SAFEGUARDING POLICY

Policy Version: October 2026

Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL): Sara-Maria G Barton

Depute Safeguarding Lead (DepSL): Daniella Brown
Safeguarding contact: info@s-mbcompany.com
Review cycle: Annually, or sooner where legislation, guidance, S-MB activities or identified risks change.

S-MB Company is committed to protecting children and young people from harm and promoting their safety, welfare and wellbeing. We recognise our responsibility to take safeguarding concerns seriously, respond appropriately and maintain a safe and supportive environment for all students involved in S-MB activities.

S-MB Company is committed to safeguarding students without discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, race, religion or belief, sex, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity, marriage or civil partnership, or sexual orientation.

This policy should be read alongside the S-MB Privacy Policy, Online & Virtual Class Safety Agreement, and other relevant health, safety and conduct procedures.

S-MB Company operates in Scotland and this policy is intended to reflect the Scottish child protection framework, including the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021 – updated 2023, together with applicable Scottish legislation, guidance and Disclosure Scotland requirements.

The National Guidance provides a national framework describing responsibilities and expectations for those involved in protecting children in Scotland. S-MB Company will keep its safeguarding arrangements under review and update this policy where relevant legislation, guidance or practice changes.

Where this policy conflicts with applicable law or current statutory guidance, S-MB Company will follow the applicable legal and statutory requirements.

This policy applies to:

· All students participating in S-MB Company activities.

· All S-MB teachers, staff, volunteers, contractors and other individuals working for or on behalf of S-MB Company.

· S-MB classes, programs, rehearsals, performances, competitions, festivals, workshops, trips and other activities organised or facilitated by S-MB Company.

· Online and virtual activities delivered by S-MB Company.

· Activities taking place at S-MB venues and at external venues used by S-MB Company.

For safeguarding purposes, S-MB Company treats anyone under the age of 18 as a child or young person. Safeguarding responsibilities therefore continue to apply to students aged 16 and 17.

Safeguarding means taking reasonable and appropriate steps to protect children and young people from harm, abuse, neglect and exploitation and to promote their safety and wellbeing.

Safeguarding concerns may include, but are not limited to:

· Physical abuse.

· Emotional or psychological abuse.

· Sexual abuse or sexual exploitation.

· Neglect.

· Bullying, including cyberbullying.

· Exploitation, trafficking or other forms of harm.

· Domestic abuse or concerns arising within a child's home or wider circumstances.

· Online harm or inappropriate online contact.

· Concerns about the behaviour of an adult towards a student.

· Any situation in which a child or young person may be at risk of significant harm.

· Abuse between children, including sexual harassment, harmful sexual behaviour, coercion and unwanted sexual contact.

· Humiliating or coercive teaching, body shaming, unsafe weight-control advice, excessive training or pressure to dance through injury.

· Take safeguarding concerns seriously and respond promptly and appropriately.

· Provide a safe and supportive environment for students.

· Ensure staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities and know how to report concerns.

· Ensure relevant staff receive safeguarding training appropriate to their role.

· Use appropriate recruitment and pre-employment checks, including Disclosure Scotland checks where required.

· Maintain appropriate first-aid and emergency arrangements for S-MB activities.

· Carry out appropriate risk assessments for activities and venues.

· Handle safeguarding information securely and share it only where necessary and lawful.

· Review safeguarding arrangements regularly and update them where required.

· Work with parents/guardians and relevant external organisations where appropriate to support student safety and welfare.

All staff and volunteers have a responsibility to promote the safety and wellbeing of S-MB students. They must follow this policy and any related safeguarding procedures that apply to their role.

· Remain alert to possible signs of abuse, neglect, exploitation or other safeguarding concerns.

· Listen appropriately if a student raises a concern or makes a disclosure.

· Take concerns seriously and avoid dismissing, investigating or attempting to prove an allegation themselves.

· Report safeguarding concerns promptly through the S-MB reporting route.

· Maintain appropriate professional boundaries with students.

· Never engage in sexual activity or inappropriate conduct with a child or young person.

· Never deliberately place a student at unnecessary risk of harm.

