Safeguarding Policy

Bee Inspired Eco Education CIC (BIEE) works with children and families as part of its activities. These include providing inclusive, seasonal, age and ability tailored talks, workshops, small group activities and experiences. The primary focus of these activities is related to bees and other pollinators, beekeeping, sustainability and protecting our planet.

The purpose of this safeguarding policy statement is:

• to protect children and young people who receive Bee Inspired Eco Education CIC’s (BIEE) services from harm. This includes the children of adults who use our services
• 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. This policy applies to anyone working on behalf of BIEE, including directors, paid staff and volunteers.

Legal framework

This policy has been drawn up using legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England. A summary of the key legislation and guidance is available from nspcc.org.uk/childprotection.

Supporting documents

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

• Child Abuse Guidance
• Code of Conduct for Adults
• Code of Conduct for Children and Young People
• Safer Recruitment Policy
• Health and Safety Policy
• Photography and Filming policy
• Online Safety Policy Statement
• Nominated Child Protection Lead
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy
• Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures
• Anti-bullying Policy Statement
• Compliments/Complaints Policy and Procedure
• Whistleblowing Policy and Procedures
• Privacy Policy

Child abuse guidance

This Safeguarding policy should be read in conjunction with our Child Abuse Guidance which can be found in the induction training pack and on the website.

This guidance provides staff and volunteers with:

• the definitions and signs of child abuse
• how children might disclose abuse
• how to report and disclose concerns

Safer recruitment policy

BIEE is committed to safeguarding and protecting all children and young people by implementing robust safer recruitment practices. Anyone working for BIEE, as staff, director or volunteer must be carefully assessed to ensure that they are suitable for the role and safe to work alongside children and young people.

This includes carrying out checks through the Disclosure and Barring Service at the appropriate level for all staff and volunteers. Further information on our Safer Recruitment Policy is available in the induction pack and on the website.

The Safer Recruitment Policy also details the full induction process that all staff and employees must complete, as well as the ongoing training programme.

Code of Conduct

The BIEE Code of Conduct for Adults outlines the conduct that we expect from all our staff and volunteers. This includes directors and anyone who is undertaking duties for the organisation, whether paid or unpaid.

The behaviour code is there to help us protect children and young people from abuse. It has been informed by the views of children and young people.

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 practise 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 and a lead director for safeguarding (see Nominated Child Protection Lead)
• 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 behaviour codes confidently and competently recruiting and selecting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made (see Safer Recruitment Policy)
• carrying out checks required through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) at the appropriate level for all staff and volunteers
• recording and storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance (see Privacy Policy)
• sharing information about safeguarding and good practice with children and their families via leaflets, posters, group work and one-to-one discussions
• 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 (see Child Abuse Guidance)
• ensuring appropriate adult to child supervision ratios are followed as outlined in our Health and Safety Policy
• using our procedures to manage any allegations against staff and volunteers appropriately (see Complements/Complaints Policy and Procedures)
• 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 (see Anti-bullying Policy Statement)
• ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in place (see Whistleblowing Policy and Procedures)
• 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 (see Health and Safety Policy)
• 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.

We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually.

This policy was last reviewed on: 1 November 2024, next review 1 November 2025