Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility.

Our Safeguarding Leads

While everyone has a responsibility for safeguarding, we have Designated Safeguarding Leads who take the lead for our safeguarding responsibilities outlined in government guidance. They are accountable for our policies, procedures and practices. They ensure that safeguarding concerns are dealt with in an appropriate time and manner, making referrals and sharing information where needed, ensuring our safer recruitment process is robust and followed and responding to allegations against staff in consultation with the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO).

Marcus Adams - Service Manager - DSL

Anna Adams - Development Manager - Deputy DSL

They can be contacted directly on shortbreaks@playmyway.co.uk or 01246 720 491. 

Our Policies

We have a range of policies which act as our guiding principles, informing our day-to-day practice and decision-making. Our policies are always kept up to date, in line with government and local guidance, however, we also recognise that this guidance is often to "minimum standards" and sometimes far from the best practices that are used in the workforce, so we always make sure that we are taking on best practice, learning from others, learning from when things go wrong and are always in the best interest of the children we support.

• Safeguarding Policy Statement - This is the streamlined version of our policy, which highlights our approach to safeguarding, the safeguarding procedures we follow and our key safeguarding contacts (internal and external).

• Safeguarding Policy - This is a more in-depth document to refer to, which breaks down our different areas of practice as well as highlighting specific safeguarding issues and more details procedural information.

• Safer Recruitment Policy - This guides our recruitment process from once we identify a position may need to be advertised, the planning process, applications and interview, through to a conditional job offer and pre-employment checks (such as Right to Work, Identity, References and DBS Checks) as well as our safer working practices once a staff member has joined us. This aims to ensure we recruit the right people, who are safe to work with children. We are proud to conduct interviews on using a "values-led approach".

• Managing Allegations Policy - This explains how we will respond to concerns or allegations that are raised about a staff member, what action we will take, the involvement of the LADO and any internal or external investigations that will take place. We will respond quickly to allegations to ensure that everyone is safeguarded and the right action is taken. We want to take a proactive approach to staff suitability and we are always considering training, supervision or coaching that could support staff members and ensure that they are always working within their competence and abilities.

We also have a range of other policies which support our safeguarding efforts, including our Visitors Policy, Health and Safety Policy, Recruitment of People with a Criminal Record Policy, Staff Code of Conduct and Induction, Supervision and Training Policy.

For full transparency, you can view all of our policies here.