Whyy? Change is committed to safeguard and promote the welfare of young people and vulnerable adults. The staff recognise that a safe and trustworthy environment combined with clear lines of communication and decisive action ensures the best outcomes for all learners. Whyy? Change expects all staff, volunteers and partners to endorse and practice this commitment at all times.

Definition of safeguarding

Safeguarding adults refers to the multi-agency procedures for protecting adults at risk from abuse or neglect.

For learners or staff under 18, Safeguarding Children acts by:

• Protecting children from maltreatment;
• Preventing impairment of children’s health or development;
• Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care;
• Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

Definition of Young People and Vulnerable Adults

• A child is defined as under the age of 18 years; for the purpose of this policy, in the context of a post 16 environment, children are referred to as young people
• Vulnerable Adult is defined as someone 18 years of age or over who is or may be unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or exploitation.

Scope of the Policy

This policy applies to:

• All learners;
• All Whyy? Change related activity;
• All staff and partners carrying out activity on behalf of Whyy? Change

Aim of the Safeguarding Policy

Whyy? Change ensures all learners are safeguarded by:

• Robust staff recruitment;
• Policies and procedures that support safeguarding;
• Close working relationships with partners who share a common purpose with regard to safeguarding, initial concerns would be reported to Safeguarding Adults Access Team at Sheffield City Council;
• Staff awareness – how to promote welfare and safety of young people and vulnerable adults;
• Implementation of the Prevent Duty and understanding of how to report concerns;
• the promotion of Fundamental British Values: “democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance for those with different faiths and beliefs’’

Behaviour in classrooms, workshops and workplaces

Effective learning and work take place in the workplace or workshops where there is tolerance and mutual respect for different faiths and beliefs as well as respect for people with protected characteristics as set out in the Equality Act.

Learners in the workplace should also be aware of the need to ensure that no-one in protected groups is discriminated against. Those employers who allow discrimination to take place have been prosecuted using the Equality duty.

By maintaining high standards of behaviour including mutual respect and tolerance for different faiths and beliefs and encouraging learners to respect the protected characteristics, our tutors will be promoting British values.

Challenging extremism

The Prevent Duty is not intended to stop apprentices debating controversial ideas

If a learner makes comments which could be regarded as extremist staff should encourage the apprentices to consider:

• what they have said
• where the views they are expressing came from
• whether the evidence they have is accurate and full
• whether they have received a partial or incorrect interpretation of evidence
• alternative interpretations and views
• whether they need to make a referral to the Safeguarding

Staff should use opportunities to challenge extremist narratives through discussion with student or apprentices. If staff do not feel confident in challenging extremist ideas with their apprentices, they should ask for support.

Protection and Support

Whyy? Change will identify young people and adults who are suffering or likely to suffer significant harm, including those at risk of radicalisation. Whyy? Change will ensure all staff understand their role in identifying those at risk.

Where a young person or vulnerable adult is suffering significant harm, immediate action will be taken in accordance with The Care Act 2014;

The Children Act 1989/2004

Action will also be taken to promote the welfare of students where it is recognised that additional support is needed and other agencies require involvement, even if the student is not at immediate risk of harm.

Allegations of abuse against members of staff

Whyy? Change will act in accordance with the DfE guidelines ‘Dealing with allegations of abuse against Tutors and other Staff, 2011, published March 2012. DfE Dealing with allegations of abuse against tutors and other staff.

Every member of staff at Whyy? Change is required to safeguard young and vulnerable people, reporting any suspected abuse. If a member of staff has any concerns about how a learner is being treated by staff, they must raise this directly with the Lead Safeguarding Officer or Human Resources.

No matter how hard this may seem, it is staff’s responsibility to keep learners safe.

Responsibility for Safeguarding

The leadership complies with the law, as well as ensuring that effective policies, procedures and training are in place to safeguard the needs of learners.

All staff actively promote a culture of mutual respect and tolerance and are vigilant for signs of abuse and radicalisation.

The designated Lead Safeguarding Officer, broad areas of responsibility are:

• Ensure the Prevent Duty is adhered to by all staff;
• Ensure annual Prevent and Safeguarding training is completed by all staff;
• To update and communicate Safeguarding Policy and Procedures;
• Ensure policies are known and used appropriately;
• Monitoring effectiveness of the policies and actions taken, reporting annually to the CEO
• Referral to police where a crime has been committed;
• Ensure training and development for safeguarding complies with the statutory guidance; DfE Keeping Children Safe in Education July 2015
• Ensure the Vulnerable Young Persons and At Risk Policy and the Criminal Convictions Policy are effective in protecting young people;
• Inform the designated CEO of issues/police involvement;
• Act as a source of support, advice and expertise to staff on matters of safeguarding.
• Risk assess the disclosure of criminal convictions, in accordance with the Criminal Convictions Policy;
• Advise local leadership team of safeguarding issues;

The designated local Safeguarding Officer

Staff are identified to support individuals who may be at risk of harm and to promote the welfare of individual students. These staff will act as first point of call for students or parents/carers; for bullying and other issues related to safeguarding, for example: mental health, abuse, modern slavery, neglect.

Local safeguarding staff will receive regular training on safeguarding and the Prevent duty and maintain strong links with external and internal supportive organisations. They will refer to designated Senior Safeguarding Officers for all cases where significant harm has been disclosed and/or where the potential for significant harm is likely to escalate.