· Maintain appropriate confidentiality while understanding that safeguarding information may need to be shared to protect a child or another person.

· Complete safeguarding training and raise any questions about safeguarding responsibilities with the DSL.

Sara-Maria G Barton is S-MB Company's Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and has responsibility for overseeing S-MB's safeguarding arrangements.

· Acting as the main safeguarding point of contact for S-MB staff and students.

· Receiving and responding to safeguarding concerns.

· Ensuring safeguarding concerns are appropriately recorded and handled.

· Ensuring staff receive appropriate safeguarding training.

· Reviewing this policy and related safeguarding procedures.

· Considering whether information should be shared with parents/guardians or relevant external agencies, subject to safeguarding and legal requirements.

Safeguarding contact: info@s-mbcompany.com

A safeguarding concern may arise because a student makes a disclosure, a staff member observes something concerning, information is received from a parent/guardian or another person, or circumstances give rise to a reasonable concern about a student's safety or welfare.

Staff should listen calmly, take the concern seriously and avoid asking leading questions or carrying out their own investigation. The concern should be reported to the DSL as soon as reasonably possible.

Where a child is in immediate danger or there is an immediate risk of serious harm, emergency services should be contacted by calling 999. The DSL should then be informed as soon as reasonably practicable.

Reassure the student that they have done the right thing by speaking. Listen without judgement, do not promise secrecy, and explain that information will be shared only with people who need to help keep them safe. Ask only minimal, open questions needed to understand immediate safety; do not seek a detailed account or ask the child to repeat their disclosure unnecessarily.

The normal S-MB reporting route is:

· Report concerns to the DSL, Sara-Maria G Barton, without delay and on the same day. If the DSL is unavailable, contact the Depute Safeguarding Lead, Daniella Brown. Immediate protection or external referral must not wait for an internal response.

· Provide factual information about what was seen, heard or disclosed, including relevant dates, times and people involved.

· Do not investigate the concern yourself or promise a student that information will remain completely confidential.

· Keep any safeguarding records secure and only share them with those who need the information to manage the concern.

If the concern relates to the DSL, or if a staff member feels unable to report the concern to the DSL for another appropriate reason, the concern should be reported through an alternative appropriate route. Depending on the nature and urgency of the concern, this may include contacting Police Scotland or the relevant local authority child protection service. In an emergency, call 999.

If neither safeguarding lead is available, the concern involves a lead, or a concern remains unresolved and a child may be at risk, staff must contact the relevant local authority child-protection service or Police Scotland directly. In immediate danger call 999; suspected crimes can be reported to Police Scotland on 101. Record the referral, advice received and action taken. Use the service for the area where the child is located and seek advice if responsibility is unclear.

Record the concern promptly using a safeguarding concern record: student details; date, time and location; the child’s exact words where possible; factual observations; people present; immediate safety measures; who was contacted and when; advice received; and follow-up responsibility. Separate fact from opinion, date and identify the author, and preserve the original record. A written record must not delay urgent reporting.

S-MB Company will take any allegation or concern that a staff member, volunteer, contractor or other adult working with S-MB students may have harmed, abused or placed a student at risk seriously.

Such concerns must be reported without delay to the DSL. Where the concern involves the DSL, report to the Depute Safeguarding Lead and, where child-protection concerns arise, directly to the relevant local authority service or Police Scotland. Where both leads are implicated or there is a conflict of interest, use the external route directly. S-MB will act in accordance with safeguarding requirements, employment procedures and applicable law.

S-MB Company will not assume that an allegation is true or false. Concerns will be handled fairly, sensitively and with appropriate regard to the safety of the child and the rights of those involved.

The safeguarding lead handling the concern must assess immediate safety, obtain appropriate external advice and consider temporary restrictions on duties or contact with students. Suspension is not automatic and protective action is not a finding of guilt. Staff must not confront the person concerned, conduct a child-protection investigation or take steps that could compromise police or social-work enquiries.

Preserve relevant messages, records and other evidence securely; request preservation of relevant venue CCTV promptly through the authorised operator. Do not copy or forward suspected illegal images of children; seek police advice. Where the statutory referral criteria are met, S-MB must make a referral to Disclosure Scotland within the required timescale, including where the person resigns or leaves before action is completed.

