The Roundhouse believes that no child or young person should experience abuse of any kind. We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people and to keep them safe. We are committed to practise in a way that safeguards them and the people we work with.
The Roundhouse’s work is guided by the following principles;
The Roundhouse acknowledges that some participants e.g. those with disabilities, those who are looked after by the local authority, those for whom English is not their first language or who come from a challenging home environment, can be particularly vulnerable to abuse and we accept the responsibility to take reasonable and appropriate steps to ensure their welfare (see Appendix C)
The policy and procedures will be widely promoted and are mandatory for everyone involved in the Roundhouse. Failure to comply with the policy and procedures will be addressed without delay and may ultimately result in dismissal/exclusion from the organisation.
The aim of the Roundhouse‘s Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy is to promote good practice:
Child: A child is defined as anyone who has not reached the age of 18. This is enshrined in UK law and the UN Convention of Human Rights. For the purposes of this policy and relevant procedures the term “child” and “young person” are used to mean the same thing.
Safeguarding children is defined in “Working together to safeguard children 2018” as:
Young Person: The term ‘Young Person’ does not have legal status. The term acknowledges that people in the upper age ranges of the official definition of a Child aged 16 -17 may not think of themselves as ‘Children’. For the purpose of this document ‘Young People’ refers to those aged 11 – 17 years.
Staff: References to ‘Staff’ refer to any adult who is employed, commissioned or contracted to work with or on behalf of children and young people in either a paid or unpaid capacity by the Roundhouse.
Designated Safeguarding Officer: The Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO) for the Roundhouse is the Associate Director of Young People: responsible for the strategic lead for safeguarding, ensuring organisational compliance with safeguarding policies and procedures
Deputy Safeguarding Officer is the Senior Youth Work Manager and Partnerships and Impact Director – responsible for overseeing safeguarding across the organisation.
Out of Hours safeguarding responsibilities are with the Duty Manager out of office hours (Monday – Friday 5pm – 10pm) Saturday and Sunday: 9am – 10pm)
This policy applies to all staff, trustees and volunteers of the Roundhouse irrespective of their role or contract type and any person or organisation working on our behalf including;
The Roundhouse believes that the responsibility for safeguarding is shared by everyone working and volunteering with us, but with a clear leadership and accountability structure running through the organisation.
Protection from abuse is a human right.
Abuse is defined as: “a form of maltreatment of a child. Somebody may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting harm, or by failing to act to prevent harm. Children may be abused in a family or in an institutional or community setting by those known to them or by others (e.g. via the internet).”
Children may be vulnerable to neglect and abuse or exploitation from within their family and from individuals they come across in their day-to-day lives. These threats can take a variety of different forms, including: sexual, physical and emotional abuse; neglect; exploitation by criminal gangs and organised crime groups; trafficking; online abuse; sexual exploitation and the influences of extremism leading to radicalisation. Whatever the form of abuse or neglect, The Roundhouse will put the needs of children, young people and vulnerable adults first when determining what action to take.
Abuse may be perpetrated by a range of people including family members, adult(s) known to the young person and other young people, and offences are committed by females as well as males.
The Roundhouse recognises that abuse, neglect and safeguarding issues are rarely stand alone events that can be covered by one definition or label. In most cases multiple issues will overlap with one another.
Child protection is part of the safeguarding agenda that focuses on preventing maltreatment and protecting Young People at risk of neglect or abuse. Under the Children Act 1989, Children’s Safeguarding and Social Work (CSSW) have a legal duty to investigate and take any action to protect Young People where there are concerns that they are at risk of suffering significant harm,
For further information on the different forms of abuse please refer to Appendix A.
This policy has been drawn up on the basis of law and guidance that seeks to protect children and young people. The Roundhouse acknowledges its responsibilities under “Working together to Safeguard Children (2018)” and recognises its duty to cooperate if named as a relevant partner by a Safeguarding Partner.
The Roundhouse works across many local authorities and has based policy and practice on the published guidance of Camden Safeguarding Children Partnership (CSCP) as this is the location of the organisation.
All concerns and allegations will be taken seriously and investigated thoroughly. The Roundhouse recognises that whilst some incidents and allegations will require the support and / or intervention of external agencies, others may be supported through existing internal support mechanisms.
