We believe that;

• Children and Young People should never experience abuse of any kind.
• We are responsible for promoting the welfare of all Children and Young People, keeping them safe and practising in a way that protects them.

 We recognise that;

• The welfare of Children is paramount in all the work we do and in all the decisions we make.
• 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 previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues.
• Working in partnership with Children and Young People, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting Young People’s welfare.
• We will keep Children and Young People safe by;

1. 1. Valuing, listening to and respecting them.
   2. Appointing a nominated Lead Safeguarding Officer for Young People.
   3. Adopting Child protection and Safeguarding best practices through our policies, procedures and Code of Conduct for Staff and Volunteers.
   4.  Developing and implementing an effective online safety policy and related procedures.
   5. Providing effective management for Staff and Volunteers through supervision, support, training and quality assurance measures so that all Staff and Volunteers know about and follow our policies, procedures and behaviour codes confidently and competently.
   6. Recruiting and selecting Staff and Volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made.
   7. Recording, storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance.

Newlife Netball Club Safeguarding Policy 

• Making sure that Children, Young People and their families know where to go for help if they have a concern.
• Treat all participants with respect and celebrate their achievements.
•  Share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involve Children, Young People, parents, families and carers appropriately. UK GDPR does not prevent the sharing of information to keep children safe. Fears about sharing information must not be allowed to stand in the way of promoting the welfare or protection of, Children.
• Manage any allegations against Staff and Volunteers appropriately.
• Creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment.
• Ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in place.
• Ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for our Children, Young People, Staff and Volunteers.
• Building a Safeguarding culture where Staff and Volunteers, Children, Young People and their families, treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns.

DEFINITIONS

• Child or Young Person (Children or Young People) – is defined in law and by Newlife Netball Club as anyone under the age of 18.
• Club – a collection of individuals that come together from time to time in the form of a netball club through which some or all of those individuals become members of England Netball.
• Codes of Conduct – means the set of behavioural standards which Newlife Netball Club establishes as the expected minimum standards of behaviour.
• Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) – the government department responsible for processing the criminal record checks to assist in making safer recruitment decisions. The Disclosure and Barring Service replaced the Criminal Records Bureau and the Independent Safeguarding Authority. When a person is banned from working with Young People by England Netball, they are obliged to refer this information to the DBS. The DBS will determine inclusion on the barred list.
• Lead Safeguarding Officer (LSO) – the person appointed to receive, investigate and act upon all Safeguarding matters, including developing and maintaining Safeguarding policies and procedures and advising the netball community on their implementation and application.
• Member – any individual or organisation appointed as a Personal or Group Member by England Netball’s Articles of Association.
• Position of Trust – someone who has a position of power or influence over those under 18.
• Safeguarding – Protecting children from abuse and maltreatment, preventing harm to their health or development, ensuring they grow up with the provision of safe and effective care and taking action to enable all Young People to have the best outcomes.
• Staff – means those employed or holding any other form of contract with Newlife Netball Club whether on a full-time, part-time or zero-hour contracts.
• Wellbeing – a person’s state of mental and physical health and resilience
• Volunteer(s) – means any person who gives their time and talents freely to make netball happen
  and is not paid more than out-of-pocket expenses. For the avoidance of doubt this means, any
  person providing assistance or support to Newlife Netball Club. 

LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK

This Policy complies with legislation and will be updated to reflect any changes in the law. Statutory guidance takes precedence over Newlife  Netball Club policy and we will always work within the requirements of Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023, children’s social services and the Police. This policy has been written based on legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect Children in England. The relevant legislation includes:-

• Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023
• Children’s Act 1989
• Children’s Act 2004
• Children and Social Work Act 2017
• Data Protection Act 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
• Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006.
• Human Rights Act 1989
• Protection of Children Act 1999
• Sexual Offences Act 2003

WHAT IS ABUSE?
Abuse is a term used to describe how Children and Young People may be harmed by others. The four recognised types of abuse are (with examples);

• Physical – intentional harm, hitting, slapping, kicking, shaking, poisoning, burning, drowning.
• Neglect – denied food, education, nurture, stimulation, medication.
• Sexual – sexual touching, sexual activity, making a child perform acts on another (inc. none contact).
• Emotional – Humiliating, criticising threatening, blaming, gaslighting, ignoring, not showing emotion.

Though not included in the 4 main categories of abuse; others to consider are:

• Fabricated or Induced illness – when a parent or carer exaggerates or deliberately causes symptoms of illness in the child. The parent or carer tries to convince doctors that the child is ill, or that their condition is worse than it really is.
• Female Genital Mutilation – a rare form of abuse affecting some communities more than others (such as some African and Asian cultures). Usually involving young girls being taken to their (or their parents’) home country to have their genitals damaged in a number of ways. Often this results in urinary, ante-natal or other issues in later life. It has no basis in religion.
• Domestic Violence – children are now considered victims of domestic violence in their own right (Domestic Abuse Act 2022) even if not physically harmed. The long term affects of parental domestic abuse can be significant on children.
• Criminal or sexual exploitation – Young People tricked or coerced into selling drugs or other commodities or exploited sexually for money.
• Cyber Bullying – cyberbullying occurs when someone repeatedly makes fun of another person online or repeatedly picks on another person through emails or text messages or uses online forums (including social media) with the intention of harming, damaging, humiliating or isolating
  another person. It can be used to carry out many different types of bullying (such as racist bullying, homophobic bullying, or bullying related to special educational needs and disabilities) but instead of the perpetrator carrying out the bullying face-to-face, they use technology as a means to do it.
• Forced marriage – children married, sometimes before the legal age in the UK to someone of their parent/carer’s choosing and against their will.
• Radicalisation – the process whereby someone influences a Child or Young Person to an extremist ideology with terrorist or violent intent. Extreme or radical opinions are allowed but if accompanied with violent intentions or actions it should be reported to police or Safeguarding agencies.

Abuse can happen inside and outside the home, but wherever it happens, everyone has a responsibility to act to protect the Child from harm. Abuse results in harm to Young People’s physical, mental or emotional health and/or development. It can be committed by an adult or another Child or Young Person and be by intentional act or a failure to act.

SAFEGUARDING IS EVERYONE’S RESPONSIBILITY AND YOU SHOULD RESPOND TO ANY SAFEGUARDING CONCERN YOU BECOME AWARE OF.

Newlife Netball Club fulfils its Safeguarding responsibilities by ensuring all Newlife Netball Club Staff are appropriately trained and by supporting netball activity to be delivered appropriately through the provision of advice and guidance to all those in netball, working in partnership with Members, connected participants, Volunteers, Staff and external agencies, including statutory authorities.

Newlife Netball Club has an appointed Lead Safeguarding Officer, who is responsible for formulating the Club’s approach to Safeguarding; developing the work programme to implement this policy; providing advice, guidance and resources to the sport of netball to ensure a consistent level of awareness of Safeguarding, and, who is the point of contact for all concerns raised, and to liaise with statutory agencies and other partners.