Child Protection and Safeguarding Children Policy 2022 (updated and reviewed Sep 2024.)

Renaissance Arts Conservatoire LLP is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for children, staff and visitors and promoting a climate where children and adults will feel confident about sharing any concerns which they may have about their own safety or the well-being of others. 

We aim to safeguard and promote the welfare of children by protecting them from maltreatment; preventing impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development; ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

1. Introduction

1. Safeguarding children is everyone’s responsibility at Renaissance Arts Conservatoire LLP. Everyone who comes into contact with children and families has a role to play ensuring children and young people are safe from abuse, exploitation and harm. Our conservatoire is committed to safeguarding children and aims to create a culture of vigilance.

2. Our pupils’ welfare is our paramount concern. The governing body will ensure that our conservatoire will safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils and work together with required agencies to ensure that our conservatoire has adequate arrangements to identify, assess and support those children who are suffering or likely to suffer harm.
3. Renaissance Arts Conservatoire LLP is an educational and indutry community, and all those directly connected – faculty, staff members, parents, families and pupils – have an essential role to play in making it safe and secure for all.

2. Our Ethos

1. We believe that Renaissance Arts Conservatoire LLP should provide a caring, positive, safe and stimulating environment that promotes the social, physical, mental and moral development of the individual child; enabling all children to thrive.

2. We recognise the importance of providing an environment within our conservatoire that will help children feel safe and respected. We are aware of the importance of enabling students to talk openly and to feel confident that they will be listened to. We appreciate that both mental and physical health are relevant to safeguarding and the welfare of students.

3. We recognise that all adults within the school, including permanent, supply faculty, temporary workers, volunteers and parents have a full and active part to play in protecting our pupils from harm.

2.4 We will work with parents and guardians to build a solid understanding of Renaissance Arts’s Conservatoire LLP responsibilities to ensure the welfare of all children/young people, including the need for referrals to other agencies in some situations. This means:

• Protecting student from maltreatment.
• Preventing impairment of student’s health or development.
• Ensuring that students work in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care.
• Taking action to enable all children/young people to have the best-outcomes.
• Due regard will be given to issues of race, religion, culture, language, gender, sexual orientation and disability in all child protection work.

2.5 Renaissance Arts will fulfil its commitment to safeguard and promote the welfare of children by:

• Ensuring there is Partner/Director commitment.
• Having clear lines of accountability and structures.
• Supporting a culture that enables safeguarding issues and promotion of children’s welfare to be addressed, and ensuring that accurate records with
  regard to actions and decisions are made.
• Ensuring all Faculty are appropriately trained in safeguarding children where required.

2.6 Renaissance Arts aims to:

• Establish and maintain an ethos where children/young people feel secure, are encouraged to talk and are listened to
• Ensure that children/young people know that there are adults in the conservatoire who they can approach if they are worried or are in difficulty.
• Include in the curriculum, material which will help children young people develop realistic attitudes to the responsibilities of adult life, particularly with life skills.
• Work with external governing bodies including and not limited to BTEC and ISTD to meet their requirements.
• Ensure that wherever possible every effort will be made to establish effective working relationships with parents and colleagues from other agencies.
• Ensure that we comply with all statutory guidance relating to the Prevent Duty.
• Ensure that staff understand their duty to safeguard students against Female Genital Mutilation (Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018).

3. Scope

3.1  In line with the law, this policy defines a child as anyone under the age of 18 years, but in the case of SEN it is up to 25 years of age.

3.2  This policy applies to all members of staff in our school, including all permanent, faculty, temporary and support staff, governors, volunteers, contractors and external service or activity providers.

3.3  This policy applies to all learners at Renaissance Arts Conservatoire LLP

4. The Legal Framework.

4.1  Section 175 of the Education Act 2002 places a duty on governing bodies of maintained schools and further education institutions (including sixth-form colleges) to make arrangements for ensuring that their functions relating to the conduct of the school are exercised with a view to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children/young people who are pupils at the school.  Section 157 of the same Act places a similar duty on non-maintained and independent schools, including free schools and academies.

4.2  Under section 10 of the Children Act 2004, all maintained schools, further education colleges and independent schools, including free schools and academies, are required to co-operate with the local authority to improve the well-being of children in the local authority area.

4.3  Under section 14B of the Children Act 2004, the Local Safeguarding Children Board can require a school or further education institution to supply information in order to perform its functions. This must be complied with.

