sports coach UK
Develop Your Coaching Workshop
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (16─18)
February 2010
For use by those accredited through sports coach UK’s Head Office Education and Training Team
The Learning Agreement
equity
confidentiality
professionalism
ownership
a child-focused approach
personal safety (emotional well-being)
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 1
In the workshop we will be promoting:
Workshop Outcomes
By the end of this workshop, you will be able to:
identify and recognise good coaching practice and the implications for your coaching
recognise your values and feelings in relation to child abuse, and understand their potential impact on your response
establish the signs and symptoms of child abuse and poor practice
take appropriate action if you have concerns about a child
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 2
Values and Feelings
What are values?
How are values formed?
Who influences your values?
What are feelings?
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 3
Safeguarding v Child Protection?
Safeguarding (the umbrella) ─ all children involved in our clubs and activities
Child protection ─ one panel of the umbrella-specific children who are at risk of suffering significant harm (this may relate to one or two children in our sessions).
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 4
Legal Framework andGovernment Guidance
Safeguarding and protecting
children
Children Act 1989 Children Act 2004
Recruitment and selection of staff and volunteers
Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
Other legislation
Human Rights ActUN Convention on the Rights of the Child
What does legislation do?
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 5
Legal Framework and Government Guidance (cont’d)
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2006:
– Guidance document for organisations, working with children and young people
– States how organisations and individuals should work together to safeguard children
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 6
Safeguarding and Protecting Children in the Context of
the Legal Framework
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 7
Learning Outcome 1
Identify and recognise good coaching practice, and the implications for your coaching
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 8
Clip 1 - Poor practice (010)
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 9
Code of Practice for Sports Coaches – Key Principles
Rights – coaches must respect and champion the rights of every individual to participate in sport
Relationships – coaches must develop a relationship with athletes (and others) that is based on openness, honesty, mutual trust and respect
Responsibilities: personal standards – coachesmust demonstrate proper personal behaviour and conduct at all times
Responsibilities: professional standards – to maximise benefits and minimise the risks to athletes, coaches must attain a high level of competence through qualifications, and a commitment to ongoing training that ensures safe and correct practice
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 10
Rights
Coaches must respect and champion the rights of every individual to participate in sport
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 11
Coaches should:
create an environment where every individual has the opportunity to participate
create and maintain an environment free of fear and harassment
recognise the rights of all athletes to be treated as individuals
recognise the rights of athletes to confer with other coaches and experts
promote the concept of a balanced lifestyle, supporting the well-being of the athlete both in and out of the sport
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 12
Relationships
Coaches must develop a relationship with athletes (and others) that is based on openness, honesty, mutual trust and respect
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 13
Coaches should always:
promote the welfare and best interests of their athletes
empower athletes to be responsible for their own decisions
clarify the nature of the coaching services being offered to athletes
communicate and cooperate with other organisations and individuals in the best interests of athletes
Coaches must not:
engage in or tolerate behaviour that constitutes any form of abuse (ie physical, sexual, emotional, neglect)
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 14
Responsibilities: personal standards
Coaches must demonstrate proper personal behaviour and conduct at all times
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 15
Coaches should always:
be fair, honest and considerate to athletes and others in their sport
project an image of health, cleanliness and efficiency
be positive role models for athletes
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 16
Responsibilities: professional standards
To maximise benefits and minimise the risks to athletes, coaches must attain a high level of competence through qualifications and a commitment to ongoing training that ensures safe and correct practice
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 17
Coaches will:
gain governing body of sport coaching qualifications appropriate to the level at which they coach
be professional and accept responsibility for their actions
promote safe and correct practice in line with codes of practice
provide a safe environment that maximises benefits and minimises risks to athletes
make a commitment to providing a high quality service to their athletes
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 18
Learning Outcome 2
Recognise your values and feelings in relation to child abuse, and understand their potential impact on your response
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 19
True or False?
1 Children are abused mostly by strangers
2 It is only men who sexually abuse children
3 Disabled children are less likely to be victims of abuse
4 Girls are much more likely to be abused than boys
5 In some cultures, it is acceptable for children to be abused
6 If social services or children’s social care are involved, children are usually removed from their homes
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 20
True or False? (cont’d)7 Children are resilient and, therefore, recover
quickly from abuse
8 Children under the age of five are more likely to be abused than older children
9 More children are abused now than 20 years ago
10 Children often lie about abuse
11 There is widespread reported occurrence of abuse in sport
12 Coaches have many opportunities to abuse children emotionally, as well as physically
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 21
True or False Answers
1 False
2 False
3 False
4 False
5 False
6 False
7 False
8 True
9 False
10 False
11 True
12 True
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 22
Acceptable or Unacceptable Behaviour?
