Destination Dance Child Safe Policy

Destination Dance believes that:

• The welfare of children and young people is vital.
• All children and young people, whatever their age, culture, disability, gender, language, racial origin, religious beliefs and/or sexual identity have the right to protection from abuse.
• All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately.
• All staff (paid/voluntary) working in Performing Arts have a responsibility to report concerns to the appropriate officer.
  

Policy Statement

Destination Dance has a duty of care to safeguard all children and young people involved in dance from harm. All children and young people have a right to protection. Destination Dance will ensure the safety and protection of all children and young people involved in dance through adherence to the Child Safety Policy.
Child – means a person who is under the age of 16 years.
Young person – means a person who is aged 16 years or above but who is under the age of 18 years.
Defined by CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS (CARE AND PROTECTION) ACT 1998.

Policy Aims

• The aim of Destination Dance’s Child Safety Policy is to promote good practice.
• To provide children and young people with appropriate safety and protection.
• Allow all staff/volunteers to make informed and confident responses to specific child protection issues.​
  

Recruitment and Selecting Staff

• Destination Dance takes all reasonable steps to ensure that it engages the most suitable and appropriate people to work with children.
• All teachers employed by Destination Dance are required to have a current Working With Children Check (VIC) that has been verified by the principal.
  

Promoting Good Practice
Destination Dance will encourage the following:

• Always working in an open environment.
• Treating all young people equally, and with respect and dignity.
• Always putting the welfare of each young person as priority.
• Maintaining a safe and appropriate distance with dancers within reason manual/physical support.
• Building balanced relationships based on mutual trust which empowers children to share in the decision making process.
• Making dance fun, enjoyable and promoting fair play.
• Keeping up to date with the technical skills, qualifications and insurance in dance.
• Involving parents/carers wherever possible.
• Being an excellent role model.
• Giving enthusiastic and constructive feedback rather than negative criticism.
• Recognising the developments/ needs and capacity of young people – avoiding excessive training or competition and not pushing them against their will.
• Having consent forms from parents/guardians in relation to administrating first aid and/or other medical treatment and media release/photos.
• Keeping a written record of any injury that occurs, along with the details of any treatment given.
  

The following should never be sanctioned:

• Engage in rough, physical or sexually provocative games, including horseplay.
• Share a room with a child. Allow or engage in any form of inappropriate touching.
• Reduce a child to tears as a form of control.
• Allow allegations made by a child to go unchallenged, unrecorded or not acted upon.
• Do things of a personal nature for children that they can do for themselves.
• Invite or allow children to stay at your home unsupervised.
  

Responding to Suspicions/Allegations of Abuse

• It is not the responsibility of anyone working in Destination Dance in a paid or unpaid capacity to take responsibility or to decide whether or not child abuse has taken place. However, there is a responsibility to act on any concerns through contact with the appropriate authorities.
• Destination Dance will assure all staff/volunteers that it will fully support and protect anyone, who in good faith reports his or her concern that a colleague is or may be abusing a child/young person.
• Any suspicion that a child has been abused by either a member of staff or a volunteer should be reported to the principal teacher who will take such steps as considered necessary to ensure the safety of the child in question and any other child who may be at risk.
  

Strategies to Minimise Risk

• Taking images of children – Authorisation is given by caregiver to have images taken of their child/ren and occasionally will be used to display on our website/social media/promotional material.
• Supervision of children – Children are supervised at all times in class by the responsible teacher assigned to that class. The studio does not take responsibility for the child outside of the premises this responsibility lies solely with the caregiver.
• Physical contact – Some physical contact may be deemed necessary to demonstrate exercises and for personal correction; or if a member of staff needs to administer first aid.
• Protecting privacy and confidentiality- All information given to the studio is strictly confidential. Information is given to the child’s teacher where it is in the best interest of the child.