Concerns about conduct below the apparent child-protection threshold, including boundary breaches or inappropriate communications, must also be recorded and reviewed for patterns. Staff may raise concerns about unsafe practice or failure to act through the deputy or relevant external safeguarding agency without having to obtain the DSL’s permission. Good-faith reporting must not result in retaliation.

Safeguarding information will be treated sensitively and securely. Information will only be shared as far as is necessary and lawful to manage the concern and protect the relevant child or another person.

Staff should not promise a student absolute confidentiality if information may need to be shared to protect them or someone else. Where information is shared, S-MB Company will seek to ensure that only information necessary for the relevant safeguarding purpose is disclosed.

Safeguarding information will be handled in accordance with applicable data protection law and the S-MB Privacy Policy.

Necessary and proportionate information may be shared without consent where there is a lawful basis to protect a child. Record the basis, purpose, recipient and reasons for sharing or withholding information. Consult social work or police before notifying parents where notification could increase danger, alert a suspected perpetrator or prejudice an investigation. Explain information sharing to the child and family where safe and appropriate.

S-MB must assess whether each role is a regulated role and ensure legally required PVG membership and appropriate disclosure checks are completed before the person carries out that role. This includes employees, volunteers and contracted or visiting teachers where their duties meet the criteria. Membership alone is not evidence of suitability or a substitute for safer recruitment.

PVG membership became mandatory for regulated roles from 1 April 2025. The five-year membership model began on 1 April 2026; existing members move to that model in phases or through a subsequent PVG application. S-MB will record the relevant membership status, disclosures reviewed, check dates and expiry/renewal dates where applicable, maintain its organisational interest and notify Disclosure Scotland when a person stops carrying out a regulated role for S-MB. Staff must report relevant changes affecting suitability promptly.

Recruitment must include identity verification, appropriate references, review of relevant qualifications and employment gaps, and a suitability decision recorded by the responsible manager. Staff must complete safeguarding induction before unsupervised duties, know venue emergency procedures and receive role-appropriate refresher training. The DSL and deputy must have training suitable for handling concerns and referrals.

Relevant staff will receive safeguarding and child-protection training appropriate to their role. Training should help staff understand safeguarding responsibilities, recognise possible concerns, respond appropriately to disclosures and know how to report concerns.

S-MB Company will maintain appropriate records of relevant checks and training.

Staff and volunteers are expected to maintain appropriate professional boundaries with students at all times.

· Communication with students should be appropriate to the student's age and the staff member's role.

· Staff should avoid situations or behaviour that could reasonably be misunderstood or place either the student or staff member at risk.

· Before physical corrections or spotting, explain the purpose and intended contact, seek the student’s agreement and respect refusal. Use verbal guidance or demonstration where possible. Contact must be necessary, proportionate and professional; never use intimate or humiliating contact. General parent permission does not override a student’s refusal. Where immediate injury prevention or emergency first aid requires contact, act proportionately, explain where possible and record significant incidents.

· Staff should not engage in inappropriate private or secretive communications with students.

· Concerns about professional boundaries should be raised with the DSL.

· One-to-one teaching must be planned, appropriately authorised and observable or interruptible, with another responsible adult aware of the session. Avoid isolated spaces and unnecessary closed-door contact. Record exceptional arrangements and review individual needs.

· Use S-MB-approved communication accounts and channels. Involve parents/guardians where appropriate to age and circumstances; communications must remain professional and accessible for safeguarding review. Do not use disappearing messages, secret communications or personal social-media friendships with under-18 students. Report unsolicited inappropriate contact rather than continuing it privately.

· Staff must not arrange informal private transport for students. Any S-MB transport requires prior authorisation, recorded parent/guardian arrangements where appropriate and a risk assessment. In an emergency prioritise safety, notify the safeguarding lead and record the circumstances.

· Protect privacy in toilets and changing rooms. Staff entry or assistance must be necessary, explained and appropriate to age and individual needs, with another adult informed where practicable. Do not unnecessarily observe students changing or use photography or recording devices in these areas.