There are several circumstances under which the Roundhouse might have concerns that a Young Person has been or is being abused:
Disclosure can happen particularly frequently in the arts as creative activity can unlock emotions that have been suppressed. Young People are more likely to disclose to someone they see as passing through (e.g. artists delivering workshops) rather than an established member of staff. Disclosure is often presented as a secret, as the person can be concerned about the repercussions of having confided.
Disclosure can take place:
Staff should be alert to the indicators of abuse and consider whether abuse may have occurred. The presence of an indicator is not proof that abuse has occurred, but:
The absence of such indicators does not mean that abuse or neglect has not occurred. A list of possible indicators is highlighted in Appendix B. Please be aware that a child / young person can be abused by another child / young person.
If a participant discloses that they have been a victim of abuse, or if an employee has concerns that a child, young person or adult is at risk of harm or abuse, they should immediately:
1. Inform the young person that what they say may not be able to be kept confidential (if they are at risk of harm or someone else is). Do not promise confidentiality.
2. If they continue, allow the young person to speak without interruption, accepting what is said. Reassure them that they have done the right thing while passing no judgement.
3. Ensure no situation arises that could cause any further concern.
4. Record the facts as you know them on an incident form and pass to the Designated Safeguarding Officer at the soonest opportunity.
5. Escalate to the Designated Safeguarding Officer immediately.
If a member of staff suspects abuse, or has concerns about another staff member, but it has not been disclosed, follow the process as above but without Steps 1 and 2.
The Designated Safeguarding Officer is responsible for ensuring accurate records are kept and will classify the incident / allegation based on the information provided to help differentiate the types and level of concern. If staff are unsure, concerns should always be reported.
The Roundhouse will take the following approach if external agencies need to be involved:
The Roundhouse is committed to the safe and secure management of confidential information, as detailed in the organisation’s GDPR Policy, however data protection legislation is not a barrier to sharing reasonable safeguarding concerns.
If it is necessary to share information concerns with the Designated Safeguarding Officer or, in their absence, social services, to prevent a young person or adult at risk from suffering neglect or physical, mental or emotional harm then that information must be shared.
The Designated Safeguarding Officer will make the decision as to whether it is appropriate to contact the parents or guardians of the young person. This decision may be taken with advice from external agencies.
The aim of the Government’s Prevent Strategy is to reduce the threat to the UK from terrorism by stopping people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. In the Act this has simply been expressed as the need to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. Prevent covers international and domestic terrorist threats, and includes the activities of far right groups and animal rights groups.
The Roundhouse will raise concerns with appropriate authorities as part of it’s Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy and Safeguarding Adults at Risk Policy, if it is identified that any young person / adult at risk is expressing vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs on any of its programmes.
The Roundhouse will continually review and evaluate its Safeguarding practice in line with the Safeguarding Review Procedure. The Associate Director of Young People will report to the Business, Audit and Risk Committee (BAR) for the trustee board summarising departmental evaluations, analysing safeguarding data and trends, and identifying any key areas for improvement and headlines.
The Roundhouse will seek to collect relevant information relating to medical and support needs prior to participation in order to assess and support participant needs in order to ensure they are safe on our programmes.
Participants in our programmes will receive information about how to keep themselves safe whilst participating in the programme and the expected standards of behaviour as part of the Roundhouse Young Creatives Code of Conduct, Young people who do not follow this will be managed through relevant processes.
The Roundhouse operates a Safe Recruitment Policy, based on best practice, that is applicable to all roles irrespective of contract type and is overseen by the Head of People and Associate Director of Young People.
The Roundhouse ensures that staff are able to fulfil their safeguarding responsibilities more effectively by providing a comprehensive induction and ongoing training relevant to their roles. There is a Safeguarding Training Matrix for details of training requirements depending on role and responsibilities. These will be organised and monitored by the Associate Director of Young People and Senior Youth Work Manager who will record participation and completion.
Staff cannot pass their probation without all relevant safe recruitment checks being signed off.