4.4  This policy has been developed in accordance with the following statutory guidance and local safeguarding procedures:

Working Together to Safeguard Children: A Guide to Inter-Agency Working to Safeguard and Promote the Welfare of Children, July 2018

Keeping Children Safe in Education: Statutory Guidance for Schools andColleges, September 2020.

4.5 This policy should be considered alongside other related conservatoire policies. These include and are not exclusive to.

• Health and Safety
• Whistleblowing
• Anti-Bullying
• Prevent
• Terms and Conditions
• Code Of Conduct.

5. Working Together

5.1  Whilst local authorities play a lead role, safeguarding children and protecting them from harm is everyone’s responsibility. “Everyone who comes into contact with children and families has a role to play” – Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018.

5.2  All faculty, sub-contractors and members of the Renaissance Arts Conservatoire LLP should be made aware of the key staff to speak to in relation to safeguarding concerns. Children know to tell an adult, and information is then passed on to the relevant body.

5.3  Where it is believed that a child is suffering from, or is at risk of, significant harm, we will follow the procedures set out in the Leeds City Council guidelines. The Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) or Safeguarding Officer will contact Safeguarding Referral Team to discuss the concern and get advice about next steps. In an emergency the DSL or Safeguarding Officer will contact the police on 0113 397 0640.

5.4  Where the level of concern does not identify a child protection issue, but where safeguarding concerns are identified, the DSL or Safeguarding Officer will contact the Safeguarding Children in Education team 0113 378 9685 for advice.

5.5  Early Help and Prevention – Identification of the need for early help and support for children and families is vital. The Renaissance Arts Conservatoire LLP team via the DSL are aware of where they can signpost or refer parents for Family Support for early help and support with a variety of issues including: housing, finances, relationship issues and managing children’s behaviour.

5.6  Faculty are employed with a view they are trained to identify children and young people who show signs of needing support with their emotional well-being and mental health. These concerns would be discussed with a Renaissance Arts Conservatoire LLP partners then potentially parents, where appropriate, the child would be referred for educational support which may be in the form of pastoral care. 

5.7  Faculty and team members have a duty to be informed about safeguarding procedures and are required to keep up to date with all changes in safeguarding legislation and procedures. All faculty and those in the Renaissance Arts Conservatoire LLP team are aware of possible indicators for different forms of abuse and neglect and the signs and symptoms. 

Faculty are made aware of safeguarding and pastoral leads at the Conservatoire.

5.8  Renaissance Arts will ensure that other adults in school know to consult
with the Head/DSL where there are safeguarding or child protection concerns this is ensured through initial discussions or via the faculty/contractors handbook.

5.9  Parents of students in the school can be informed of the school’s duties and responsibilities in relation to Safeguarding and Child Protection procedures by access to the Safeguarding Children Policy, which is available on request or by visiting www.renaissancearts.co.uk.

5.10  Pupil Information – We recognise the importance of keeping up-to-date and accurate information about pupils. We will regularly ask all parents/carers to provide us with the following information and to notify us of any changes that occur:

Names and contact details of persons with whom the student normally lives

Names and contact details of all persons with parental responsibility

Emergency contact details

Name and contact detail of G.P.

Any other factors which may impact on the safety and welfare of the child.

5.11 Confidentiality – Information about pupils given to us by the children themselves, their parents or carers, or by other agencies will remain confidential. Faculty and co workers will be given relevant information only on a “need to know” basis in order to support the child/young adult if that is necessary and appropriate. We are, however, under a duty to share any information which is of a child protection nature.

We understand that this is in the best interests of the child and overrides any other duties we have regarding confidentiality and information sharing. We have a duty to keep any records which relate to child protection work undertaken by us or our partner agencies and to ensure that these are kept apart from the main pupil record, stored securely and only accessible to key members of staff. We also have a duty to send copies of these records to any school or educational establishment to which the pupil transfers if deemed required.

6. Specific Issues and Vulnerabilities

6.1  Abuse and neglect are forms of maltreatment of a child/young person. A child/young person is abused or neglected when harm is inflicted on them or when there is failure to prevent harm by their carer.  Abuse of a child/young person can occur in the family or in an institution or community setting, by those known to them or, more rarely, by others, e.g. via the internet. They can be abused by an adult or adults, or by a child or children. There are four categories of abuse (Working Together to Safeguard Children, HM Gov 2018).

6.2  Physical Abuse – Physical abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm to a child/young person. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child/young person. Harm can also occur due to practices linked to faith and culture, e.g. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

6.3  Emotional Abuse – Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child/young person such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child/young person’s emotional development.  It may involve conveying to children that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. It may include not giving the child the opportunities to express their views, deliberately silencing them or “making fun” of what they say or how they communicate. It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children.

