Policy Statement
Policy Statement
The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (the Board) is a charitable company established by four Royal Schools of Music for the benefit of education in music, speech and drama. Its core activity is the operation of an authoritative and internationally recognised examination and assessment system to encourage and motivate players and singers at all levels through the provision of goals and the measurement of progress.
The Board acknowledges it has a responsibility for the safety of children undertaking its examinations or otherwise under its temporary care. It also recognises that good child protection policies and procedures are of benefit to everyone involved with the Board’s work, including staff, as they can help protect them from erroneous or malicious allegations.
The Board is committed to practices which protect children from harm. For the purpose of this policy, the Board’s staff include not only its full-time employees but the examiners, Honorary Local Representatives (HLRs) and Stewards. All Staff who have unsupervised access to or contact with children are required to
- recognise and accept their responsibilities;
- develop awareness of the issues which can cause children harm; and
- report concerns following the procedure below.
The Board will endeavour to safeguard children by:
a) adopting child protection procedures and a code of practice for all who work on behalf of the organisation;
b) reporting concerns to the authorities;
c) following carefully procedures for recruitment and selection of staff, examiners and volunteers; and
d) providing effective management for staff, examiners and volunteers through support and training.
The Board is also committed to reviewing its Child Protection Policy and Code of Practice at regular intervals.
Guidelines
It is the Board’s policy that:
- All staff working on behalf of the Board accept responsibility for the welfare of children who come into contact with the Board in connection with its tasks and functions, and that they will report any concerns about a child or somebody else’s behaviour, using the procedures laid down.
- There are designated child protection person(s) within the Board who will take action following any expression of concern and the lines of responsibility in respect of child protection are clear.
- Designated child protection person(s) know how to make appropriate referrals to child protection agencies.
- All those who are involved with children on behalf of the Board should adhere to the Code of Practice in relation to children.
- Information relating to any allegation or disclosure will be clearly recorded as soon as possible, and there is a procedure setting out who should for record information and the time-scales for passing it on.
- The Children Act 1987 states that the “welfare of the child is paramount”. This means that considerations of confidentiality which might apply to other situations should not be allowed to over-ride the right of children to be protected from harm. However, every effort should be made to ensure that confidentiality is maintained for all concerned when an allegation has been made and is being investigated.
- The Board’s policy on duty of care to children will be referred to or included in recruitment, training, moderation and policy materials where appropriate, and the policies are openly and widely available to staff and actively promoted within the organisation.
- A culture of mutual respect between children and those who represent the Board in all its activities will be encouraged, with adults modelling good practice in this context.
- All staff, examiners, volunteers and anyone in paid or unpaid work on behalf of the Board with unsupervised access to children will be checked appropriately. For examiners this will happen every time moderation takes place.
- It is part of the Board’s acceptance of its responsibility of duty of care towards children that anybody who encounters child protection concerns in the context of their work on behalf of the Board will be supported when they report their concerns in good faith.
