Our Safeguarding Policy

Munchkin Sports works with children and families as part of its activities. These include: rugby, football and multi-sport weekend classes; after school clubs; PPA lessons; birthday parties, after-school WAC provisions and activity holiday camps.

The purpose of this policy statement is:

• To protect children and young people who receive Munchkin Sports’ services.
• To provide parents, staff and volunteers with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection.
The policy statement applies to anyone working on behalf of Munchkin Sports, including senior managers, paid staff, volunteers and students.

Legal framework:

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England, namely:
• Children Act 1989
• Children Act 2004
• Children and Social Work Act 2017
• Schedule 4 of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, which defines what ‘regulated activity’ is in relation to children
• The Equality Act 2010, which makes it unlawful to discriminate
• The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, which outlines when people with criminal convictions can work with children
• The Childcare (Disqualification) and Childcare (Early Years Provision Free of Charge) (Extended Entitlement) (Amendment) Regulations 2018, and Childcare Act 2006 which set out who is disqualified from working with children.
• Working together to safeguard children (Department for Education, 2023)
• What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused: advice for practitioners (Department for Education, 2015)
• Mandatory reporting of female genital mutilation (FGM) (Home Office, 2015)
• Keeping children safe in education (KSIE) 2024 Part 1
• Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2025 updates, including guidance on online safety, low-level concerns, attendance monitoring and safeguarding responsibilities for external providers.
• Every Child Matters 2003

• Statutory Guidance on The Prevent Duty 2015 which explains our duties under the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2025

• The Human Rights Act 1998, which explains that being subjected to harassment, violence and/or abuse, including that of a sexual nature, may breach any or all of the 11 rights which apply to individuals under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)

We believe that:
• Children and young persons should never experience abuse of any kind.
• We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people and to keep them safe. We are committed to practising in a way that protects them.

We recognise that:
• The welfare of the child is paramount.
• All children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation have a right to equal protection from all types of harm, abuse or exploitation.
• Some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experience, their level of dependency, communication needs of other issues.
• Working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

We will seek to protect and keep children, young people and vulnerable individuals safe by:
• following the 5 Rules of Safeguarding to recognise, respond, report, record and refer.
• Valuing, listening to and respecting them.
• Appointing a nominated child protection/safeguarding lead and a deputy child
protection/safeguarding lead
• Developing child protection and safeguarding policies and procedures which reflect best practices.
• Using our safeguarding procedures to share concerns and relevant information with
agencies who need to know, and involve children, young people, parents, families and carers appropriately.
• Creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment and ensuring that we have a policy and procedure to help us deal effectively with any bullying that does arise.
• Sharing information about child protection and safeguarding best practices with children, their families, staff and volunteers via leaflets, posters, group work and one-to-one discussions.
• Recruiting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made.
• Providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support, training and quality assurance measures.
• Ensuring that all staff understand how to identify and report low-level concerns, and that these are managed in line with our whistleblowing and safeguarding procedures.
• Monitoring children’s attendance and engagement, and recognising absence as a potential safeguarding concern.
• Ensuring that our staff are aware of the referral pathways for Early Help and how to escalate any concerns appropriately.
• Promoting online safety through education, filtering systems and staff awareness of
emerging risks such as misinformation, disinformation and AI-generate content.

• Ensuring that any external organisations that may deliver activities on our behalf are vetted and meet the required safeguarding standards.
• Implementing a code of conduct for staff and volunteers.
• Using our procedures to manage all allegations against staff and volunteers appropriately.
• Ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in place.
• Ensuring that 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.
• Providing a secure and safe environment for all children.
• By ensuring that all staff are aware of the site’s relevant fire and evacuation protocols and also having a self-assessment emergency incident checklist for each site with a standard evacuation/lockdown procedure in place.
• Ensuring that all staff are trained on safety plans and how to respond to serious incidents.
• We will ensure that all staff employed by Munchkin Sports Ltd hold an enhanced, up-to-date clearance from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), which does not have any information declared on it that indicates this person is a threat to children.
• Recording and storing information professionally and securely to comply with DPA/UKGDPR requirements.

Related policies and procedures

This policy statement should be read alongside our organisational policies and procedures, including:
• Procedures for responding to concerns about a child or young person’s wellbeing –
Appendix 1
• Role of the designated safeguarding officer – Appendix 2
• Complaints procedure – Appendix 3
• Safer recruitment policy and procedures – Appendix 4
• Adult to child supervision ratios – Appendix 5
• Code of conduct for staff and volunteers – Appendix 6
• Anti-bullying policy and procedures – Appendix 7
• Inclusion Policy – Appendix 8
• Behaviour Management Policy – Appendix 9
• Photograph and image sharing guidance – Appendix 10
• Child protection records retention and storage policy – Appendix 11
• Whistleblowing policy – Appendix 12
• Health and Safety policy – Appendix 13
• Online safety and Filtering policy – Appendix 14
• Attendance Monitoring and Early Help Referral Guidance – Appendix 15
• External Provider Safeguarding Compliance Checklist – Appendix 16