These may include interactions that are beyond a child’s developmental capacity, as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction. It may involve seeing or hearing the ill treatment of another. It may involve serious bullying (including cyber bullying), causing children/young people frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children/ young people. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child/young person, though it may occur alone.

6.4  Sexual Abuse – Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening.The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetrative (e.g. rape or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside of clothing.

They may include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, pornographic sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse (including via the internet). Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males; women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children.

6.5  Neglect – Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child/young person’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child/young person’s development.Neglect may occur during pregnancy (e.g. as a result of maternal substance abuse, maternal mental ill health or learning difficulties, or a cluster of such issues). Where there is domestic abuse and violence towards a carer, the needs of the child may be neglected. Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to:

Provide adequate food, clothing and shelter (including exclusion from home or abandonment)

Protect a child/young person from physical and emotional harm or danger

Ensure adequate supervision (including the use of inadequate caregivers)

Ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment
This may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child/young person’s basic emotional needs.

6.6  Additional Information – Traditionally, the above four categories of child abuse have been recognised in literature; however, more recently, the categories of child abuse have been extended by some experts, for example the NSPCC describes 12 categories of child abuse as:

• Domestic abuse – witnessing domestic abuse is child abuse, and teenagers can suffer   domestic abuse in their relationships.
• Sexual abuse – a child is sexually abused when they are forced or persuaded to take part in sexual activities. This doesn’t have to be physical contact, and it can happen online
• Neglect – an ongoing failure to meet a child’s basic needs. It’s dangerous and children can suffer serious and long-term harm.
• Online abuse – any type of abuse that happens on the Web, whether through social networks, playing online games or using mobile phones.
• Physical abuse – deliberately hurting a child causing injuries such as bruises, broken bones, burns or cuts.
• Emotional abuse – children who are emotionally abused suffer emotional maltreatment or neglect. It’s sometimes called psychological abuse and can cause children serious harm.
• Child Sexual Exploitation – a type of sexual abuse in which children are sexually exploited for money, power or status.
• Female Genital Mutilation – the partial or total removal of external female genitalia for non-medical reasons.
• Bullying and cyberbullying – bullying can happen anywhere – at school, at home or online. It’s usually repeated over a long period of time and can hurt a child both physically and emotionally.
• Child trafficking – a type of abuse where children are recruited, moved or transported, and then exploited, forced to work or sold.
• Grooming – children and young people can be groomed online or in the real world, by a stranger or by someone they know – for example a family member, friend or professional.
• Harmful sexual behaviour – children and young people who develop harmful sexual behaviour harm themselves and others.

6.7 Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 states that “safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children” means the process of:

• Protecting children from maltreatment (i.e. abuse or neglect).
• Preventing impairment of children’s health and development.
• Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care.
• Undertaking that role so as to enable children to have optimum life chances and to enter adulthood successfully.

6.8 “Child Protection” is part of safeguarding and promoting welfare. The term “child protection” refers to the activity which is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering, or at risk of suffering, significant harm.

7 Roles and Responsibilities

1. 7.1  Directors responsibilities include but not limited to:
2. • Communicating clearly the school’s safeguarding policy and procedures to all members of the school community in contract and website.
   • Ensuring safe recruitment practice is followed when recruiting for posts
   • Ensuring appropriate action is taken when an allegation is made against a member of faculty or team.
   • Ensuring all appropriate checks are made in relation to all faculty, volunteers and visitors.
   • Ensuring that all Faculty/Team are made aware of their roles and responsibilities in relation to this policy.
   • Ensuring that all Faculty/Team have read the policy and are aware of what actions they need to take
   • Identifying and providing any additional training and support needs required by Faculty/Team to enable them to perform their duties as defined in this policy
   • Monitoring periodically, Faculty/Team awareness of their roles in relation to this policy
   • Following other appropriate procedures, simultaneously where necessary e.g.disciplinary procedures, complaints and incident reporting.
   • Ensuring all staff receive adequate safeguarding supervision considering the vulnerabilities and risks for children.

7.2  Designated Safeguarding Lead (& Deputy) responsibilities include:

• • Ensuring all staff are aware of the DSL and deputy contact details and acting as a point of contact.
  • Referring cases of suspected abuse to the local authority children’s social care as required.
  • Supporting Faculty/Team who make referrals to local authority children’s social care.
  • Keeping detailed, accurate, secure written records of concerns and referrals.
  • Being familiar with relevant data protection legislation and regulations, especially the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation.

