Purpose:

The purpose of this policy is:

• to ensure that all children attending Curious Kids sessions are protected from harm, abuse, or neglect.
• to provide staff and volunteers, as well as children and young people and their families, with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection.

Scope:
This policy applies to anyone working on behalf of Curious Kids:

• All franchisees and their staff, assistants, and volunteers.
• All Curious Kids sessions, events, and activities.

Legal framework:

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England. A summary of the key legislation and guidance is available from https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/child protection-system

Supporting documents:

This policy statement should be read alongside our organisational policies, procedures, guidance and other related documents:

• Code of conduct for staff and volunteers
• Operations Manual
• Booking Terms and Conditions
• Whilstblowing Policy
• Bullying Policy
• Complaints Policy

We believe that:

• children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind
• we have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, to keep them safe and to practice in a way that protects them.

We recognise that:

• the welfare of children is paramount in all the work we do and in all the decisions we take
• working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare
• all children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation have an equal right to protection from all types of harm or abuse
• some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues
• extra safeguards may be needed to keep children who are additionally vulnerable safe from abuse.

We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:
• valuing, listening to and respecting them
• appointing a nominated child protection lead for children and young people; Sophie Contractor
• adopting child protection and safeguarding best practice through our policies, procedures and code of conduct for staff and volunteers
• developing and implementing an effective online safety policy and related procedures
• providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support, training and quality assurance measures so that all staff and volunteers know about and follow our policies, procedures and behavior codes confidently and competently
• recruiting and selecting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made
• recording and storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance
• making sure that children, young people and their families know where to go for help if they have a concern
• using our safeguarding and child protection procedures to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving children, young people, parents, families and carers appropriately
• using our procedures to manage any allegations against staff and volunteers 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
• 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
• building a safeguarding culture where staff and volunteers, children, young people and their families, treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns.

Roles and Responsibilities

All Curious Kids staff, including franchisees, assistants and volunteers, share responsibility for creating a safe, supportive and protective environment for children. The key safeguarding responsibilities for all staff include:

• Understanding and following the Curious Kids Safeguarding Policy and any local procedures relevant to their setting.
• Completing appropriate safeguarding training and refreshing this regularly to ensure knowledge remains current.
• Holding an up-to-date DBS check and ensuring the Franchisor has a copy on record before working with children.
• Maintaining a vigilant and proactive approach to children’s safety and wellbeing at all times during sessions, including recognising early signs of possible abuse or neglect.
• Reporting safeguarding concerns immediately using the Curious Kids reporting procedure, ensuring that concerns are passed on without delay to the designated safeguarding lead and relevant external safeguarding agencies if appropriate.
• Maintaining appropriate professional boundaries at all times and modelling safe, respectful behaviour.
• Contributing to a culture of safety, including raising concerns about poor practice or unsafe behaviour by adults or other staff. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. All staff must act promptly, professionally and in the best interests of the child at all times.

Contact details
Nominated child protection lead
Name: Sophie Contractor
Phone/email: 07786 238891 / sophie@curiouskidsuk.com

Policy Approval

This policy has been reviewed and approved by:

Name: Sophie Contractor
Role: Franchisor and Designated Safeguarding Lead
Signature: S. Contractor
Date: 14 / 11 / 2025
Review date: 14/11/2026