Waymark

The purpose of this policy statement is:

• to protect from harm children and young people who come into contact with Waymark. This includes the children of adults who use our services 
• to provide staff and volunteers, as well as children and young people and their families, with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection. This policy applies to anyone working on behalf of Waymark, including Partners, paid staff, volunteers, sessional workers, agency staff and students.

We believe that children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind. We recognise that 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 children is paramount in all the work we do and in all the decisions we take
• working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare
• 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 and extra safeguards may be needed to keep children who are additionally vulnerable safe from abuse.

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

• valuing, listening to and respecting them
• ensuring staff and volunteers are adopting child protection and safeguarding best practice
• implementing effective online safety procedures
• recruiting and selecting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made
• recording and storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance 
• making sure that children, young people and their families know where to go for help if they have a concern
• creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment
• 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
• 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.

We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice regularly. This policy was last reviewed on 1st March 2023