Child Protection & Safeguarding Policy

This document sets out the policy of Arts Therapies for Children (‘ATFC’) for the safeguarding of children and, where appropriate, adults at risk (collectively ‘vulnerable individuals’).

ATFC is a charity registered in England & Wales (with charity number 1167912) which provides schools with qualified and experienced Arts Therapists in order to help children with emotional or behavioural difficulties. The safety and welfare of the children we work with is our paramount concern.

Tolerance, respect, understanding and the welfare of those with whom we engage are key to our ethos and to our approach to everything we do and to all those with whom we interact. This policy sets out our commitment to the welfare and safeguarding of all vulnerable individuals, whether children or adults at risk, with whom we engage and to providing an environment – for our staff, volunteers (including trustees) and anyone else with whom we engage – which promotes and protects these values. Furthermore, it provides practical guidance to ensure that everyone working for ATFC, whether paid or as a volunteer, is similarly protected and also compliant with their and our legal responsibilities for the welfare and safeguarding of vulnerable individuals.

These principles not only form part of our ethos, but are required of all UK charities as a matter of law and best practice by the Charity Commission, which regulates the non-profit sector and whose guidance is here.

Our contact with children takes place exclusively through our therapy sessions within schools, at the request of and/or with the full knowledge and consent of the children involved, their parents or those with parental responsibility for them and the school itself. Accordingly, this policy is applied to work in tandem with the Child Protection and Safeguarding Policies of the schools in which our activities take place and those responsible within the schools for applying their policies.

In line with our commitment to safeguarding, we expect any organisations with which we work, partner or support, to have similarly robust policies in place and we reserve the right to request and retain on file copies of such policies.

This policy consists of the following sections:

  1. The purpose of this Policy
  2. Our Child Protection Policy
  3. What constitutes abusive behaviour?
  4. What we expect from our staff, volunteers and therapists
  5. What to do if you are concerned about a child’s welfare
  6. Related policies

Appendix A: Legislation and guidance

  1. The purpose of this Policy

This Child Protection & Safeguarding Policy explains the procedures and systems we have implemented to protect the children (or occasionally, adults at risk) that we come into contact with. Its purpose is to ensure that no vulnerable individual is subjected to any abusive behaviour by anyone associated with ATFC and also to ensure that any concerns about their welfare, from whatever source, are listened to, dealt with sensitively and effectively and are recorded and reported in line with best practice and all legal requirements. It should be read in conjunction with other relevant policies referred to within this policy and listed in section 6, below. ATFC has also adopted the Six Standards recommended by the NSPCC in its ‘Safeguarding Standards and Guidance for the Voluntary and Community Sector Working with Children (2019)’.

The Government’s Statutory Guidance defines safeguarding as:

  • protecting children from maltreatment
  • preventing impairment of children’s health and 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

Our staff, volunteers and therapists are committed to taking all reasonable steps to safeguard children in our care, both through their own actions and by providing a means for children to report abuse.

Children are those under the age of 18 years.

Adults at risk are persons aged 18 years and over who are or may be in need of community care services by reason of mental health issues, learning or physical disability, sensory impairment, age or illness and who is or may be unable to take care of him/herself or unable to protect him/herself against significant harm or serious exploitation. Since mental health challenges can affect anyone and may not always be apparent to an observer, no assumptions should be concerning the mental health or emotional resilience of any individual.

  1. Our Child Protection Policy

Through this Policy we commit to the following principles and actions:

  • Every individual, without exception, should be treated with respect and is entitled to live, work and study free from abuse of any kind, and has the right to protection from abuse regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality or beliefs;
  • The welfare of the child is paramount
  • No child or group of children must be treated any less favourably than others in being able to access services which meet their particular needs
  • All children without exception have the right to protection from abuse regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality or beliefs
  • This Policy applies to our staff, volunteers and the independent therapists with whom we work
  • This Policy will be notified to children, their parents or guardians, the teachers and relevant staff within the schools in which our activities take place, as appropriate, along with any other relevant policies, permissions and consents (see section 6)
  • All concerns, and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously by staff and volunteers and responded to appropriately. This may require a referral to a partner organisation with which a particular activity takes place, if the person to whom the concerns relate fall within their duty of care, as well as to the Local Authority’s or Children’s Services Designated Officer (formerly LADO) or Adult Social Care services, children’s social care services for allegations against staff or volunteers and, in emergencies, the police
  • Safe recruitment through scrupulous selection, vetting, induction and ongoing training procedures
  • Proper reference to all of the principles, legislation and guidance that underpin the Policy
  • This Policy is reviewed, approved and endorsed by our Trustees annually or when legislation or guidance changes.
  1. What constitutes abusive behaviour?

