Child Protection Policy

Review Date: April 2017

At ATE we believe that young people have the right to be safe, secure and free from threat, treated with respect, and to have their concerns listened to and acted upon.

We have procedures in place to address poor practice, and to help any young person who appears to be at risk, or who appears to be a victim of abuse.  We shall offer help and support when a child or young person tells us that they are affected by these issues.

We shall take steps to ensure that all staff working with children are suitable to do so, through the use of references and background checks.  We shall ensure that all relevant people have been vetted and approved through the Enhanced DBS processes.

ATE has a named member of staff who is specifically responsible for children, young people and child protection.

For further information please contact:

Liz Macartney         Primary Safeguarding Officer          01684 562 400

Policy for Anti-bullying

Review date: April 2017

Definition:

Bullying is behaviour which has the intention of repeatedly hurting another person.

It results in physical or emotional pain and distress to the victim.

Bullying can be:

• Emotional
• Physical
• Racial
• Sexual
• Homophobic
• Related to an impairment or disability

This list is not exhaustive.

Rationale:

We are committed to providing a caring, friendly and safe environment for all our children and young people, so that they enjoy their holiday in a relaxed and secure atmosphere. No one deserves to be a victim of bullying. Everybody has the right to be treated with respect.

On an ATE holiday, children and young people may need to learn ways of behaving towards each other and living with one another.

Main aims of the policy:

Bullying will be dealt with promptly and consistently. The child’s perception of the incident will be taken at face value.

All pastoral staff have an understanding of what bullying is, know what the policy is on bullying, and follow it when bullying is noticed and/or reported.

Children, young people and parents will be supported when bullying is reported.

Implementation:

All ATE staff are aware of the ways in which a child may indicate by signs or behaviour that he or she is being bullied.

The ‘Monitor system’ ensures that monitors are vigilant, no children are left unattended and all activities are appropriately supervised. This minimises the risk of incidents occurring.

Strategies are, and can be, implemented to prevent bullying.

Procedures for managing incidents of bullying:

• If bullying does occur, all children and young people should feel able to tell a member of staff, and be confident that incidents will be dealt with promptly and effectively.
• Anyone who knows or suspects that bullying is happening is expected to tell the Director.
• Monitors should deal with bullying if it arises in their group, asking for help if necessary.
• All incidents should be reported to the Director who will decide whether to take any further action. This could be asking the Matron, Assistant Director or Monitors to check on the children involved as the holiday progresses.
• If appropriate, the Director will talk to the child/young person who has made the accusation, recording their complaint on an incident report form.
• The Director will then talk to the person accused of the incident.
• At this stage, the children/young people involved will be given the opportunity to choose someone to come to this meeting as support.
• If appropriate, the Director will then talk to all parties involved together. They should discuss how the situation could be improved for all children involved.
• The bullying behaviour, or threats of bullying must be investigated and all bullying dealt with quickly.
• The children/young people involved will be monitored closely by the staff on the holiday to ensure their continued well-being and happiness.

At any point in the process, at the Director’s discretion, parents could be contacted to inform them of the situation.

After an incident has been reported and dealt with, the children/young people will be monitored by staff as the holiday progresses to ensure that no further incidents occur.

Concerns and Complaints Procedure

Review date: April 2017

Scope of the Procedure

This procedure sets out the way in which concerns and complaints not covered by any statutory or regulatory procedure will be dealt with by ATE. It aims to provide a transparent and fair process whereby parents, carers, a child, ATE staff or other persons can express any concerns they may have, and if necessary make a formal complaint.

Staff grievances or disciplinary procedures do not fall within the remit of this complaints procedure. If a complaint is an allegation against a member of staff, this will be considered under ATE’s disciplinary procedure for employees.

Framework of Principles

This procedure is based on the following principles which are common to any effective complaints procedure. Its aims are to:

• encourage resolution of problems by informal means wherever possible;
• be easily accessible and publicised;
• be simple to understand and use;
• be impartial;
• be non-adversarial;
• allow swift handling with established time-limits for action and keeping people informed of the progress;
• ensure a full and fair investigation by an independent person where necessary;
• respect people’s desire for confidentiality;
• address all the points at issue and provide an effective response and appropriate redress, where necessary;
• provide information to the ATE senior managers so that improvements can be made if appropriate.  

Investigating Complaints

At each stage, the person investigating the complaint will endeavour to:

• establish what has happened so far, and who has been involved;
• clarify the nature of the complaint and what remains unresolved;
• meet with the complainant or contact them (if unsure or further information is necessary);
• clarify what the complainant feels would put things right;
• interview those involved in the matter and/or those complained of, allowing them to be accompanied if they wish;
• conduct the interview with an open mind and be prepared to persist in the questioning;
• keep notes of the interview.

Resolving Complaints

At each stage in the procedure ATE will aim to keep in mind ways in which a complaint can be resolved, and if appropriate, it will acknowledge that the complaint is valid in whole or in part.  In addition, it may also, if appropriate, offer one or more of the following:

• an apology;
• an explanation;
• an admission that the situation could have been handled differently or better;
• an assurance that steps have been taken to ensure the event complained of will not recur;
• an explanation of the steps that have been taken to ensure that it will not happen again;
• an undertaking to review ATE’s policies in light of the complaint.

Those raising concerns are encouraged to state what actions they feel might resolve the problem at any stage. Any acceptance by ATE that a situation could have been handled better does not amount to an admission of negligence.