S-MB Company recognises that safeguarding responsibilities also apply to online and virtual activities.

· Students must follow S-MB's Online & Virtual Class Safety Agreement when participating in online classes.

· Students must not record, photograph or capture screen images containing teachers or other students unless specifically authorised.

· Staff should maintain appropriate professional boundaries when communicating with students online.

· Concerns about online harm, inappropriate contact, bullying or other safeguarding issues should be reported through the normal safeguarding route.

The S-MB Privacy Policy explains how personal information, medical information, photographs and video are collected and used.

Parents/guardians are expected to:

· Provide accurate and up-to-date emergency and medical information.

· Inform S-MB Company promptly of changes that may affect a student's safety or participation.

· Ensure students are dropped off and collected in accordance with S-MB and venue arrangements.

· Raise safeguarding concerns promptly with S-MB Company.

· Support students in following S-MB's behaviour, online safety and other relevant policies.

Students are encouraged to speak to a trusted adult, teacher or the DSL if they are worried about their own safety or the safety of another student.

Parents/guardians are responsible before the agreed handover to S-MB. Once S-MB accepts a student into its care, responsibility continues until safe handover to an authorised collector or departure under a recorded, agreed independent-departure arrangement. The end of a class does not by itself end S-MB’s responsibility for a child awaiting collection. No child will be left alone or sent away because a collector is late.

Each venue must have written arrival, collection and sign-out arrangements, including authorised collectors, verification of changes, late collection and missing-student procedures. Independent movement and travel permissions must be based on age, maturity and individual needs; the label “senior” does not itself establish suitability. Keep emergency contacts accessible to authorised staff.

Supervision during breaks, waiting periods and between classes must be agreed in advance and clearly communicated to families. Where S-MB retains care, identify the supervising adult and the permitted areas. Self-practice requires explicit authorisation, an appropriate activity risk assessment, staff awareness, check-in arrangements and an accessible means of obtaining help. Plan staff absence and emergency cover so other students remain supervised.

S-MB's Online & Virtual Class Safety Agreement sets out additional responsibilities for students and parents/guardians when participating remotely.

Parents/guardians should inform S-MB Company of relevant medical conditions, allergies, injuries or other circumstances that may affect a student's ability to participate safely.

Students should not attend when illness may put themselves or others at risk. Where a student becomes unwell or injured, stop or adapt participation, obtain appropriate first aid or emergency assistance and contact their parent/guardian where appropriate. Under-18 students must remain supervised until safe collection or an agreed departure; they must not simply be sent away. In an emergency call 999 without waiting for parental permission.

Maintain documented first-aid needs assessments and verify suitable cover for all sessions, including when venue reception is absent. Record relevant qualifications and expiry dates; lapsed certificates must not be counted as current qualified workplace first-aid cover. Agree individual medical and medication arrangements, reasonable adjustments and assisted evacuation where needed. Record accidents and review controls after incidents.

Teaching must support physical and emotional wellbeing. Staff must not shame bodies, prescribe unsafe dieting or pressure students to continue through pain or injury. Concerns about eating, overtraining, self-harm or distress must be handled sensitively through the safeguarding route and appropriate professional support, without staff attempting diagnosis.

S-MB Company does not tolerate bullying, harassment, abusive or discriminatory behaviour. Students are encouraged to tell a teacher or another trusted adult if they experience or witness bullying or other behaviour that causes concern.

Concerns about behaviour will be dealt with fairly and proportionately, taking into account the safety and wellbeing of those involved.

Child-on-child abuse and sexual harassment must not be dismissed as banter or ordinary conflict. Protect and support affected students, assess ongoing contact and supervision, and refer child-protection concerns through the safeguarding route. Respond proportionately to the needs of all children involved without assuming that young age makes harmful behaviour harmless.

S-MB recognises that susceptibility to radicalisation may raise safeguarding concerns and will respond through its safeguarding, student-support and referral arrangements. The statutory Prevent duty applies to specified authorities; S-MB will confirm whether its legal status or activities bring it within that scope and comply where applicable. This policy does not assume that being a private dance provider alone makes S-MB a specified authority.

