Updated 10 July 2025
Approved by Board 30 July 2025
Renewal 29 July 2026 (reviewed and approved)

Statement of Intent

This policy applies to – and should be read by – all staff, including senior managers and the Board of trustees, freelancers, tutors, mentors, Associates, or anyone working on behalf of Open School East (OSE). 

Purpose 

The purpose of this policy:

• To protect children, young people and vulnerable adults who use Open School 1 East’s services. This includes the children of adults who use our services and attend events at OSE;
• To provide staff and practitioners with the overarching principles that guide our approach to safeguarding and child protection. 

Open School East believes that every child, young person and vulnerable adult should never experience abuse of any kind. We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all and to keep them safe. We are committed to practice in a way that protects them. 

We recognise that:

• The welfare of the child is paramount, as enshrined in the Children Act 1989;
• All children, regardless of age, disability, gender, heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation or identity have a right to equal protection from all types of harm and abuse;
• Some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues;
• Working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting a young person’s welfare. 

Staff Responsibilities 

We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

• Valuing them, listening to and respecting them;
• Appointing a Safeguarding Lead for children and young people, Safeguarding Officers, and a Lead Board member for Safeguarding;
• Adopting child protection and safeguarding practices through procedures and a code of conduct for staff and associated practitioners;
• Developing and implementing effective e-safety procedures;
• Providing effective management for staff and associated practitioners through supervision, support, training and quality assurance measures;
• Recruiting staff and practitioners safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made;

• Recording and storing information professionally and securely, and sharing information about safeguarding and good practice with children, their families, staff and associate practitioners via printed information and one-to-one discussions;
• Using procedures to manage any allegations against staff or associated practitioners appropriately;
• Creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment and ensuring we have a policy and procedure to help us deal effectively with any bullying that does arise;
• Ensuring we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in place;
• Ensuring we provide a safe physical environment for our children, young people, staff and volunteers, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance. 

Management of Safeguarding 

Governance Arrangements 

Senior Safeguarding Lead: 
Justin O’Shaughnessy is nominated to act as the member of the governing body responsible for safeguarding. He will liaise regularly throughout the year with the Safeguarding Lead to appraise himself of all ongoing safeguarding matters and to ensure that OSE guidance and policies are consistent with the most recent requirements. Detailed minutes of these meetings will be taken. Furthermore, it will be made an annual standing item at one of the four Board meetings. Justin O’Shaughnessy will also ensure that the Safeguarding Lead provides comprehensive reports to the full governing body on an annual basis. 

Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL): 
The Operations Director is the designated member of staff who takes specific responsibility for child protection matters at an organisational level. 

The DSL is responsible for:

• Providing an annual written safeguarding report to be submitted to the OSE Board annually. This enables the board to audit the effectiveness of the safeguarding policies and procedures and to ensure that any deficiencies or weaknesses in child protection arrangements are remedied without delay. This is supplemented by regular safeguarding meetings (once a term / three times a year) between the DSL and senior leadership team.
• Receiving reports of alleged or suspected child abuse including matters covered under the Prevent strategy such as radicalisation and extremism within OSE, or reported by a young person relating to incidents at home or outside OSE, contacting the Social Services Directorate and taking other action in response, as set out below.
• Ensuring that the procedures below are followed within OSE and monitoring compliance with regulations.
• Monitoring the DBS checking process for all who come into contact with young people and vulnerable adults at OSE.
• Providing a coordinated offer of early help when additional needs are identified.
• The DSL will act in consultation with the Artistic Director. 

Designated Safeguarding Officers (DSO): 
The Artistic Director is the designated member of staff who takes specific responsibility for child protection matters in relation to OSE’s Despacito project.

Additional Safeguarding Officers may be established.

Safeguarding Officers are responsible for ensuring that OSE:

• Oversees the development of an environment within which children and young people feel comfortable and know how to discuss such matters if it is necessary and that they are supported by robust anti-bullying behavior and other pastoral practice;
• Understands the Child Protection procedures and has a working relationship with the KCC/Thanet Social Services Directorate Referral and Assessment Team
• Facilitates inter-agency cooperation dealing with a child protection matter with the DSO taking the lead in the event of an incident;
• Ensures all members of staff and freelancers who come into contact with young people have read the Safeguarding folder which contains: 

