Introduction
Sadili Oval Sports Academy recognizes that:

Policy statement/aims
Sadili Oval Sports Academy has a duty of care to safeguard all children involved in our activities from harm. All children have a right to protection, and the needs of disabled children, girls and others who may be particularly vulnerable must be taken into account. Sadili Oval will ensure the safety and protection of all children involved in Sadili Oval through adherence to the Child Protection guidelines adopted by Sadili Oval.

A child is defined as a person under the age of 18.
Policy aims

The aim of the Sadili Oval Sports Academy Child Protection Policy is to promote good practice in order to: provide children and young people with appropriate safety and protection whilst in the care of Sadili Oval Sports Academy.

Abuse can occur within many situations including the home, school and the sporting environment. Some individuals will actively seek employment or voluntary work with young people in order to harm them. A coach, instructor, teacher, official or volunteer will have regular contact with young people and be an important link in identifying cases where they need protection. All suspicious cases of poor practice should be reported following the guidelines in this document.

When a child enters an academy activity having been subjected to child abuse outside the sporting environment, sport can play a crucial role in improving the child’s self-esteem. In such instances the organiser must work with the appropriate agencies to ensure the child receives the required support.

Good practice guidelines
All personnel are encouraged to demonstrate exemplary behaviour in order to promote childrens welfare and reduce the likelihood of allegations being made. This includes:

Practices to be avoided
The following should be avoided except in emergencies. If cases arise where these situations are unavoidable it should be with the full knowledge and consent of someone in charge in the academy or the child’s parents. For example, a child sustains an injury and needs to go to hospital, or a parent fails to arrive to pick a child up at the end of a session:

Practices never to be sanctioned
The following should never be sanctioned. You should never:

N.B.
 It may sometimes be necessary for staff or volunteers to do things of a personal nature for children, particularly if they are young or are disabled. These tasks should only be carried out with the full understanding and consent of parents and the players involved. There is a need to be responsive to a person’s reactions. If a person is fully dependent on you, talk with him/her about what you are doing and give choices where possible. This is particularly so if you are involved in any dressing or undressing of outer clothing, or where there is physical contact, lifting or assisting a child to carry out particular activities. Avoid taking on the responsibility for tasks for which you are not appropriately trained.

Incidents that must be reported/recorded
If any of the following occur you should report this immediately to the appropriate officer and record the incident. You should also ensure the parents of the child are informed:

Use of photographic/filming equipment at sporting events
There is evidence that some people have used sporting events as an opportunity to take inappropriate photographs or film footage of young and disabled sportspeople in vulnerable positions. All clubs should be vigilant and any concerns should to be reported to the Sadili Oval Child Protection Officer.

Videoing as a coaching aid:
there is no intention to prevent coaches and teachers using video equipment as a legitimate coaching aid. However, performers and their parents/caregivers should be made aware that this is part of the coaching programme and their consent obtained, and such films should be stored safely.

Recruitment and training of staff and volunteers
Sadili Oval Sports Academy recognises that anyone may have the potential to abuse children in some way and that all reasonable steps are taken to ensure unsuitable people are prevented from working with children. Pre-selection checks shall include the following:

Interview and induction
All employees (and volunteers) will be required to undergo an interview carried out to acceptable protocol and recommendations. All employees and volunteers should receive an induction, during which:

Training In addition to pre-selection checks, the safeguarding process includes training after recruitment to help staff and volunteers to:

Sadili Oval Sports Academy requires:

Responding to allegations or suspicions It is not the responsibility of anyone working in Sadili Oval Sports Academy in a paid or unpaid capacity to decide whether or not child abuse has taken place. However there is a responsibility to act on any concerns by reporting these to the appropriate officer or the appropriate authorities.

Sadili Oval Sports Academy will assure all staff/volunteers that it will fully support and protect anyone, who in good faith reports his or her concern that a colleague is, or may be, abusing a child. Where there is a complaint against a member of staff there may be three types of investigation:

The results of the police and child protection investigation may well influence and inform the disciplinary investigation, but all available information will be used to reach a decision.

Action if there are concerns

1. Concerns about poor practice:

  • If, following consideration, the allegation is clearly about poor practice; the designated Sadili Child Protection Officer will deal with it as a misconduct issue.
  • If the allegation is about poor practice by the the Child Protection Officer, or if the matter has been handled inadequately and concerns remain, it should be reported to the relevant Conduct Committee who will decide how to deal with the allegation and whether or not to initiate disciplinary proceedings.

    2. Concerns about suspected abuse:

  • Any suspicion that a child has been abused by either a member of staff or a volunteer should be reported to the Sadili Oval Child Protection Officer, who will take such steps as considered necessary to ensure the safety of the child in question and any other child who may be at risk.
  • The Sadili Oval Child Protection Officer will refer the allegation to the social services department who may involve the police.
  • The parents or caregivers of the child will be contacted as soon as possible following advice from the social services department.
  • The Sadili Oval Child Protection Officer should also notify the Sadili Conduct Committee who in turn will inform the Managing Director of Sadili Oval who will deal with any media enquiries.
  • If the Sadili Oval Child Protection Officer is the subject of the suspicion/allegation, the report must be made to the Sadili Oval Sports Academy Manager and/or the Managing Director who will refer the allegation to Social Services.