Abuse can take many forms and maybe be carried out by any person against anyone else; including by one child against another or by an adult such as a parent, relative, other carer or by someone in authority such as a teacher or police officer. Abuse may include, but is not limited to:

  • Sexual abuse or inappropriate touching or comments of any kind, whether or not there was, or was perceived by any person, to have been consent to such behaviour
  • Bullying[4], threatening, abusive or disparaging or mocking acts or words, including acts of actual or threatened violence or that cause emotional, physical or psychological harm
  • Using undue influence and/or doing acts that cause an individual to feel compelled to act in a particular way or to do something against their will or which they do not have the legal, mental or emotional capacity to consent to doing
  • Acts or omissions that result in neglect or a lack of care
  • The sending by any means of material, whether in words, in pictures or otherwise, that results in abuse or exploitation of the kinds mentioned above.
  1. What we expect from our staff, volunteers and therapists

Our Code of Conduct

The safety and welfare of the children we work with is paramount and so we take great care to ensure that the people working for or on behalf of ATFC are properly recruited and vetted, are fully aware of their responsibilities and subscribe to our code of conduct[5], which states that they must:

  • Treat all children equally, and with respect and dignity.
  • Always put the care, welfare and safety needs of a child first.
  • Only hold therapy sessions or otherwise have contact with a child in a room designated for the purpose by ATFC in agreement with the school or otherwise work in an open environment, avoiding unobserved situations.
  • Never form inappropriate emotional or physical relationships with a child.
  • Never engage in rough, physical or sexually provocative games.
  • Never allow or engage in any form of inappropriate touching.
  • Never arrange to see or communicate in any way with a child away from or outside of the place designated by ATFC for contact. This includes contacting, ‘friending’, ‘following’, ‘liking’ or otherwise commenting or engaging through any form of social media.
  • Never make sexually suggestive comments to a child, even in fun.
  • Never do things of a personal nature for a child, that they can do themselves.
  • Take all reported concerns seriously and never allow allegations made by or about a child to go unrecorded or not acted upon.
  • Report immediately any suspicion that a child could be at risk of harm or abuse (see section 5, below).
  • Fully cooperate with any investigation of suspected or alleged abuse and work in partnership with all others involved in such a process.
  • In the case of our trustees and staff in particular, ensure that they keep themselves informed of current legislation and guidelines and that all staff, volunteers and therapists are provided with suitable monitoring and training, and the means to report actual or suspected abuse.
 

Breaches of this code may lead to disciplinary action and the termination of the working relationship between ATFC and the person involved. Where necessary, incidents may be reported to the appropriate authorities.

Recruitment

Anyone working for or on behalf of ATFC (whether paid or otherwise) who may come into contact with a child will first be subject to a rigorous recruitment and vetting process in accordance with the NSPCC’s Standard 1[6], which will include as a minimum, and as is appropriate to their role:

  • At least one face to face interview with at least two interviewers.
  • At least two written references providing detail about the person’s character and workplace record, and disclosing any concerns relating to their working with children or vulnerable people.
  • A Disclosure and Barring Service (‘DBS’) check.

NB: The DBS decides who is unsuitable to work or volunteer with vulnerable persons and it is illegal for a barred person to apply for such work (paid or voluntary), or for a charity to employ a barred person in such work. It is also a legal requirement for employers to refer someone to the DBS if they:

  • Dismissed them because they harmed a child or adult.
  • Dismissed them because they might have harmed a child or adult otherwise.
  • Were planning to dismiss them for either of these reasons, but the person resigned first.
  • An induction and training programme, and ongoing training as deemed appropriate by ATFC.
  1. What to do if you are concerned about a child

ATFC has designated the following persons as our Principal and Deputy safeguarding officers:

 
  • If you are concerned about a child either because of something done or said by the child or someone else, or because of something else that you observe, you must:
  • Immediately make known your concerns to the designated Child Protection Officer at the school in which you are working with the child; AND
  • Either the Principal or the Deputy Safeguarding Officer at ATFC; AND
  • Make an accurate factual note of the circumstances giving rise to your concerns and you must not leave the premises you are working in until you have done the above. This note is an important record for your future reference and for ATFC’s own records and is in addition to the ATFC Incident Report Form (Appendix B) which should be completed as soon as possible thereafter.
  • Not give assurances to the child that the information disclosed by them to you will not be disclosed to other responsible persons, including those mentioned above. A child or young person (under 18) cannot refuse for this referral to occur if they have made an allegation of abuse and their welfare is paramount.
  • Subject to the above and bearing in mind that child protection takes priority over any other considerations, comply with regulations relating to confidentiality and data protection, including ATFC’s Privacy and Confidentiality Policies and accordingly only share personal information on a need-to-know basis.
 
Next steps and the Incident File

The Safeguarding Officer at ATFC will then report the matter as appropriate to the relevant authorities, which may include Children’s Services, the police, the Local Authority’s or Children’s Services Designated Officer and Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre (CEOP) for e-safety concerns.

They will also open a file relating to the alleged incident or concern, with a unique reference number, to retain and update details and actions taken in relation to it. This will be kept in a secure place for future reference, in compliance with all relevant safeguarding, data protection and other regulations and guidance. This file will be retained for as long as is deemed appropriate to protect the welfare of the child and others affected, to assist with any investigation of prosecutions and to protect against future occurrences.

