Oxford SUP Club Safeguarding Policy Statement

THE PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THIS POLICY STATEMENT

Oxford SUP Club is Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) School and Members Club. The business was established in 2015, and was incorporated as a Not-for-profit Community Interest Company in 2020. We have a team of British Stand Up Paddle Association (BSUPA) qualified instructors who teach a wide variety of paddleboard classes from those new to the sport all the way to those looking to master the activity.

At Oxford SUP Club we are committed to increasing the number of people enjoying SUP and want to facilitate people from all ages, ethnic and social backgrounds. We want everyone to find SUP fun, rewarding, enjoyable, but most importantly safe. Children and young people have the right to be treated equally and, here at Oxford SUP Club, we will always strive to ensure that this always happens.

We have a responsibility to protect children and young people from harm. The purpose of this policy statement is to communicate how we are committed to protecting children and young people. This policy is also relevant for the children of adults who use our services. This policy should give confidence to everyone that participates in an activity with Oxford SUP Club, including staff, volunteers, seasonal workers and students that we take our responsibility to provide a safe and enjoyable environment seriously.

LEGAL FRAMEWORK

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England. Oxford SUP Club have enhanced procedures (available on request) for safeguarding children which are in line with current Child Protection Procedures and Safeguarding Adults Guidelines.

A summary of the key legislation is available from www.nspcc.org.uk/learning. 

AALA LICENSE

Adventurous Activities Licensing Authority – We hold a current AALA License, a HSE license that is legally required to take under 18s on paddle board trips without the child’s parental/legal guardian being present.

For any water sport activities to be licensable, they need to be done on ‘specified water’ – this is the sea, tidal waters (eg estuaries), inland waters more than 50 metres from the nearest land excluding any island or on turbulent inland waters.

Having the AALA license enables us to run BSUPA courses including Born to Ride and Born to Race, taster lessons, teaching under 18’s how to paddleboard properly and safely adding lots of fun to their learning.

 

BSUPA – British Stand Up Paddle Association – Recognition

BSUPA was founded in September 2007 represents British stand up paddleboarding and SUP with a focus on training courses, schools, clubs and support for events and sup training schemes.

Oxford SUP Club is a fully recognised BSUPA school and Instructor Training Centre. Our Head Coach and owner Andrew Tee is a BSUPA Trainer and the current BSUPA Chairman.

 

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

This document should be read alongside our enhanced safeguarding policy (available on request), standard operating procedures, risk assessments, BSUPA guidance and any other relevant related documents.

The child protection lead, with assistance from the Directors, will ensure that staff are appropriately trained and can display effective communication and engagement with children, young people and families. There will be processes (as explained in our enhanced policy) in place for recording concerns and reporting information to any appropriate authorities or agencies. All allegations against staff and will be taken seriously and acted upon in line with these procedures.

Confidentially is paramount in any reports however the welfare and safety of a child will be the overriding consideration on whether to share confidential information about them.

No photographs of children will be taken by staff, volunteers or instructors at Oxford SUP Club without the permission of parents. All parents attending the session will be given advice prior to engagement of the activity on taking photographs at the site.

We have a child protection lead, and Therapeutic Wellbeing Practitioner who will all ensure that our enhanced policy is kept up to date and appropriately implemented. The Directors will report safeguarding concerns in the absence of the lead or if the lead is implicated.

In the event that there are concerns about a child, the child protection lead or Directors will contact the relevant authorities to inform their decision making process with regard to the presenting safeguarding concerns. All staff, in the absence of a member of the safeguarding team, may raise concerns directly and have been appropriately trained to do so.

 

WE BELIEVE THAT:

Children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind.

We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, to keep them safe and to practice in a way that protects them. The creation of our enhanced policy (available on request) is a commitment to this ethical responsibility.

 

WE WILL SEEK TO KEEP CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE SAFE BY:

Ensuring all staff who work with young or vulnerable people at Oxford SUP Club are subject to enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks before employment with us, and are trained in accordance with our enhanced safeguarding policy statement (available on request).

Oxford SUP Club is committed to ensuring all concerns raised in respect of child safeguarding or welfare are considered and acted upon in a proper and appropriate manner. The protection and safeguarding of children is paramount and should be primarily based on prevention and best practice. However, all risk cannot be eliminated but through good practice, policy and procedures, Oxford SUP Club are committed to building an appropriate culture that allows those with concerns to raise them appropriately in the knowledge they will be dealt with properly, we can minimise those risks.

From time-to-time issues of concern maybe raised and should be dealt with in line with Saltwater SUP enhanced guidance (available on request) and upon advice of competent authorities set out in the SET procedures.

 

CONFIDENTIALITY

Oxford SUP Club recognise that all matters relating to child protection are confidential and the child protection lead will only disclose personal information about participants to other members of staff on a need-to-know basis only. However, all staff are aware that they have a professional responsibility to share information with other agencies in order to safeguard children.

 

When considering sharing information, the staff will consider the following rules:

  • remember that GDPR is not a barrier to sharing information, it provides the framework
  • be open & honest with the person from the outset about how information may be shared
  • seek advice; do not fail to share information because you are unsure what to do
  • share with consent where appropriate and respect the wishes of those who refuse consent unless you believe that there is a risk of harm to child if the information is not shared
  • consider safety and well-being of the child and base information sharing decisions on this
  • ensure all information shared is Necessary, Proportionate, Relevant, Accurate, Timely & Secure. Ensure any third party or hearsay information is identified and that you have consent to share it
  • keep a record of your decision and reasons for it. Record what you have shared, with whom and the purpose

CONTACT DETAILS

Child protection lead

Name: Nicolette Glashan

Email: nicolette@flourishoxford.com

 

Director

Name: Andrew Tee

Email: mailto:info@oxfordsupclub.org

NSPCC Helpline: 0808 800 5000

Childline: 0800 1111 (Free)

We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually.

This policy was last reviewed on:  01/05/2023                     Signed: Andrew Tee – Director