of them on your personal Social Networking profile, blog or Twitter, or on any Social Media site. (CTD)

When you have met a child or young person in an SUNI context YOU SHOULD NOT: Put photos or video of any of them on a team Website, Facebook Group, Facebook Page, Twitter Account or YouTube without permission from your team leader or Line Manager (SUNI Staff).Distribute individual, or lists of, home addresses, e-mail addresses, mobile numbers or home phone numbers to any of them who are under 18s. In addition to this you may not:Set up a team Facebook Group or Page without permission from your Team Leader or Line Manager (SUNI Staff).Set up a team Twitter Account without permission from your Team Leader or Line Manager (SUNI Staff).

✓When you have met a child or young person in an SUNI context YOU MAY:

Send a letter, postcard or e-mail but:• Remember that a letter is a very private form of communication and could actually be perceived as an unusual way to communicate by parents – it may be more appropriate to send a postcard.• Use language the reader would understand.• Do not write too often, and after initial contact preferably only in response to communications you receive. However you may wish to initiate contact by letter or postcard under the following circumstances:

- To encourage a child/young person to attend your activity.- To send an encouraging note/card when a child/young person is going through difficult circumstances. E.g. During exam times or on the anniversary of a death of a relative.

When you have met a child or young person in an SUNI context YOU MAY:

• If you promise to write make sure that you do.• When writing an e-mail to a young person please “cc” another member of your team into the e-mail. Remember that it is easy to rattle off an e-mail without reviewing what you are writing. Your e- mail may go to a family e-mail address and be in the public domain, or may not be seen by a parent at all. Always check your content and tone before hitting the “send” icon

When you have met a child or young person in an SUNI context YOU MAY:

• Catch up with a child or young person at on official reunion.

• Be part of an online Facebook Group or Page (set up by your team leader, or by yourself with permission from your team leader/Line Manager) where team members and young people (Aged 13 and over) can communicate outside of your activity according to the guidelines issued by SUNI.

Exceptions

In some cases as a member of SUNI Staff or a volunteer you may know a young person, involved in an SU activity, because of a relational context outside of work or your SUNI Team. The relational context may not ask you to adhere to the same set of guidelines as listed above. In these circumstances the staff member or volunteer must consider carefully how they communicate with the young person concerned. The volunteer should discuss any concerns with their team leader who may in turn consult a member of SUNI Staff

Health and SafetyIt is the role of everyone on the team to ensure that those

who we interact with - both children and fellow team members - are kept safe. The SUNI Health and Safety Policy

outlines our responsibilities in this areas:

Team members in a voluntary role have a duty of care to other team members and young people who are participating. In particular it is expected that the responsibility will include the following as appropriate:1)     Co-operation with all the relevant health and safety procedures and precautions as set out by SUNI2)     A responsible attitude towards health, safety and welfare of self and others.3)     Planning to ensure the activities and facilities are organized to ensure good standard of health and safety.

4) Undertaking the appropriate risk assessments, checks and records procedures as set out in the following sections and as instructed by the team leaders.5) Organizing appropriate emergency and contingency arrangements.6) Ensuring that all equipment, facilities and vehicles are suitable for the activities to be undertaken.7) Adequate supervision for the activities undertaken.8) Maintaining a watching brief for health and safety hazards in the activities and facilities and taking action as appropriate.

Health and Safety

The best way for us to really understand how the Health and Safety Policy impacts our practice at Camps and Missions is

to put it into practice. Here goes...

Activity A In pairs, go for a walk around the building and grounds.

Identify any potential hazards and note them on your piece of paper. You will be asked to share what you have identified.

Activity BYou will be divided into groups and given a section of the

SUNI Health and Safety Management Checklist to complete. Your group should share anything that needs to be

addressed with the larger group.

Health and Safety

Thank You!If you have any questions please ask the

person delivering this seminar or contact the Child Protection Coordinator(Camps and

Missions) at the SU Office.