The Roundhouse expects all staff to behave in a professional manner when working with our participants. This may differ depending on role and the level of engagement with young people and adults at risk; it includes use of social media and professional appearance. The Roundhouse’s Safer Working Practice: Guidance for Staff who work with Children and Adults at Risk (see Appendix E) provides clear advice on appropriate and safe behaviours for all Staff working with Young People. All staff are required to adhere to the document as part of the Roundhouse’s Safeguarding Children and Young People and Safeguarding Adults at Risk Policies.
Any allegation that an employee or volunteer has behaved in a way that has harmed, or may have harmed a participant, will be taken seriously and dealt with sensitively and promptly. There is a separate procedure for dealing with allegations against staff and volunteers
The Roundhouse has a clear whistleblowing procedure, referenced in staff training and codes of conduct, and promotes a culture that enables issues about safeguarding and the welfare of children and young people to be addressed. Concerns about any form of malpractice are to be raised with the People Team.
Written consent to take and use images of Young People should be obtained prior to the taking of photographs and/or video footage. Where images of Young People are being mass produced or highly prominent, comprehensive information regarding use of images e.g. in print, multi-media, broadcast; and what purpose e.g. promotion, publicity, evaluation; and where possible an indication of who the audience will be e.g. the general public, the participating Young People and their families, and partner organisations,, are to be communicated as part of Informed Consent processes. Young People’s names should not appear with any images posted online.
If the Roundhouse is commissioning a professional photographer / filmmaker or inviting the press to an event, it is important that they understand our expectations of them in relation to safeguarding.
The Roundhouse will:
The Roundhouse must obtain written permission for the filming/photographs to be taken both from the subjects, and if under the age of 16 written consent is required from their parents/carers.
Broadcasting and social media internet usage are legitimate teaching aids. However, when it is used the Roundhouse will ensure that Young People and their parents/carers understand that it is part of the creative project or course. We will also ensure that Young People are equipped to protect themselves when engaging with the internet independently and/or as part of a project. Photographs of Young People on websites can pose direct or indirect risks. For example, images accompanied by personal information – ‘this is X who likes to sing’ – could be used by an individual to learn more about a Young Person prior to ‘grooming’ them for abuse. Or the content of the photo could be used or adapted for inappropriate use.
The Roundhouse will make careful decisions about the type of images / video footage that represent our arts activities with Young People. When assessing risk, the most important factor is the potential of inappropriate use of the images and video footage. The Roundhouse will ensure that e-safety guidelines are disseminated and put into practice.
Areas that should be considered prior to use of images / video footage:
Child performers are occasionally used in Roundhouse performance events. There are no age limits for the performers, however there are strict guidelines on the length and number of performances in which they are allowed to participate.
The child must be licensed to perform by the local authority of the area in which s/he lives. Roundhouse Artistic Programming, Events or Youth Policy and Engagement team coordinate the engagement and participation of child performers, liaising with the event producer to ensure necessary licences and working conditions are in place. A child may perform up to four days out of every six months without licence or pay, or if the performance is organised by a school or certain other bodies and the child is not paid. It is the responsibility of the licence holder to provide a suitable adult to act as chaperone for the child. See Appendix I for Child Performer guidelines.
Children taking part in performances need to be accompanied by a parent or registered chaperone at all times. The parent / chaperone will be responsible for ensuring the welfare needs of the child are met, including the child’s journey to the performance, during the performance, and during any intervals or periods of quiet.
A thorough risk assessment of hazards must be undertaken and suitable precautionary measures must be in place. The relevant Head of Department is responsible for ensuring the event producer adheres to the following responsibilities:
Queries relating to children in performance can be directed to Camden Council Education Welfare Service, 5 Pancras Square, London, N1C 4AG Telephone: 020 7974 1653, Email: ce@camden.gov.uk
The Paul Hamlyn Roundhouse Studios are a dedicated space for young people aged 11- 25 years of age. Whilst we recognise this facility caters for both minors and young adults we have made reasonable efforts to ensure that all persons benefiting from our services can do so in a safe and supported way. We therefore exercise due diligence through:
(for any space on the Roundhouse Estate)
External hiring organisations and individuals are responsible for the children, young people and adults at risk in their care and must follow their own Safeguarding / Child Protection / Adults at Risk policy. The group contact is the designated responsible person for the participants and should always ensure compliance with supervision ratios and chaperones as stipulated in the hire contract / service level agreement.