CHILD SAFEGUARDING & PROTECTION

Policy Statement

FC45 Academy is committed to providing football in a fun, safe and respectful environment for all children. We recognize children’s right to be free from all forms of abuse and acknowledge our duty to safeguard them when under our care.

Purpose of the Policy
This policy provides a framework to ensure that children are safeguarded in the delivery of our sport. It applies to all those under 18 years of age without discrimination of any kind and is an acceptance of the responsibility to promote their inclusion, safety and well-being across our sessions.

Scope of the Policy
This policy applies to the following people (but not limited to): coaches/instructors; managers; administrators; volunteers and parents/guardians.

It covers the following definitions:

Child: 
a person under the age of 18 years 

Child abuse: 
an act or omission that harms a child. Abuse towards a child can be carried out by an adult or by another child. It can be physical, emotional, sexual or by neglect. Abuse can take place in person or online. 

Safeguarding:
the action taken to ensure that all children are safe from harm when involved in football. It means proactively doing everything possible to minimize risk and prevent any kind of abuse or intentional harm of children.

As part of our policy, we will:

• Appoint a safeguarding officer.

• Prevent the employment/deployment of unsuitable individuals (staff and volunteers) in football through safe recruitment and screening procedures

• Ensure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities in respect of safeguarding in football and provide all staff and volunteers with appropriate training when joining the organization, as well as provide further training and updates on a regular basis (at least annually).

• Require all members of staff and volunteers to sign and comply with the code of conduct.

SAFEGUARDING AND SUPERVISION OF CHILDREN
In any football activity, it is important to ensure any risks in relation to the location, training facilities and equipment are minimized by using our risk assessment tool together with national health and safety guidelines. In addition, during any football activity, children need to be supervised at all times as the likelihood of accidents happening increases when adequate adult supervision is not in place. We have ensured that staffing and supervision ratios are adequate. We have enough staff to ensure children are safe and monitored at all times.

Recommended adult to child ratios

• When working with children between five and eight years of age, a ratio of one adult to 8 children will be adhered to.

• When working with children between nine and 18 years of age, a ratio of one adult to 16 children should be adhered to.

Please note: For the period of Covid regulations and safety measures our children will be in groups of 10 with a coach allocated to each group. 

THE USE OF IMAGES AND COMMUNICATION VIA ONLINE PLATFORMS AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Photographs, films and video clips are a great way to publicize football activities and programs. They can be used to celebrate achievements, promote activities and keep people updated on what is happening. Footage might also be recorded for performance development and analysis reasons. We have strict guidelines not to curb such activity but to ensure that children are protected from those who might seek to take or manipulate photos and video footage in a way that harms children or places them at risk of harm. 

Permission
We will obtain written consent from Parents and guardians before any images or videos are uploaded on our website or social media pages. 

Safe use of images and general information: 
To minimize any risk of harm coming to children, the following has been considered:

• Information published on our website or social networking sites will never include detailed personal information that could identify a child, e.g. his/her home address, email address or telephone number

• Children will never be portrayed in a demeaning, tasteless or provocative manner. We will ensure all those featured are appropriately dressed (e.g., a minimum of shirt and shorts).

• As a general principle and good practice, adults should never engage in inappropriate use of social media. This includes: direct messaging with children and posting comments on social media sites that could compromise the wellbeing of a child, cause him/her harm, or bring the association/club into disrepute.

Concerns
If at any time the use of an image or information attached to it appears inappropriate, report the misuse of an image to the safeguarding officer.

• Anyone behaving in a way which could reasonably be viewed as inappropriate in relation to filming or photographing children or the use of social media should be reported.

Bullying
Verbal, physical, and cyber bullying will not be tolerated at FC45 Academy. We encourage good sportsmanship and inclusivity of all. Children who engage in any form of bullying will be reprimanded with a warning and possible suspension or expulsion from the Academy should the behavior continue.

FC45 Academy Safeguarding Team Contacts

Please direct your safeguarding and protection requests to 

Safeguarding & Protocols :
Colleen Strysko
[email protected]
+267 72 413 324

Administration : Gaone Phusumane
[email protected]
+267 72 580798