Buddies Clubs & Services

Guidelines on Child Protection Policy

Buddies Clubs & Services is registered with the Care Inspectorate. All staff receive training on child protection issues as per training materials from Glasgow City Council Child Protection Committee.

PROTECTION
Confidential records are kept of all children/young people, staff and volunteers who attend or assist at Buddies Clubs & Services. All Buddies Clubs & Services employees/volunteers have a Protection of Vulnerable Groups (P.V.G.) check prior to employment.  

Staff ratios depend on needs of individual children/young people. Some children/young people require 2:1 or 1:1 support particularly outdoors.
Risk assessments are carried out regularly.  

Buddies Clubs & Services staff have basic first aid and specialist training as required. Regular fire drills are held and records kept.  A daily register is maintained.  Rooms are regularly checked on a daily, weekly and monthly basis to ensure they comply with health & safety requirements.  

Accident and incident forms and procedure for informing parents/carer’s are available in office.

Some children/young people are escorted home by staff and handed over to parents or carer’s personally - often a useful chance to exchange information.

On outings Buddies Clubs & Services staff are provided with mobile phones and carry medical consent forms for children/young people and staff (duplicates kept in office).

ABUSE
All Buddies Clubs & Services staff have child protection training and training in spotting the signs of abuse.
If a child/young person comes to Buddies Clubs for example with a bruise an incident form is completed and confirmation may be sought of an explanation for the bruise should the child or young person come to Buddies Clubs directly from school/home. Parents/carer’s will be advised (if appropriate)
This procedure is especially important when dealing with children who have little or no verbal communication.

It is also important to report any discussions or concerns which children may disclose to staff to senior management.  

All verbal reports must be followed up with a written report from the staff member reporting the concerns and the senior staff member dealing with the issue.