    Confidentiality Every effort should be made to ensure that confidentiality is maintained for all concerned. Information should be handled and disseminated on a need to know basis only. This includes the following people:

    Seek social services advice on who should approach the alleged abuser (or parents if the alleged abuser is a child). Information should be stored in a secure place with limited access to designated people, in line with data protection laws (e.g. that information is accurate, regularly updated, relevant and secure). Internal enquiries and suspension

    Support to deal with the aftermath of abuse:

  • Consideration should be given to the kind of support that children, parents and members of staff may need. Use of helplines, support groups and open meetings will maintain an open culture and help the healing process.
  • Consideration shall be given to what kind of support may be appropriate for the alleged perpetrator.

    Allegations of previous abuse
    Allegations of abuse may be made some time after the event (e.g. by an adult who was abused as a child or by a member of staff who is still currently working with children). Where such an allegation is made, the Sadili Oval shall follow the procedures as detailed above and report the matter to the social services or the police. This is because other children, either within or outside sport, may be at risk from this person. Anyone who has a previous criminal conviction for offences related to abuse is automatically excluded from working with children.

    Action if bullying is suspected
    If bullying is suspected, the same procedure should be followed as set out in 'Responding to suspicions or allegations' above. Action to help the victim and prevent bullying in sport:

    Action towards the bully(ies):

    3. Concerns outside the immediate sporting environment (e.g. a parent or caregiver):

    See 4 below regarding information needed for social services.

    4. Information for social services or the police about suspected abuse To ensure that this information is as helpful as possible, a detailed record should always be made at the time of the disclosure/concern, which should include the following:

    DEFINITIONS

    CHILD PROTECTION Child protection consists of reducing risks to children’s holistic well-being, making children’s rights a reality, restoring hope and a dignified living where abuse has occurred and creating an enabling environment that supports children’s positive development.

    CHILD ABUSE Child abuse is the bad treatment of a child under the age of 18 by a parent, caretaker, someone living in their home or someone who works with or around children. Abuse of a child is anything that causes injury or puts the child in danger of physical injury. Child abuse can be physical (such as burns or broken bones), sexual (such as touching of private parts or incest), or emotional (such as belittling or calling the child names). Neglect happens when a parent or responsible caretaker fails to provide adequate supervision, food, clothing, shelter or other basics for a child. Child abuse is any action (or lack of) which endangers or impairs a child’s physical, mental or emotional health and development.
    Child abuse may be:

    Sexual abuse is when the child is involved in any sexual activity with an adult or another child who is either older or more powerful. Neglect is depriving a child of their basic needs. These include food, clothing, warmth and shelter, emotional and physical security and protection, medical and dental care, cleanliness, education, and supervision.

    SEXUAL HARRASSMENT Sexual harassment is defined as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when: (1) submission to such conduct is made a term or condition of employment or participating in educational programs; or (2) submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as a basis for employment or academic decisions affecting the individual; or (3) such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an employee's work performance or student's academic performance creating an intimidating , hostile, or offensive working or learning environment. Some examples may include but are not limited to the following:

    1. Creating an offensive working or learning environment by repeated written, verbal, physical and/or visual contacts with sexual overtones. - written forms may include suggestive or obscene letters, notes, invitations; - verbal forms may include derogatory comments, slurs, jokes, epithets; - physical forms may include assault, unwelcome touching, impeding or blocking movements; - visual forms may include leering, gestures, display of sexually offensive objects, pictures, cartoons or posters.

    2. Establishing a patter of conduct that would cause discomfort and/or humiliate a reasonable person at whom the conduct was directed and that includes one or more of the following: - unnecessary touching, patting, hugging, or brushing against a person's body; - remarks of a sexual nature about a person's clothing or body; or remarks about sexual activity or speculations about previous sexual experiences; - continued expressions of sexual interest after being informed that the interest is unwelcome.

    3. Making reprisals, threats of reprisal, or implied threats of reprisal following a rebuff of harassing behavior.

    4. Retaliating against a person for reporting or threatening to report sexual harassment.

    5. Engaging in explicit or implicit coercive sexual behavior within the work environment which is used to control, influence or affect the employee's career, salary and/or work environment, such as implying or actually withholding support for an appointment, promotion or change of assignment; submitting or threatening to submit an undeserved performance report, failing or threatening to fail the probationary period.

    6. Engaging in explicit or implicit coercive sexual behavior within the educational environment which is used to control, influence or affect the educational opportunities, grades, and/or learning environment of a student, such as withholding or threatening to withhold grades earned or deserved; submitting or threatening to submit an undeserved performance evaluation; denying or threatening to deny a scholarship recommendation or college application.

    GENDER DISCRIMINATION
    Gender discrimination is any unequal treatment based on gender and may also be referred to as sexism. Characteristics of gender discrimination are any situation where a person shows a prejudice towards another that would not occur had they been the opposite sex. Sexism has historically been enacted most often to the detriment of females, but it can apply to males as well. Gender discrimination can also extend to transgender people. Gender discrimination can apply most commonly to workplace scenarios, but can also apply to educational rights, in household gender roles and in community and organization roles. Most frequently, it involves being denied an opportunity such as a promotion, position, scholarship, credit or a loan. It can also be used to describe receiving or failing to receive a punishment on the basis of gender.

    EQUITY
    Fairness and impartiality towards all concerned, based on the principle of evenhanded dealing. Equity implies giving as much advantage, consideration, or latitude to one party as it is given to another. Along with economy, effectiveness, and efficiency, Equity is essential for ensuring that extent and costs of funds, goods and services are fairly divided among their recipients