• Referring cases to the Channel programme where there is a radicalisation concern as required.
• Supporting Faculty/Team who make referrals to the Channel programme.
• Referring cases where a person is dismissed or left due to risk/harm to a child to the Disclosure and Barring Service as required.
• Referring cases where a crime may have been committed to the police as required.
• Liaising with the Directors to inform of issues – especially ongoing enquiries under section 47 of the Children Act 1989 and police investigations.
• As required, liaising with the designated officer(s) at the local authority for child protection concerns in cases which concern a staff member.
• Liaising with Faculty/Team (especially pastoral support staff, IT technicians, and SENCOs, or the named person with oversight for SEN) on matters of safety and safeguarding (including online and digital safety) and, when deciding whether to make a referral, liaising with relevant agencies.
• Acting as a source of support, advice and expertise for all staff.
• Understanding the assessment process for providing early help and statutory intervention, including local criteria for action and Leeds City Council children’s social care referral arrangements.
• Having a working knowledge of how local authorities conduct a child protection case conference and a child protection review conference and being able to attend and contribute to these effectively when required to do so.
• Ensuring each member of Faculty/Team has access to, and understands, the conservatoires or college’s child protection policy and procedures, especially new and part-time Faculty/Team members are alert to the specific needs of children in need, those with special educational needs and young carers.

7.3 Individual responsibilities include:

• All Faculty/Team should actively safeguard and promote the welfare of children
• All Faculty/Team need to understand their role in identifying emerging problems and to share information with other professionals to support early identification and assessment
• All Faculty/Team should know the Designated and Deputy Safeguarding Lead’s name and contact details including telephone numbers and email.
• All Faculty/Team, in particular, be alert to the potential need for early help for a child who is disabled and has specific additional needs; has special educational needs; is a young carer; is showing signs of engaging in anti-social or criminal behaviour; is in a family circumstance presenting challenges for the child, such as substance abuse, adult mental health problems and domestic violence; has returned home to their family from care; and/or is showing early signs of abuse and/or neglect.
• All staff will attend all relevant training and development provided by Renaissance Arts Conservatoire LLP if asked to do so and be aware of all their responsibilities in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education 2020.
• Concerns that children are at risk of, or suffering from, child abuse or neglect must be discussed with a senior member of staff. Reasons for the concern and actions taken should be documented and filed accordingly with Admin.
• Any decisions taken not to share information with other agencies regarding a child potentially experiencing harm or neglect should be clearly documented in the student files at Head Office
• All Faculty/Team should seek safeguarding supervision when they have concerns for vulnerabilities and risks to children.
• Professionals working in universal services have a responsibility to identify the symptoms and triggers of abuse and neglect, to share that information and work together to provide children and young people with the help they need.
• What should you do if you are worried about a child? 

Do not minimise your concerns or assume someone else will do something. Do discuss your concerns with your DSL.  If necessary, consult a member of the relevant Leeds City Council Safeguarding Children Team.

7.4 The Governing Body responsibilities include:

• Receiving any allegations made against a Director/Partner.
• Holding the Director/Partner to account for implementation of this policy.
• Assessing the impact of this policy in keeping children safe.
• Contributing any local, contextual information that may support children’s safety and welfare
• Receiving and considering regular reports from the Partners or DSL about the effectiveness of Safeguarding and Child Protection at the school.
• Reviewing training to ensure that staff have the skills, knowledge and understanding necessary to keep all children safe
• Regularly reviewing this policy, ensuring it complies with all law, regulation and good practice
• Ensuring all Governors are familiar with Keeping Children Safe in Education 2020.

8. Early Intervention Pupil Behaviour 

Renaissance Arts Conservatoire LLP will always aim to maintain a safe and calm environment by expecting good behaviour from our pupils in line with their agreement. We are aware that any physical response from a member of staff to a pupil’s poor behaviour could lead to a child protection concern being raised by the child or parent/carer.

• 1. • No member of staff will use force when dealing with a pupil’s breach of our behaviour policy unless the potential consequences of not physically intervening are sufficiently serious to justify such action.
     • We will always record any occasion when physical intervention has been necessary.
     • We will always notify parents or carers of any such incident.
       Student Attendance should also be monitored carefully.

