St. Nicholas Safeguarding /
Child Protection Policy

1.0 Policy statement

1.1 St. Nicholas School ("St Nicholas") is committed to safeguarding and protecting children from harm or any form of abuse whilst at school and/or in our care. We take this very seriously and will not tolerate abuse of any kind, including but not limited to:
physical abuse;

sexual abuse;
psychological or emotional abuse; and/or
neglect.

1.2 We believe that every child deserves an education and has a right to be able to learn in an environment free from any form of abuse or neglect. We currently work with children between the ages of 3 and 13/14 years old, although this is likely to increase in years to come as our children age and progress to more senior classes.

1.3 St. Nicholas has paid staff, volunteers and visitors working with the children at the school premises in Ghana. There is also a Management committee and Trustees who may have limited contact with the children from time to time, although most work outside of Ghana.

1.4 As outlined in the UK’s Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015:

"No single professional/person can have a full picture of a child’s needs and circumstances and, if children and families are to receive the right help at the right time, everyone who comes into contact with them has a role to play in identifying concerns, sharing information and taking prompt action."
1.5 We shall therefore adopt a child-centred approach at St. Nicholas with the aim of understanding the children’s needs and taking any and all appropriate and available steps to address any concerns.

2.0 Purpose

2.1 This policy and the supporting procedures in section B below demonstrate our commitment to the overall safety and welfare of all children attending St. Nicholas.

2.2 Whilst this policy adopts some of the current best practice principles outlined in the current UK legislation, the Charity recognises however that socio-economic circumstances are different in Ghana compared to those in the UK. Consequently the infrastructure in place to protect children in Ghana is also different.

2.3 This policy aims to educate and influence those working in close proximity to the children on a day to day basis, to enable them to recognise different forms of child abuse, report it and take appropriate measures to address it.

2.4 The safety and welfare of children at St. Nicholas is the responsibility of parents, teachers, management team, the charity trustees and the wider Ghanaian education system, local community chiefs and churches. We will work in partnership with the aforementioned social groups to prevent any form of abuse.

2.5 In particular, we will aim to achieve this by;

outlining the responsibilities and expectations on child protection;
promoting the welfare of children;
training teachers/staff to equip them with knowledge and skills to recognise and deal with child abuse;
outlining procedures for handling suspected cases of child abuse;
highlighting consequences and means of reporting and remedying identified child abuse; and
carrying out DBS checks on UK based volunteers (where feasible, e.g. Trustees, volunteers) or general background checks to the extent possible for volunteers based in Ghana.

3.0 scope

3.1 This policy sets out the procedure which St Nicholas and the Charity shall implement in order to ensure a clear, prompt and effective response for dealing with concerns about the physical, sexual, psychological and/or emotional abuse of children at St. Nicholas, or their neglect.

3.2 This policy is aimed at all teachers/staff, parents, volunteers, trustees and any individual/company providing services or goods to St. Nicholas School.

3.3 It is hoped that through the implementation of this protection policy and procedures, we will achieve our aim to protect children from abuse at all times.

4.0 definitions

4.1 Children

The UK Children Acts 1989 and 2004, defines a child as anyone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday. This policy shall adopt this definition.

4.2 Safeguarding and promoting welfare

This is defined as:

protecting children from maltreatment;
preventing impairment of children's health or physical and/or cognitive development;
ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe
and effective care; and
taking action to enable all children to have the best chances of progressing through life successfully.

4.3 Child protection

This is part of safeguarding and promoting the children's welfare.

This refers to measures taken to protect specific children who are suffering, or are likely to suffer, significant harm.

4.4 Forms of abuse and neglect

This policy shall adopt the following definitions, which are outlined in the UK Paper "Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015":

Abuse: 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, more rarely, by others (e.g. via the internet). They may be abused by an adult or adults, or another child or children.

Physical abuse: A form of abuse which may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child.

Psychological or emotional abuse: The persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development. It may involve conveying to a child that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. It may include not giving the child opportunities to express their views, deliberately silencing them or ‘making fun’ of what they say or how they communicate. It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. These may include interactions that are beyond a child’s developmental capability, as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction. It may involve seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another. It may involve serious bullying (including cyber bullying), causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or 3 corruption of children. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, though it may also occur alone.