SMB’s approach to Prevent is safeguarding-led, proportionate and focused on early intervention. A person should not be referred simply because of their religion, ethnicity, political opinion, lawful beliefs, appearance, social background or participation in lawful debate. Concerns should be based on relevant behaviour, circumstances, vulnerability or evidence that indicates a potential risk.

Staff should report evidence-based concerns to the DSL or deputy without delay and seek advice through the appropriate Scottish safeguarding or Police Scotland route. Immediate danger must be reported to 999. Staff must not investigate suspected terrorism or make referrals solely on the basis of lawful beliefs or protected characteristics.

Photography and video are managed in accordance with the S-MB Privacy Policy and the relevant consent provided by parents/guardians or, where appropriate, students.

Safeguarding concerns relating to photographs, video, social media or online activity will be handled under this Safeguarding Policy and may also involve the S-MB Privacy Policy and Online & Virtual Class Safety Agreement.

No photography, filming or livestreaming is permitted in toilets, changing rooms or during personal care. Staff must use authorised equipment and accounts; personal devices must not be used to capture students unless explicitly authorised under a documented procedure controlling secure transfer, access and deletion.

Obtain and record the relevant permissions and lawful basis for the intended use, explain publication clearly and respect the student’s wishes. Identify students who must not be photographed or publicly identifiable and apply that restriction discreetly. Avoid publishing identifying details, live locations or schedules that could create a safeguarding risk. Provide a clear route to withdraw consent for future use and seek removal of published material where practicable.

S-MB Company will maintain appropriate safeguarding records and will handle them securely. Records should be factual, objective and limited to information necessary for the safeguarding purpose.

This policy will be reviewed annually, or sooner where there are changes to legislation, national guidance, S-MB activities, significant incidents or identified safeguarding risks.

Safeguarding records must be held separately from routine class records with access restricted to authorised people who need the information. Store paper records securely and electronic records with appropriate access controls. Preserve an audit trail of referrals, decisions, follow-up and case closure; transfer information securely when necessary.

The DSL must maintain a documented retention schedule appropriate to safeguarding records, applicable law, relevant guidance and insurance requirements, with periodic review and secure disposal. Do not delete records subject to an investigation, preservation request or legal hold. Data-protection requests involving safeguarding material must be assessed before disclosure.

· S-MB Company Privacy Policy.

· S-MB Company Online & Virtual Class Safety Agreement.

· S-MB Company student and parent/guardian policies and terms.

· Relevant venue health and safety and emergency procedures.

· Relevant recruitment, Disclosure Scotland/PVG and staff training procedures.

· Venue-specific arrival, collection, late-collection and missing-student procedures; dance activity and independent-practice risk assessments.

Designated Safeguarding Lead: Sara-Maria G Barton

Depute Safeguarding Lead: Daniella Brown

Email: info@s-mbcompany.com

DSL direct telephone: [Sara to insert and verify]. Deputy direct telephone: [Sara to insert and verify].

Emergency services: 999

Police Scotland non-emergency: 101

Where a safeguarding concern requires referral to a local authority or other external safeguarding service, S-MB Company will use the appropriate current local route for the area in which the concern arises.

Edinburgh child-protection/social-work daytime contact and out-of-hours service: [Sara to insert verified telephone numbers and current referral details].

Glasgow child-protection/social-work daytime contact and out-of-hours service: [Sara to insert verified telephone numbers and current referral details].

Implementation action: the DSL must complete and verify these contacts before this revised policy is issued, make them accessible to all staff and check them at each policy review. Email must not be the sole route for urgent concerns. Use 999 for immediate danger and 101 for suspected crimes when an emergency response is not required.

National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021 – updated 2023. This national guidance describes the responsibilities and expectations of those involved in protecting children in Scotland and provides the national framework for child protection practice.

Disclosure Scotland regulated-role, PVG membership and referral guidance; current Scottish Prevent guidance where applicable; and HSE first-aid needs-assessment and training guidance.

Implementation note: This policy should be implemented alongside S-MB's actual safeguarding procedures, staff training, recruitment arrangements and venue-specific emergency procedures. It should be reviewed if S-MB's activities or responsibilities change.