Safeguarding Information for Parents and Carers

Our commitment to safeguarding

At Lichfield Garrick Theatre, we want every child and young person who takes part in our activities to feel safe, welcome, respected and able to enjoy their experience with us.

We take our responsibility for safeguarding children, young people and adults at risk seriously. Our safeguarding arrangements are designed to prevent harm, help our team recognise concerns at an early stage and make sure we respond appropriately when a concern is raised.

The welfare and best interests of children and young people are at the heart of our approach. We believe everyone has an equal right to protection from harm, regardless of their age, disability, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or other protected characteristic or identity.

We work in partnership with children and young people, their parents and carers, and relevant professional agencies to help maintain a safe environment.

Please note, that this policy applies to activities/performances organised and run by Lichfield Garrick. For visiting companies and hirers, please refer to their own safeguarding policies.

What you can expect from us

Our safeguarding procedures apply to our staff, volunteers, freelancers, partner organisations and trustees. Everyone working on our behalf is expected to understand their safeguarding responsibilities and follow our policies and procedures.

To help keep children and young people safe, we:

use safer recruitment practices, including references, identity checks and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks where appropriate
provide safeguarding training for our staff and volunteers, with additional training for those who have specific safeguarding responsibilities
set clear expectations about professional behaviour, communication, physical contact, social media and appropriate boundaries
obtain appropriate consent for photography and filming and store images and recordings securely
follow child performance licensing requirements and provide licensed chaperones where required
assess safeguarding risks associated with our activities, spaces and individual circumstances.

How our team responds to safeguarding concerns

Our staff and volunteers are trained to be alert to signs that a child or young person may need additional help or protection.

Safeguarding concerns can take many forms. They can include physical, emotional or sexual abuse, neglect, domestic abuse, bullying or cyberbullying, exploitation, trafficking, harmful behaviour between children, and exploitation through radicalisation.

Sometimes a concern arises because a child or young person tells us something directly. At other times, our team may notice a change in behaviour, an injury, signs of fear or distress, or something else that causes concern.

Our staff and volunteers are not expected to investigate or decide for themselves whether abuse has occurred. Their responsibility is to recognise, record and report concerns so that they can be considered by the appropriate people.

If your child is performing at the Garrick as part of a visiting company or hirer, such as a dance school or amateur dramatics group, then it is the responsibility of the visiting company’s Safeguarding Lead to respond to any concerns or incidents. The Garrick will assist with this where appropriate, and we are provided with relevant policies, licences and contact details for all visiting companies with young performers. Garrick staff are briefed to challenge any behaviour by visiting companies that is in breach of our own safeguarding policy.

If a child or young person tells us something

We recognise that telling someone about a difficult or harmful experience can be extremely hard. If a child or young person shares something with a member of our team that causes a safeguarding concern, we will listen calmly, give them time to speak and take what they tell us seriously. The conversation will be put on written record immediately.

We will reassure them that speaking to us was the right thing to do. We will not promise to keep the information secret, because we may need to share it with appropriate people to help keep them or somebody else safe.

Our team will not investigate the matter or ask unnecessary or leading questions. We will make an accurate, factual record of what has been shared and pass the concern promptly to our safeguarding team.

What happens when we receive a concern

Safeguarding concerns are reported to our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) or another member of our safeguarding team.

The safeguarding team will consider the information and decide what action is appropriate. Depending on the circumstances, this may include speaking with the child or young person and their parent or carer, putting additional support or safeguards in place, or seeking advice from or making a referral to an appropriate professional agency.

Where necessary, we work with local authority children’s or adult social care, the police, and other relevant services.

There may be circumstances where we need to seek professional safeguarding advice before contacting a parent or carer, particularly if doing so could place a child or young person at greater risk. This is why our staff are instructed to refer safeguarding concerns to our safeguarding team rather than approaching families independently.

If we believe someone is in immediate danger, we will contact the emergency services.

We keep safeguarding records securely and only share information where it is appropriate and necessary to protect someone or meet our legal responsibilities.

Our safeguarding team

Our safeguarding arrangements are overseen by trained members of the Lichfield Garrick team:

Designated Safeguarding Lead | Matt Clay

Designated Safeguarding Officer | Sophie Allen

Designated Safeguarding Officer | Gemma East

Trustee Safeguarding Lead | Natalie Haslam

CEO & Senior Safeguarding Support | Daniel Buckroyd

Professional relationships and boundaries

We want children and young people to develop positive and trusting relationships with the adults they work with at Lichfield Garrick, while maintaining clear professional boundaries.

Our staff, volunteers and freelancers are expected to treat children and young people with dignity and respect, respect their privacy and personal space, use appropriate language and behaviour, and avoid situations that could place a child or adult in an unnecessarily vulnerable position.

