I Can & I Am fully recognises its responsibilities for safeguarding children. The welfare and safety of the pupils we work with is at the heart of our charity’s ethos and in everything we do. In this policy, a ‘child’ means all children and young people below 18 years of age. The charity is committed to recognising diversity and ensures anti-discriminatory practices. We ensure that all children have the same protection. In our workshops and while on the I Can & I Am bus our aim is to create and maintain an environment where all pupils feel secure, are encouraged to communicate, and are listened to.

The purpose and scope of this policy statement

‘I Can & I Am’ works with children, staff, parents and businesses as part of its activities. These include:

• Visiting schools and universities to give presentations to school pupils
• Visiting schools and universities to give presentations to school parents
• Visiting schools and universities to give presentations to school staff
• Visiting businesses to give presentations to members of staff
• Delivering workshops to school pupils
• Providing mentoring with small groups of pupils on our purpose built bus
• Baking bread with small groups of pupils on our purpose built bus
• Providing one to one mentoring services from James Shone with young people within school or at James Shone’s home.

The purpose of this policy statement is:

• to protect children and young people who receive services from I Can & I Am.
• to provide parents, staff and volunteers with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection.

This policy statement applies to anyone working on behalf of ‘I Can & I Am’, the board of trustees, paid staff, volunteers, sessional workers, agency staff and students.

Legal framework

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. A summary of the key legislation and guidance is available from nspcc.org.uk/childprotection.

We believe that:

• children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind
• we have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, to keep them safe and to practise in a way that protects them.

We recognise that:

• the welfare of the child is
• all children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation have a right to equal 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, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

• valuing, listening to and respecting them
• appointing a nominated child protection/safeguarding lead and a lead trustee/board member for safeguarding
• developing child protection and safeguarding policies and procedures which reflect best practice
• using our safeguarding procedures to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving children, young people, parents, families and carers appropriately
• Recognising that sharing information with schools and other professionals in a timely manner is crucial in identifying and tackling all forms of abuse and neglect. Fears about sharing information must not be allowed to stand in the way of the need to promote the welfare, and protect the safety, of children. The Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 and GDPR do not prevent, or limit, the sharing of information for the purposes of keeping children safe.
• Recognising that, to facilitate the sharing of ‘special category personal data’, the DPA 2018 contains ‘safeguarding of children and individuals at risk’ as a processing condition that allows practitioners to share information without consent if it is not possible to gain consent, it cannot be reasonably expected that a practitioner gains consent, or if to gain consent would place a child at risk.
• sharing our safeguarding policy with users of the I Can & I Am services via our website.
• recruiting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made and ensuring that all staff are kept up to date with safeguarding procedures.
• providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support, training and quality assurance measures.
• ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for our children, young people, staff and volunteers, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance
• recording and storing information professionally and securely.

Contact details:

Nominated child protection lead

Name:  Rebecca Burton

Email:  Rebecca@icanandiam.com

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

This policy was last reviewed on:  8^th January 2021