All staff

Safeguarding is ‘Everyone’s Responsibility’ – All staff are provided with training at induction and receive regular updates.

Roles and Responsibility for Safeguarding

Whyy? Change adopts recruitment, selection and pre-employment vetting procedures in line with legislation and best practice available.

All employees require an enhanced criminal records check through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). Anyone appointed to carry out teaching work requires an additional check, the barred list check, to ensure they are not prohibited from teaching. This adds checks of the DBS Children’s Barred List to the enhanced check. More information is available on the DBS Website and in DfE.

Staff Training

All new employees are required to complete a free on-line safeguarding awareness course and Prevent e-learning course (www.elearning.prevent.homeoffice.gov uk)

Staff with designated safeguarding responsibility are required to update their training annually.

Types of abuse

• Physical abuse – deliberate or accidental acts that result in injury to the adult;
• Sexual abuse – involvement of an adult (at risk) in any sexual activity that they do not want to be involved in or are unable to give consent to;
• Psychological abuse – deliberate or unintentional actions or lack of action which cause emotional harm or distress to the adult (at risk);
• Financial abuse- having money stolen or purposely withheld, being defrauded, put under pressure in relation to money or property;
• Neglects and acts of Omission – the intentional or unintentional neglect of a person’s physical or emotional needs with the result that is causes the person harm or distress;
• Discriminatory abuse – treating someone unfairly because something about them is different, it may be linked to race, gender, sexual orientation or disability.
• Hate crime – any incident motivated by the hostility or prejudice of the perpetrator, based upon one or more identifying factors which may be real or perceived.
• Self-neglect – an unwillingness or inability to care for oneself and/or one’s environment. It includes hoarding and neglecting self-care and hygiene.
• Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) – collective term for procedures which include partial or total removal of the external female genital organs for non-medical or therapeutic reasons;
• Domestic Abuse – any incident of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members.
• Modern Slavery – act of recruiting, harbouring, transporting, providing or obtaining a person for compelled labour or commercial sex acts through us of force, fraud or coercion.
• Honour based violence (HBV) – form of domestic abuse which is perpetrated in the name of so called ‘honour’ or bringing shame on their family.
• Forced Marriage – which one or both the parties is married without their consent or against their will;
• Exploitation – the unfair treatment of someone, or use of a situation in a way that is wrong, in order to get some benefit for yourself;
• Mate Crime – term is generally understood to refer to the befriending of people, who are perceived to be vulnerable, for the purposes of taking advantage of, exploiting and/or abusing them;
• Internet abuse / Cyber Bullying – use of information technology to intimidate and bully;
• Radicalisation – a process by which an individual or group comes to adopt increasingly extreme political, social, or religious ideals and aspirations that reject or undermine the status quo or undermine contemporary ideas and expressions of freedom of choice.

Reporting a concern

If any member of staff is made aware of an incident of abuse or alleged source of harm, this should be documented on Safeguarding Report and passed to the Designated Lead Safeguarding Officer to be reviewed to ensure it meets the reporting requirements of the local Safeguarding Adult Access Team.

Where an alleged source of harm or concern doesn’t pass the required assessment process (Three Point Test), if the staff member and Designated Lead Safeguarding Officer are still concerned about the learner’s welfare, this can be reported to the Safeguarding Adult Access Team.

Three Point Test requires the adult to:

• Has care and support at time of abuse / incident
  • Be experiencing abuse or neglect OR are at risk of abuse or neglect
  • Be unable to protect themselves due to their care and support needs

Care and Support needs are defined as adult’s needs arising from or are related to a physical or mental impairment or illness. This does include the generic groups:

• Older person
• An adult with physical or learning disability or a sensory impairment
• An adult with long term health condition
• An adult who misuses substances or alcohol to the extent that it affects their ability to manage day to day living
• A carer providing unpaid care to a family member or friend.

Concerns should be documented on Safeguarding Report and Designated Lead Safeguarding Officer will report to Safeguarding Adult Access Team on adultaccess@sheffield.gcsx.gov.uk. Or phone on 0114 2734908.

As Whyy? Change work with learners and employers throughout the Sheffield City Region, all parties may not fall under the geographical area of Sheffield, contact details for other services within SCR to support learners and employers are:

Independent Domestic Abuse Services (IDAS) Barnsley – 03000 110 110
Sheffield – 0808 808 2241

Rotherham Rise – Domestic Abuse Helpline – 0330 2020571

Reporting online material promoting extremism and terrorism

Below is a link to the Government website where you can report material that you observe online that you feel promotes the public into extreme views or terrorism:

https://www.gov.uk/report-terrorism

You can report material such as:

• articles, images, speeches or videos that promote terrorism or encourage violence
• content encouraging people to commit acts of terrorism
• websites made by terrorist or extremist organisations
• videos of terrorist attacks

Information Sharing and Record Keeping

Information Sharing is vital to safeguard young people and vulnerable adults. There can be significant and occasionally life-threatening consequences to not sharing information.

Therefore, where there has been significant harm or there is potential for significant harm staff are required to share information.

Safeguarding staff use professional judgement regarding the potential for significant harm, keeping the needs of the individual young person paramount.

Consent to share information will be sought, however, there are occasions where information is shared without consent. For further details read the Information Sharing Protocols.

Safeguarding records (paper and electronic) are kept securely by Lead and Senior, Safeguarding Officers and, in accordance with guidelines

Monitoring and Evaluation

Safeguarding incidents, actions taken and staff training are monitored regularly.