This procedure will assist in identifying areas of agreement between the complainant and ATE. It should clarify any misunderstandings that have occurred, and thereby create a positive atmosphere in which to discuss any outstanding issues.

ATE’s Complaints Procedure

A record is kept of all concerns and complaints received and the action taken. A note of any meetings with complainants, and the matters discussed, will also be made and distributed to those involved.

Preliminary Stage – Informal Complaints

Any problem or concern should initially be raised promptly with the ATE office or, Superweek Director. Most complaints can be resolved satisfactorily at this informal stage.

Subsequent Stages – Formal Complaints

Stage 1: Contact the Training and Development Director responsible for Quality Assurance (Joe Shimwell) at ATE Headquarters

If you are dissatisfied with the initial response from ATE staff in regard to your complaint you should write to or email the TaD Director at the ATE Office, 8 St. Ann’s Road, Malvern, Worcestershire WR14 4RG. Email: joe@ate.org.uk.

At this point you should

• make it clear that you wish the matter to be dealt with as a complaint
• outline the precise nature of the complaint and
• give an indication of what you would like done to resolve the matter

This correspondence will be acknowledged within 3 working days of receipt.  The Training and Development Director will investigate the complaint and provide a written response. This will normally be within 10 working days of receipt of your correspondence, but you will be kept informed if, for example, more time is needed to complete the investigation.

If your original concern was about an action by a Training and Development Director personally, and you have already discussed it at the informal stage, then you should put your complaint in writing to the Chair of Governors (stage 2).

Stage 2:  Chair of Governors

If you are not satisfied with the response received from the Training and Development Director, you may contact the Chair of Governing Council.

The Chair will investigate your complaint and, in most cases, seek to resolve the matter through discussion with yourself and the Director of Training. At the end of this stage the Chair will provide you with a written response. This will normally be within a further 10 working days, but you will be kept informed if more time is needed.

Stage 3:  Review by Governing Body Complaints Appeal Panel

For most complaints the Chair’s investigation of the complaint and response to the complainant will be the last step in the procedure, but all such complaints will be reported to, and discussed by the Governing Council at their next meeting. The findings of this group can result in modifications to ATE Training Courses, and to the instructions to the Directors of future Superweeks. If a complainant is not fully satisfied with the response from the Chair of the Governing Council, then a further representation can be made to that meeting, and a request made to view a report of the relevant part of the minutes of that meeting.

Terminology:

A Training and Development Director; a senior member of ATE administrative staff who has responsibility for quality assurance of training courses, and of Superweeks. This person, will be ‘on duty’ throughout the time that Superweeks are in progress.

Chairman of Governing Council;  the activities of ATE as a charitable Trust are overseen by a Governing Council which meets on three occasions each year.

Superweek Director;  the person who actually leads a Superweek. These people are experienced professionals, many of whom are teachers, who give up a week of their time to lead a Superweek. They have trained with ATE and have previously worked as Monitors and as Assistant Directors.

Privacy

We don’t want to bog you down, but it’s always sensible to read this stuff so everyone is protected. We’ll keep it brief.

The ATE Trust seeks to respect and protect the privacy of our users. The ATE Trust will never wilfully disclose individually identifiable information about its customers to any third party without first receiving that customer’s permission. This policy statement tells you how we collect information from you and how we use it.

Our Policy

At The ATE Trust (“ATE”) we have adopted the following privacy policy in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and as part of our commitment to protect any personal information relating to:

• you;
• children for whom you are booking a holiday; and
• other parents/guardians of such children;

which you may provide to us through this website or by any other means (“Personal Information”). Please note that this Privacy Policy does not apply to other websites linked through this website.

1. ATE will not use or disclose Personal Information unless you have given your permission, except for the following purposes:

1.1  to keep you informed about ATE and its services;

1.2  if ATE is required to disclose such Personal Information by any applicable law, regulation or legal process.

1. ATE will not sell, trade or rent any child’s Personal Information.
2. ATE will not sell, trade or rent any other parent’s/guardian’s Personal Information unless they have separately given their permission.
3. If you have any questions or wish to have any Personal Information edited or deleted, please e-mail info@ate.org.uk or write to us at the following address: ATE, 8 St Ann’s Road, Malvern, Worcs,WR14 4RG

Personal Information

There are cases where ATE will ask you for personal information, such as your name or address. We only do this when you register for services that require registration or subscription (for example, a purchase). The information you give to register for these services will not be used for any other purpose other than to grant access to and administer these services. Your information will not be passed to any 3rd party organisation, unless your consent is given. You will always be clearly asked before this is the case.

ATE’s policy does not extend to anything that is inherent in the operation of the internet, and therefore beyond ATE’s control, and is not to be applied in any manner contrary to applicable law or governmental regulation. We reserve the right at our discretion to make changes to this policy at any time. Please check this page periodically for changes.

Links

Users should be aware that when you are on our website site, you could be directed to other sites that are beyond our control. These other sites may send their own cookies to users, collect data or solicit personal information.

Email

It is our policy to respect the privacy of all customers. Therefore, in addition to the privacy of registration data, we will not monitor, edit, or disclose the contents of a customer’s e-mail unless required in the course of normal maintenance of the ATE’s website and its systems or unless required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to:

1. comply with the law or comply with legal processes;
2. protect and defend the rights or property of The ATE Trust; or
3. act in an emergency to protect the personal safety of our guests or the public.

Customers shall remain solely responsible for the content of their messages.