We plan activities and meetings to avoid isolated one-to-one situations wherever possible. Where one-to-one contact is unavoidable, our procedures set out additional measures to maintain appropriate oversight and safeguarding.

How we communicate with children and young people

We have clear rules about how members of our team communicate with children and young people.

Staff do not use their personal phone numbers or personal social media accounts for private communication with children or young people participating in our activities. Communication is managed through appropriate Lichfield Garrick channels, with parents, carers or safeguarding colleagues included where required.

Online meetings involving children and young people are carefully managed. Our arrangements include appropriate staff presence and parental or carer involvement or consent.

These boundaries are there to protect children and young people as well as the staff and freelancers who work with them.

Photography and filming

We understand that parents and carers will want to know how images of their children are used.

We obtain appropriate parent or carer consent for photography and filming, and photographs and recordings are stored securely with access restricted to appropriate members of our team.

Professional photographers and video-makers working with children under 16 or adults at risk are subject to the safeguarding checks required by our policy.

Photography or filming by audience members during performances may also be prohibited.

Performances, rehearsals and chaperones

Children taking part in performances receive additional safeguards.

Where required, we arrange the appropriate child performance licences through their home local authority, and provide licensed chaperones. A chaperone's primary responsibility is the welfare, safety and wellbeing of the children in their care.

We plan rehearsals, performances, dressing and changing arrangements, toilet facilities and supervision with children's privacy, dignity and safety in mind.

We recognise that individual children may have different needs. Where appropriate, we will work with parents and carers to make suitable arrangements, including where a child has additional needs relating to disability, neurodivergence, health, gender identity, previous trauma or other personal circumstances.

Bullying and behaviour between children

We want Lichfield Garrick to be a place where children and young people feel respected and included. Bullying, including cyberbullying, is not acceptable within our activities.

Our team is trained to recognise and respond to concerns about bullying and harmful behaviour between children and young people.

Where a safeguarding concern involves two or more children or young people, we will consider the welfare and safety of everyone involved. The needs of the person who may have been harmed will remain paramount, while we will also consider what support or intervention may be appropriate for the other child or young person.

Serious or harmful behaviour will be dealt with through our safeguarding procedures and, where appropriate, with advice or involvement from specialist or statutory services.

Concerns involving a member of our team

Any allegation or safeguarding concern about a member of staff, volunteer, freelancer or other person working on behalf of Lichfield Garrick will be taken seriously.

We have procedures to ensure that the welfare of the child or young person is addressed separately from any employment or volunteer process involving the adult concerned.

Where required, we will seek advice from the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), police or other relevant agencies. We will follow their guidance while making sure appropriate measures are in place to protect children and young people.

Recruitment, checks and training

We use safer recruitment practices for people who work with us, including volunteers and freelancers. Depending on the role, these can include identity and reference checks and an appropriate DBS check.

Our staff and volunteers receive safeguarding training relevant to their responsibilities. Members of our safeguarding team receive additional specialist training, and safeguarding is overseen at trustee level.

We regularly review our safeguarding arrangements and update our practices where necessary.

Equality, dignity and individual needs

Every child and young person is different, and we recognise that some people may face additional barriers to speaking up or may be more vulnerable to harm.

We aim to create an inclusive environment where children and young people feel respected, represented and able to tell us if something is worrying them.

Where possible, we will make responsive arrangements to meet individual needs, including around communication, participation, supervision and changing arrangements. We welcome conversations with parents and carers where there is information that would help us provide appropriate support for their child.

If you have a concern about your child or our safeguarding practice

Although our team is trained to recognise and respond to safeguarding issues, parents and carers know their children well. If there is something you think we should know about your child's welfare or experience at Lichfield Garrick, our safeguarding team is available to listen.

You can also contact us if you have a concern about the behaviour of someone working or volunteering with us, or about the way a safeguarding matter has been handled.

LGT Safeguarding Team

Designated Safeguarding Lead – Matt Clay

DSL@lichfieldgarrick.com - 01543 412123

Trustee Safeguarding Lead – Natalie Haslam

trustee.safeguarding@lichfieldgarrick.com

If someone is in immediate danger, the emergency services can be contacted on 999.

Independent safeguarding advice is also available from the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000, and children and young people can contact Childline on 0800 1111, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

About this information

This is a participant friendly summary of Lichfield Garrick Theatre's detailed Safeguarding Policy.

Our full policy sets out the procedures followed by our staff, volunteers, freelancers and trustees, including how concerns are recorded and reported, safer recruitment, training, child performance licensing, chaperoning and our work with statutory agencies. The full policy is available on request by emailing DSL@lichfieldgarrick.com or calling 01543 412123.

The full Safeguarding Policy is reviewed annually or following a significant safeguarding incident.