Sexual abuse: Involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example, rape or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside of clothing. They may also include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse (including via the internet). Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children.

Neglect: The persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development. Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse. Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to:

provide adequate food, clothing and shelter (including exclusion from home or abandonment);
protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger;
ensure adequate supervision (including the use of inadequate care-givers); or
ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment.

It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs.

5.0 Risk Factors

5.1 St. Nicholas operates in Tema New Town, Ghana, Africa, a region suffering abject poverty. Due to this environment neglect is a very real possibility. We also recognise that cultural differences in the Ghanaian approach to parenting and teaching could place children at risk by UK standards, however as Trustees, we will do everything we can to minimise these risks at all times.

5.2 Children rarely find it easy to disclose that they have been/are being abused (particularly sexually) and many never even tell anyone. Younger children may believe that the behaviour is normal; older young people believe that it is their fault. They are also often influenced by threats, bribes, fear of authority, lack of confidence or even the lack of appropriate language or vocabulary to describe what has happened.

5.3 Sometimes it is only when they feel they are in a safe place with trusted adults that they have the opportunity and confidence to disclose past experiences of abuse. It is therefore essential that those coming in to contact with them are prepared, equipped and confident to respond appropriately and effectively at all times (see procedures).

6.0 Policy review

6.1 This policy and the supporting procedures and any supporting documents will be reviewed every year, or sooner where legislation highlights improved practice for safeguarding children.

B) Procedures

1.0 Procedure summary for all teachers, other staff, volunteers and trustees

1.1 A copy of this policy and procedure shall be made available to everyone coming into contact with children at St. Nicholas School. It should form part of every induction and referred to when there are concerns about the welfare of a child.

1.2 This procedure should always be read in conjunction with this policy as set out in section (A) above. This procedure describes how this policy will be put into practice. Together they provide the necessary knowledge and information to ensure child protection.

2.0 Key responsibilities

2.1 Everyone at St. Nicholas has a duty of care towards all children at the School.

2.2 Everyone, regardless of their position and/or role should be aware of the signs and indicators of harm towards children and how to react to ensure their safety. In most cases, it will mean initially discussing any concerns with the Headmaster or the most senior person at the School.

3.0 What to do if you suspect a child has been abused or neglected

3.1 You may become aware of possible harm or abuse to a child in a number of ways:

A child may disclose abuse to you directly;
You may become suspicious that a child is being abused/neglected; and/or
Someone else may tell you they are concerned about the child.

3.2 Often children are abused by people they know and trust. They can be abused regardless of their age, gender, ability, ethnic identity or sexual orientation.

3.3 Anyone who suspects that a child has been abused in any way, or about whom there are significant concerns, must immediately report this to the Headmaster or most senior teacher at the School at the time. If neither are available, the Management team at St. Nicholas should be informed immediately. You must never keep concerns or suspicions to yourself.

3.4 Discuss concerns with the Headmaster who must clearly/factually document these in the Child Protection Book (the "Book") kept at the School. This must include the date reported, child concerned, description of the particular concerns, any factual evidence and the concerned child's family history. Any new information that comes to light must also be recorded in the Book. The Headmaster will then inform St. Nicholas management team in writing immediately via email at: info@stnicholasprepcharity.temaghana.org.

3.5 An investigation will then need to be carried out to establish the circumstances and factual information to determine the appropriate course of action to take.

3.6 In serious cases, the child may need to be immediately removed from their environment/family and/or the police/authorities called. The local chief may also have to be involved due to cultural practice in Ghana.

3.7 The Trustees, via the management team at St. Nicholas must make arrangements to ensure the abuse stops and use local support to do this as necessary. The investigation, measures taken and outcome shall also be recorded in the Book.

4.0 Training requirements

4.1 Anyone working directly with, or regularly come into contact with children at St. Nicholas must read (or have it explained to them) this policy and procedure and be aware of;

Vulnerability and impact of abuse of children;
Definitions of abuse;
Signs and indicators of abuse;
Local legal implications; and
How to report and record suspected abuse.

St. Nicholas Safeguarding / Child Protection Policy