No one should feel in any way constrained from making genuine concerns known to an appropriate person, even if they cannot immediately be substantiated. Accordingly, ATFC maintains a Whistleblowing Policy[7] to protect those who make known such concerns in good faith.

  1. Related Policies

The safety and welfare of the children we work with is paramount, and it is therefore essential to us at ATFC that our staff, volunteers and therapists work are completely trustworthy and work to the highest professional standards. To help to ensure that we only work with dedicated, caring and experienced people who can deliver the best service to the children we help, we apply rigorous standards in our recruitment, induction, training and monitoring of all staff, volunteers and therapists, whilst also recognising their rights to fair and equal treatment, a healthy and safe work environment and one where the privacy and confidentiality of everyone with whom we work is maintained.

Accordingly, we maintain a number of policies explaining our operating standards and practices, and the rights and responsibilities or all parties. Copies of all of these policies, which are listed below, are available on request:

  1. Statement of ATFC’s operational standards, referencing the NSPCC’s Standards 1-6:
    1. Safer Recruitment, Induction and Supervision of Personnel
    2. Protecting Children and Young Adults at Risk
    3. Preventing and Responding to Bullying
    4. Running Safe Activities and Events
    5. Recording and Storing Information
    6. Sharing Information and Working with Other Agencies
  2. ATFC Privacy Policy (Data Protection)
  3. ATFC ICT Policy
  4. ATFC AI Policy
  5. ATFC Whistleblowing Policy
  6. ATFC Anti-Bullying Policy
  7. ATFC Equality & Diversity Policy
  8. ATFC Health & Safety Policy
  9. British Association of Art Therapists’ Code of Ethics and Principles of Professional Practice
 

This policy was last reviewed and updated

by ATFC’s trustees and senior management in January 2026

Next review date: August 2026.

 

Appendix A: Legislation and guidance

The Children Act 1989 provides the legislative framework for child protection in England. Key principles established by the Act include:

  • the paramount nature of the child’s welfare
  • the expectations and requirements around duties of care to children.

This is strengthened by the Children Act 2004, which encourages partnerships between agencies and creates more accountability, by:

  • placing a duty on local authorities to appoint children’s services members who are ultimately accountable for the delivery of services
  • placing a duty on local authorities and their partners to co-operate in safeguarding and promoting the wellbeing of children and young people.

Both of these acts are amended by the Children and Social Work Act 2017. Key provisions include:

  • the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel was established to review and report on serious child protection cases that are complex or of national importance (Sections 12 to 15).
  • the previous model of Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards (LSCBs) has been replaced by local safeguarding partners who will publish reports on local safeguarding practice reviews (Section 17).
  • child death review partners are required to review each death of a child normally resident in their area and identify matters that are relevant to public health and safety and children locally (Section 24).
  • local authorities must appoint personal advisers for care leavers up to the age of 25 (Section 3).
  • Social Work England is created as a regulatory body for the social work profession in England (Section 36).
  • relationships education will be provided to primary school children and relationships and sex education will be provided (instead of sex education) in secondary schools (Section 34).
 

The Care Act 2014 provides the legislative framework for protecting adults at risk, who are defined as any person aged 18 years and over who is or may be in need of community care services by reason of mental health issues, learning or physical disability, sensory impairment, age or illness and who is or may be unable to take care of him/herself or unable to protect him/herself against significant harm or serious exploitation.

This definition could include people with challenges that may not be apparent to others, or even themselves, such as substance abuse and addition or depression or other undiagnosed mental health challenges.

Further useful guidance and resources are available from the Ann Craft Trust, here.

 

Policy and guidance

  • The Charity Commission publishes guidance for charities working with children and adults at risk, which can be found on its website here
 

Working together to safeguard children 2023 The Department for Education (DfE) published an updated version of the key statutory guidance for anyone working with children in England in December 2023. It sets out how organisations and individuals should work together and how practitioners should conduct the assessment of children.

The main changes are:

  • three safeguarding partners (chief officers of police, clinical commissioning groups and local authorities) replace local safeguarding children boards (LSCBs), working together with relevant agencies to protect the welfare of children in their area (Chapter 3)
  • child death review partners are required to make provisions to review child deaths, replacing the previous requirement on LSCBs (Chapter 5, Section 6)
  • responsibility for overseeing lessons learned from serious child safeguarding incidents lies with the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel at a national level, and with the safeguarding partners at a local level (Chapter 4, Section 5)
  • early years providers are required to have policies and procedures to safeguard children in place (Chapter 2, Section 14). This relates to children from birth up to 1st September following the date on which they turn 5-years-old.
 

Other amendments include:

 
  • clinical commissioning groups should employ or contract the expertise of designated health professionals for safeguarding children
  • children’s homes must follow the Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards (Department for Education, 2015)
  • multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA), including governing bodies of maintained schools, police, prison and probation services, should work closely with other relevant agencies to manage the risks posed by violent and sexual offenders within the community.
 

This describes the indicators of abuse and neglect and the actions to take if you think a child is being abused or neglected. It’s relevant for anyone who comes into contact with children and families while working and applies to the statutory, voluntary and independent sectors.