| Effective Management of Staff and Volunteers |
|
Good management of staff/volunteers will contribute to safe activities for children. Good management will also create an atmosphere where staff and volunteers feel valued, are listened to and where issues can be dealt with quickly by systems already in place.
Once staff/volunteers are recruited they should be informed about Swim Ulster’s and your club’s policies, procedures and guidelines and be provided with appropriate training, support and supervision. This will minimise unintentional harm of children through lack of knowledge or skills and should pick up on possible intentional harm of children.
The primary preventative measures for safeguarding and welfare are awareness, education and monitoring. Leaders must be aware of the Code and child protection measures in place and be vigilant to any possible breaches of either of these. It is recommended that all Teacher and Coach Training Courses should include adequate sections on Child Welfare relating to safe practices, identifying danger signs and dealing with concerns. Swim Ireland aspires to having all leaders in Swim Ireland hold an up-to-date ISC/ SportNI or equivalent Child Protection certificate. For clarification of equivalent please contact your local regional Children’s officer. Swim Ireland will monitor Clubs’ compliance with measures put in place through the affiliation process in order to ensure that necessary procedures and policies are implemented. A Safeguarding Seminar programme will be run by Swim Ireland. Contact Kate Hills This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 086 8560672 (ROI) 00353 868560672 (NI) for further information Reporting Guidelines that are communicated to all involved in the clubIt is important that swimming has policies and procedures in place to facilitate staff/volunteers in reporting child protection concerns or disclosures should the need arise. It is not your club’s organisation’s responsibility to identify and investigate possible instances of abuse of children. This is the role of the statutory agencies – Health and Social Care Trusts/ Health Care Executive and Police. It is a statutory responsibility to report any child protection concerns. It is important that your club/ organisation has procedures in place for dealing with child protection concerns/ disclosures/allegations in order to support staff/volunteers, children and parents through the process of reporting a disclosure or allegation. As well as reporting allegations to appropriate authorities you should follow Swim Irelands internal disciplinary procedures and for those club’s in NI refer to the Independent Safeguarding Authority list (if appropriate) whether or not a criminal investigation proceeds. Contact Kate Hills This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 086 8560672 (ROI) 00353 868560672 (NI) for further information
|