Shiamak Davar International Ltd. have a moral and legal obligation to ensure that, when given
responsibility for children, all staff, parents/legal guardians, and volunteers accept their
responsibilities to safeguard children from harm and abuse. This means to ensure
that everyone follows procedures to protect children and report any concerns about their
welfare to appropriate authorities.
There are three elements to our policy: -
- Prevention through awareness of each individual child’s needs.
- Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect
- Procedures for identifying and reporting cases or suspected cases, of abuse.
The aim of the policy:
is to promote good practice, providing children and young people
with appropriate safety/protection whilst in the care of Shiamak Davar International Ltd and
to allow staff and volunteers to make informed and confident responses to specific child
protection issues.
Prevention
We recognize that the “entertainment industry” can be a very “adult” environment and
we expect that all staff, parents/legal guardians, volunteers and anyone else who comes into
contact with children behave in an appropriate manner at all times and remember that
“The Welfare of the Child is Paramount”.
Shiamak Davar International Ltd and all its Officers and Employees will
therefore: -
- Act within the Children’s Act 1989 & 2004
- Act within The Children (Performances and Activities) (England) Regulations
2014 Establish and maintain an ethos where children feel welcome and familiar with
their environment and are informed of personal (toilets, dressing rooms etc) and
emergency arrangements (fire exits, meeting points etc) and any Health and Safety
Procedures (Dangerous equipment, First aid etc)
- Inform each child who the appropriate person or people are to speak to if they have any
questions, problems or concerns.
- Ensure that all children are treated with respect and dignity and are treated as
individuals and offered equality of opportunities.
- Always work in an open environment (e.g. avoiding private or unobserved situations and
unnecessary physical contact with children) and involve/allow parents/chaperones
wherever possible, to take responsibility for the child/children they are responsible for.
(parents must only have responsibility for their own child)
- Recognizing the individual needs of the child. E.g. recognizing when a child may be tired
and may need a break.
Ensure that children are supervised appropriately.
- Ensure that all Chaperones are registered with the local authority in which they reside
and have an enhanced DBS check.
- Ensure all crew and staff coming into close contact with a child are DBS checked. Ensure
that all staff and crew who don’t necessarily have close contact with children but
who are assisting in the production are aware of their conduct around children.
- Any staff member leading specific activities, in addition to general programme provision, must
carry out a specific risk assessment for that activity.
- The Designated and Deputy Safeguarding Leads have Level 3 training. Designated and
Deputy Safeguarding Leads undertake refresher training every 3 years.
Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect
A child is abused or neglected when somebody inflicts harm or fails to act to prevent harm.
A child or young person up to the age of 18 years can suffer abuse or neglect and require
protection.
- Physical Abuse - May involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or
scalding, drowning or suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical
harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates or induces illness in a child
whom they are looking after.
- Sexual Abuse - Forcing or enticing a child/young person to take part in sexual
activities, whether or not they are aware of what is happening, may involve: physical
contact, including penetrative or non-penetrative acts; non-contact activities, such as
involving children in looking at, or in the production of pornographic material or
watching sexual activities; or encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate
ways.
- 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. It may involve a parent or carer failing to provide adequate food, shelter
and clothing, failing to protect a child from physical harm or danger, or the failure to
ensure access to appropriate care or treatment. It may also include neglect of, or
unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs.
- Emotional Abuse - The persistent emotional ill-treatment of a child such as to cause severe
and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional and behavioural development. It may
involve conveying to the child that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only
in so far as they meet the needs of another person. It may feature age and developmentally
inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. It may involve
causing children to feel frightened or in danger, for example witnessing domestic abuse
within the home or being bullied, or the exploitation or corruption of children.
- Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of ill treatment of a child, though it
may occur alone
Legislation, Policy and Guidance
Shiamak Davar International Ltd will adhere to the relevant legislation when working with
children and young people under the age of 18 years as outlined in the following:
Legal framework
This policy has been drawn up based on law and guidance that seeks to protect children and
vulnerable adults, namely:
Children Act 1989
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1991
Data Protection Act 2018 (GDPR)
Sexual Offences Act 2003
Children Act 2004
Protection of Freedoms Act 2012
‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ government guidance
Prevent guidance
NSPCC guidance
We recognize that:
The welfare of the child and vulnerable adult is paramount, as enshrined in the Children Act 1989 and Care Act 2014.
All children and vulnerable adults, regardless of age, disability, sex, race, religion or belief
sexual orientation or gender reassignment, have the right to equal protection from all types of
harm or abuse. Impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication
needs or other issues..
Children Act 1989
Children Act 2004
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015
Suspicion of Abuse
- If you see or suspect abuse of a child, immediately make this known to the designated
individual/manager responsible for child protection.
Disclosure of Abuse
- If a child tells you that they or another child or young person is being abused: - Always stop and listen straight away, show that you take their allegations seriously.Encourage the child to talk, but do not ask leading questions, interrupt or ask the child to
repeat itself.
- Never promise that you will keep what is said confidential or secret – explain that if you
are told something of concern that you will need to let someone know but that you will
only tell the people who need to know and can help.
- Record what you have been told accurately and as soon as possible. Use the child ‘s own
words. Make a note of the time, location, whether anyone else present and of the Child’s
demeanor.
- Ensure that your concerns are reported immediately to the designated
individual/manager
- Do not confront the alleged abuser.
Handling Allegations
- If a child makes an allegation against a member of staff, it must be reported as a matter
of urgency to the designated manager/individual for child protection who will refer to
Social Services department for Children’s Services. If the allegation is against the
designated person then the information should be reported to another senior manager
or directly to Social Services department for Children’s Services. (This would generally be
referred to the authority in which the alleged incident took place).
- The alleged perpetrator should not be made aware of the allegation at this point.
Recording
- In all situations the details of allegation or reported incident must be recorded. Make
accurate notes of time, dates, incident or disclosure, people involved, what was said and done
and by whom, action taken to investigate, further action taken e.g. suspension of individual and
if relevant: reasons why the matter was not referred to a statutory agency, name of person
reporting and to whom it was reported.
The record must be stored securely and shared only with those who need to know.
DO NOT worry that you might be mistaken; you have a responsibility to pass on your
concerns following a disclosure. Never think abuse is impossible, or that an accusation about
a person you know well, and trust is bound to be wrong.
SDI UK DESIGNATED SAFEGUARDING OFFICERS AND CONTACT DETAILS
Where there is a safeguarding concern about a child, young person or vulnerable adult or
someone’s behaviour, it is everyone’s responsibility to report this to one of the designated
safeguarding leads listed below. You must write down what you have seen or heard, report it to
one of the officers below and they will then take any further action required.
Designated Safeguarding Lead (Midlands):
Shreya Jadhav |Manager, SHIAMAK Midlands
shreya.jadhav@shiamak.com
midlands@shiamak.com | +44 743 744 2625
Designated Safeguarding Lead (London):
Dhrumil Soni | Manager, SHIAMAK London
dhrumil.soni@shiamak.com
london@shiamak.com | +44 775 744 2625
Other Important Contacts
Glen D’Mello | CEO
glen.dmello@shiamak.com | +44 775 744 2625