Belfast and District Set Dancing and Traditional Music Society
Code of Behaviour for Employees and Volunteers
The Society is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of any child attending its classes and workshops. We wish to ensure that all children participate in the Society’s activities in an enjoyable and safe environment in which they can have fun and feel valued.
In particular the Society’s employees and volunteers will, in their dealings with children, at all times
• Be supportive, approachable and reassuring.
• Show respect, be patient and listen to children.
• Respect a young person’s right to personal privacy.
• Treat and value children as individuals.
• Treat children with consistency, fairness and equality.
• Set a good example by using appropriate attitude, demeanour & language at all times
• Offer support and empathy in a manner appropriate to age, stage and gender of a child – always in an open and transparent manner and within context e.g. if child distressed)
• Ensure that any time spent with children takes place in as open a setting as possible.
• Provide clear instruction, clarify meaning and establish clear boundaries.
• Involve children in the decision making process as much as possible (e.g. planning activities).
• Focus on the child and what they really want to do (i.e. it could be damaging to push a child who is not ready, for example, to take part in a performance).
• Encourage leadership, responsibility and participation in activities.
• Encourage children to do as much as possible for themselves and instil confidence – support them to make choices and to find acceptable ways to express their feelings. This will enable children to have the self-confidence and vocabulary to resist inappropriate approaches.
The Society’s employees and volunteers will Avoid
• Spending periods of time alone with children.
An adult who needs to take a child aside should stay within the sight of others. If it is necessary to enter a separate room, use a room with visual access (e.g. a window) and leave the door open. Another adult should know, be vigilant and within ear shot if possible. A written record should be made and kept on file.
• Physical contact that is out of the art form context.
Any required physical contact (e.g. demonstration of ‘the hold‘ in dancing or of the position of hands on an instrument) should only take place with the child’s consent, within context and any resistance should be respected. (*See Note at end.)
• Taking children alone in a car on journeys, no matter how short.
If this is necessary, try to take more than one child and ensure that they are seated in the back of the vehicle. It should also only take place with the full knowledge and consent of the leader/supervisor in charge and the child’s parents/guardians. They should also know the route that will be taken and the estimated time of arrival.
The Society’s employees and volunteers will never:
• Show favouritism towards a child.
• Promise to keep secrets.
• Belittle or demean children.
• Shout at/argue with children or other workers in a humiliating, patronising or threatening manner.
• Embarrass, ignore or single out a child.
• Give unnecessary orders or orders which humiliate/instigate fear in others.
• Allow or engage in inappropriate touching (e.g. kissing, hitting, smacking etc.) or engage in any other form of bullying.
• Engage in sexually provocative/inappropriate games (including horseplay). Any contact activities must be part of the planned activities for the group and clearly supervised.
• Make sexually suggestive comments about or to a child, even in jest.
• Abuse privileges/own position.
• Give your personal contact details to children; organisational details should be used instead.
• Text, telephone or e-mail children on a one-to-one basis unless with parental consent and for a specific purpose.
• Invite/accept invites from children for social networking websites.
• Let allegations a child makes go unrecorded or leave issues unresolved.
• Teach or give instruction that is outside your remit.
• Be under the influence, or recovering from the effects of, alcohol/illegal substances.
• Leave children unsupervised.
• Allow children to use language that is deemed inappropriate or offensive to others within the group.
• Do things of a personal nature for children that they can do themselves.
• Take children to your home (or their own home if a parent/guardian is not there to meet them).
Children with disability and additional needs
The Society equally welcomes children with and without a disability or additional needs to participate in activities. In this regard the Society will try to maximise inclusion by:
• planning for inclusion in advance, with regards to accessibility of activities,
venue, equipment, transport and sanitary/changing and catering facilities.
• involving the child, parents/guardians, workers and support organisations with
regards gathering information, planning and reviewing.
• minimising fuss when including a child with additional needs and taking care
to avoid singling them out.
• ensuring appropriate supervision ratios are maintained at all times.
• asking parents/guardians to provide detailed information about medical,
dietary and intimate care needs to ensure the comfort, safety and privacy of
their child.
• only giving out information on a need to know basis and with strictest
confidentiality.
* NOTE: Specific guidance in the context of the teaching of dance and musical instruments
In addition, physical touch should only occur:
• after the type of contact within an activity and reason for it has been explained
to the child.
• when the child’s consent has been gained.
• in an open and transparent manner, preferably in view of others.
• when it is appropriate to the age and developmental stage of the child.
• in response to the particular needs of the child.
• when it is not in breach of appropriate physical contact guidelines.
• as lightly and sensitively as possible.
The Society’s Designated Safeguarding/Child Protection officer is
Ms. Shauna O’Keefe
58 Malone Park
Belfast BT9 6NN
Telephone: 075 0088 9573
Or You May Contact The Society on its General Mobile Number:
07875094446
OTHER APPROPRIATE CONTACTS OUTSIDE THE SOCIETY:
The local Belfast Health and Social Care Trust GATEWAY TEAM may be contacted directly in one of the following ways:
By phone:
• During office hours (9.00am – 5:00pm) – you should contact Gateway on 028 9050 7000
• At all other times (all through the night, at weekends and over Bank Holidays) – you should contact the out-of-hours Emergency Service: 028 9056 5444
In person:
Speak to a Duty Social Worker at: 414 Ormeau Road, Belfast, BT7 3HY