1. This Policy; 
2. The staff code of conduct with regard to Safeguarding. 

Procedures

• Any member of staff who is told of any incident or strong suspicion of physical, psychological or sexual child abuse, including attempts to radicalise or coerce individuals to hold extreme political or religious views occurring at OSE must report the information the same day to the DSO. In the absence of the DSO, the immediate report should be made to DSL. If the allegation concerns a member of staff the DSO should receive the initial report and the DSL will be informed immediately. If the allegation or suspicion is about The Artistic Director or Operations Director, the report should be made to the Board, or directly to Young People’s Services.
• Child abuse to be reported includes abuse of a student by a staff member or other adult, abuse at home which a student reports to staff, abuse by a stranger outside of OSE, and abuse of one student by another student. In the case of abuse by a student, or group of young people, the key issues identifying the problem as abuse (rather than an isolated instance of bullying or ‘adolescent experimentation’ which might be considered within normal bounds in the OSE community) are:
• The frequency, nature and severity of the incident[s].
• Whether the victim was coerced by physical force, fear, or by a student or group of young people significantly older than him/her/they or having power or authority over him/her/they.
• Whether the incident involved a potentially criminal act, and whether the same incident (or injury) had occurred to a member of staff or other adult, it would have been regarded as assault or otherwise actionable.
• Young people and staff should be aware of the need to report allegations or suspicions of child abuse following the procedures outlined and are trained to do so. 

Staff who are concerned about the behaviour of a colleague towards a young person, are undoubtedly placed in a very difficult situation. They may worry that they have misunderstood the situation and they will wonder whether a report could jeopardise a colleague’s career. They must remember that the welfare of the child is paramount. 

When they report a concern of this nature they can expect:

• The concern to be taken seriously.
• Their identity remains confidential (if this is their wish), unless they are required to act as a witness in court proceedings.
• To be protected as far as possible from victimisation or harassment.
• For an initial inquiry to take place to identify any action necessary.
• Young people’s social care and police to be involved if the concern relates to abuse or neglect or the commission of a crime.
• Written confirmation within the timescales given in the whistle-blowing procedures that their concern has been received and is being dealt with.
• To be notified in writing of the decision of the initial inquiry. The decision could be that no action is required, internal disciplinary procedures are initiated or referral to young people’s social care and/or police has been made.
• To be informed of the final outcome, subject to constraints of confidentiality and legal advice.

Any staff member to whom an allegation of physical, sexual, or psychological abuse is made should act as follows:

• OSE staff should not investigate reports of abuse themselves. Alleged victims, perpetrators, those reporting abuse and others involved should not be interviewed by the OSE staff beyond the point at which it is clear that there is an allegation of abuse.
• Staff members, and other adults at OSE, should never give absolute guarantees of confidentiality to young people or adults wishing to tell them about something serious. They should however guarantee that they will pass on information only to the minimum number of people who must be told in order to ensure that the proper action is taken, that they will never tell anyone who does not have a clear ‘need to know’, and that they will personally take whatever steps they can to protect the informing young person or adult from any retaliation or unnecessary stress that might be feared after a disclosure of alleged abuse has been made.
• Staff members should limit any questioning to the minimum necessary to seek clarification only, strictly avoiding ‘leading’ the young person or adult who has approached them by making suggestions or asking questions that introduce their own ideas about what may have happened. (Do not ask questions like “Did he do X to you?”, using instead a minimum number of questions of the “Tell me what has happened” type).
• Always stop and listen straight away to someone who wants to talk about incidents or suspicion of abuse.
• Staff members should if possible make brief notes of what is said while they are speaking. These original notes are much more valuable than an improved version made later.
• Under the provisions of the Education Regulations 2005 and the Data Protection Act this information is protected in a special category.
• Stop asking any more questions as soon as the young person or adult has disclosed that they believe that something abusive has happened to them, or to someone else.
• Tell the informing young person or adult that the staff member will now make sure that the appropriate people are brought in to follow the problem up.
• Ask the informing young person or adult what steps they would like taken to protect them now that they have made an allegation, and assure them that OSE will try to follow their wishes.
• Refer the matter the same day, with all relevant details.
• Make a written record as soon as possible of what they have been told, and make a copy of this available to the DSO who will consult with the Local Authority Designated Officer immediately. 

Online Safety 

Please refer to the Online Safety policy and related procedures for further guidance 

Contact Details

Designated Safeguarding Officer: 
Polly Brannan, Despacito Art School family lead 
polly@openschooleast.org 

Designated Safeguarding Lead: 
Fiona Kingsman, Operations Director  
fiona@openschooleast.org 

Trustee / Senior Safeguarding Lead: 
Justin O’Shaughnessy 
justinos1967@gmail.com

If for some reason contact fails and you are concerned that a young person is in immediate danger, please contact Thanet Young People’s Services directly on 0300 041 4141 / social.services@kent.gov.uk. 

Social services after hours, call 0300 0419191. 
CEOP – www.ceop.police.uk 
NSPCC Helpline – 0808 800 5000 

Definitions of abuse 

There are four categories of abuse: physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect. 

Physical abuse: 
Physical abuse is 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. This includes female genital mutilation of family members. 

Emotional abuse: 
Emotional abuse is 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 young people. 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 young people frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of young people. This includes coercion and indoctrination leading to radical behaviour, 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. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, although it may occur alone. 

Sexual abuse: 
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 young people in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging young people 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 young people. 

Neglect: 
Neglect is 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.

Definitions adapted from Working Together to Safeguard Young people (2015).