Safeguarding
Safeguarding Policy Statement
Nottingham Youth Orchestra is committed to practice which protects children from harm.
Staff and Volunteers in this organisation accept and recognise our responsibilities to develop awareness of the issues which cause children and young adults harm.
The welfare of each orchestra member is the primary consideration of the organisation and its staff. We want each member to achieve his/her full potential within the musical and social development which is provided by the organisation.
We recognise that we have a special duty of care towards all our members. We want to provide them with a safe, supportive and listening environment in which they can thrive. In particular:
- to establish and maintain an environment in which the welfare of the young person* is paramount
- to ensure that policies and procedures protect young people from harm
- to ensure that all concerns and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to appropriately
The purposes of this policy are:
- To set out how the NYO will safeguard and protect young people
- To give guidance to staff, volunteers and trustees about the procedures they should adopta) in order to keep members safeb) when they suspect that a young person may be experiencing or is at risk of harm
*A child is defined in the Children Act (1989) as a person under the age of 18. In this document, the term “young person” includes all members of NYO, whether or not they are under the age of 18.
Safeguarding Principles
We will endeavour to safeguard young people by:
- Treating them with respect and celebrating their achievements
- Adopting policy guidelines through a code of practice for staff and volunteers
- Sharing information and communicating information about safeguarding with parents, members, staff and volunteers
- Reporting information about concerns with agencies who need to know and involve parents and members appropriately
- Recruiting employees and volunteers safely ensuring all necessary checks are in place and providing appropriate support through supervision and training
- Assessing risk in relation to all its activities, focusing on prevention and minimising risks
- Reviewing our policy and practice periodically
Our responsibilities towards our members
We value the welfare of our members and accept that we have responsibilities:
- To protect them from sexual, emotional and physical abuse.
- To screen anyone coming into regular contact with them.
- To support their parents and carers.
- To treat them with dignity and respect at all times
Particularly we will:
- Take any allegations or suspicions of abuse seriously and respond to them swiftly and appropriately
- Seek to provide pastoral care where appropriate to all those who may be affected by such an allegation.
Our responsibilities towards all staff and volunteers
We support them by:
- Equipping them through training to protect both children and themselves by encouraging good practice and good relationships with children.
- Providing them with clear guidelines on preventing situations where child abuse could arise and what to do if such abuse is disclosed or suspected.
- Giving them pastoral support in their work and defined lines of supervision and accountability.
- Outlining their specific roles.
Safeguarding Policy Document
Should you want to keep and read Nottingham Youth Orchestra's full Safeguarding Policy, please download it below.