9. Responding to Concerns From a Child

9.1 All Directors, faculty and team members acting in a pastoral capacity must:

• • Listen to what the child is saying without interruption and without asking leading questions.
  • Respect the child’s right to privacy but not promise confidentiality.
  • Reassure the child that they have done the right thing in telling them.
  • Explain to the child that, in order to keep them safe from harm, the information that has been shared must be passed on when relevant. 
  • Report what was has been disclosed to the DSL in the school
  • Record, as soon as is practicable, what was said using the child’s actual words.
  • Sign and date the record and record the concern in college incident book or the relevant student file kept at head office.

9.2 The DSL will:

• • Assess any urgent medical needs of the child.
  • Consider whether the child has suffered, or is likely to suffer, significant harm.
  • Check whether the child is currently subject to a Child Protection Plan or has been previously subject to a CPP, or a Child in Need plan.
  • Confirm whether any previous concerns have been raised by faculty or team.
  • Consider whether the matter should be discussed with the child’s parents or carers or whether to do so may put the child at further risk of harm because of delay or the parent’s possible actions or reactions.
  • Seek advice from Leeds City Council if unsure that a child protection referral should be made.

10. Allegations Against Members of Staff.

10.1  Any allegation of abuse made against a member of staff (including Directors supply teachers, support staff and volunteers) in relation to a pupil must immediately be brought to the attention of one of the Directors/Partners and, where appropriate, the DSL. A Director/Partner will act in a co-ordinating role if not implicated.

10.2  Should a Director/Partner be the subject of the allegation, the DSL or deputy DSL will immediately report to other Directors or relevant body to establish (as outlined in Keeping Children Safe in Education 2020) “the nature, content and context of the allegation” and agree the appropriate course of action. In some cases, allegations may be so serious that they will require immediate intervention by the police and/or children’s social care services.

10.3  If the allegation against a member of faculty/team (including supply teachers, support faculty, sub-contractors and volunteers) meets any of the following criteria, A Director (or other lead person) must report it to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) the same day:

• They have behaved in a way that has harmed a child, or may have harmed a child
• They possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child
• They have behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates they may pose a risk of harm to children.
• They’ve behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates he/she is unsuitable to work with children.

10.4  For other allegations, a Director and DSL will decide if further enquiries are required prior to referral to the Local Authority Designated Officer.

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10.5  Where a Director considers that a referral may be warranted under Child Protection Procedures and an allegation appears to meet the criteria, the Director will inform the LADO who can consult the police and children’s social care professionals as appropriate.

10.6  The LADO should also be informed of any allegations that are made directly to the police or to children’s social care.

10.7  All alleged physical injuries must be investigated by the appropriate external agencies.

10.8  Where appropriate Renaissance Arts Conservatoire LLP will inform ISTD, BDQT or another of their business partners of the allegation and actions taken, within the required timescale.

11. Procedures

11.1 There are four key steps to follow to help all staff identify and respond
appropriately to possible abuse and/or neglect.

• • If an incident occurs or is suspected, all staff should take personal responsibility for reporting the allegation and not assume that somebody else will take action/share information that might be critical in keeping children safe
  • The DSL or deputy DSL must be informed of the allegation, who will report this to a Director or, if the allegation is against a Director , to the other Directors/Partners or admin.
  • The DSL or Deputy DSL will ensure the allegation is acted on within the school day
  • It may not always be appropriate to go through all four stages sequentially. If a child is in immediate danger or is at risk of harm, staff should refer to children’s social care and/or the police and inform the DSL. Before doing so, staff should try to establish the basic facts. However, it will be the role of social workers and the police to investigate cases and make a judgement on whether there should be a statutory intervention and/or a criminal investigation
  • Staff should record, in writing, all concerns and discussions about a child’s welfare, the decisions made and the reasons for those decisions.

12. Monitoring and Reviewing

12.1  The DSL will continually monitor Renaissance Arts Conservatoire LLP child protection and safeguarding practices and bring to the notice of the Directors and any weaknesses, deficiencies or required changes.

12.2  The Governing Body has a duty to remedy any weaknesses that are identified.

12.3. Monthly Verbal reports to the Directors outlining the child protection and safeguarding work undertaken by Renaissance Arts during the term.

12.4  The Directors and Designated Staff will work together on any aspect of Safeguarding and Child Protection that is identified as an area for development over the coming year.

12.5  The Policy will be reviewed annually with Directors’ approval.

• This Policy was reviewed by Neil Rigg on 7th March 2022 by Director Neil Rigg
• The Policy was revised by Neil Rigg on 16th January 2024 by Director Neil Rigg