1 A four-year-old child is left alone for half an hour
2 A 12-year-old child is left alone in the house for the evening
3 A five-year-old girl is sent to school in January, wearing a thin cotton dress and a summer jacket
4 A 13-year-old boy goes without lunch and dinner
5 An instructor takes a group hill walking without adequate clothing
6 A father smacks his 12-year-old daughter because she arrives home two hours late
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 23
Acceptable or Unacceptable Behaviour? (cont’d)
7 An organisation’s requirements for a particular competition cause the performer to make abnormal changes to her body composition/shape
8 A father bathes his 11-year-old daughter
9 A mother bathes her 10-year-old son
10 A female babysitter bathes a 10-year-old boy who is physically disabled
11 A male coach enters the girls’ changing room to talk before the competition
12 A male coach physically supports a young female gymnast during a tumbling routine
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 24
Acceptable or Unacceptable Behaviour? (cont’d)
13 A coach has sexual intercourse with one of his 16-year-old athletes
14 A male coach expresses his delight following a good performance by slapping the buttocks of one of his young female athletes
15 A parent has sexual intercourse with his or her child
16 A female coach works alone with a squad of male athletes
17 Parents make their 16-year-old child help out in the family shop every night and each weekend, rather than allowing him/her to socialise with his/her peers
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 25
Acceptable or Unacceptable Behaviour? (cont’d)
18 Parents constantly taunt their 12-year-old son who hates sports and enjoys ballroom dancing
19 A teacher regularly undermines the efforts of a 15-year-old girl and publicly reports all the errorsshe makes on her homework
20 A coach drives an eight-year-old child to exhaustion and tears during training
21 A player calls another player names
22 Initiation ceremonies within sports teams
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 26
Feelings
Recognise your feelings about an issue or concern
What would happen if your emotionsled your actions?
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 27
Learning Outcome 3
Establish the signs and symptoms of child abuse and poor practice
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 28
Different Types of Abuse
NeglectPhysicalSexualEmotional
Bullying
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 29
Neglect occurs when adults fail to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, and is likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development
Examples of neglect include:
failing to provide a child with adequate food, shelter or clothing
regularly leaving a child alone or unsupervised
failing to protect a child from physical harm or danger
failing to ensure a child has access to appropriate medical care or treatment
refusing to give a child affection and attention
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 30
Neglect
Examples in sport
Neglect in a sport situation could include a coachfailing to ensure children are safe and comfortable, exposing them to undue cold or to unnecessary risk of injury
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 31
Physical abuse occurs when someone causes physical harm or injury to a child (in this case)
Examples include:
hitting, shaking or throwing
poisoning, burning or scalding
biting, suffocating or drowning
giving children inappropriate drugs or alcohol
otherwise causing deliberate physical harm
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 32
Physical Abuse
Examples in sport
Physical abuse in a sport situation may be deemed to occur if the nature and intensity of training and competition exceed the capacity of the child’s immature and growing body
This includes instances where drugs are used to delay puberty, control diet or enhance performance
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 33
Sexual abuse occurs when adults or other young people (both male and female) use children to meet their own sexual needs
This could include:
full sexual intercourse
masturbation, oral sex, anal intercourse or fondling
involving children in producing pornographic material (eg videos or photographs)
showing children pornographic material (eg magazines, videos or pictures)
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 34
Sexual AbuseExamples in sport
There are situations within all sports in which the potential for this form of abuse exists:
Some individuals have deliberately targeted sports activities, in order to gain access to, andabuse, children
There is evidence that individuals have sometimes ignored governing body codes of practice, and used physical contact within a coaching role to mask their inappropriate touching of children
Some people have used sporting events as an opportunity to take inappropriate photographs or videos of sportspeople (including young and disabled participants) in vulnerable positions
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 35
Emotional abuse is the emotional ill treatment of a child, resulting in severe and persistent adverse effects on his/her emotional development. Although it can occur in isolation, children who have suffered neglect or physical or sexual abuse will also have suffered some level of emotional abuse
Research shows that children who experience an emotionally abusive environment are at a higher risk of suffering other forms of abuse
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 36
The emotional abuse of children of all ages can occur in a number of ways, including:
imposing developmentally inappropriate expectations on them
making them feel worthless, unloved, inadequateor valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person
making their positive self-image entirely dependent on sporting achievement and success
making them feel frightened or in danger
shouting at, threatening or taunting them
overprotecting them or, conversely, failing to give them the love and affection they need
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 37
Examples in sport
Emotional abuse in sport may occur if children are subject to constant criticism, name-calling, sarcasm, bullying, racism or unrealistic pressure to perform to high expectations (this may be from parents or coaches)
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 38
Emotional Abuse
Bullying is deliberately hurtful behaviour, usually repeated over a period of time, where it is difficult for those being bullied to defend themselves. Bullying can be verbal, written or physical.
Forms of bullying can include:
physical assaults name-calling, sarcasm and racist taunts threats and gestures unwanted physical contact graffiti stealing or hiding personal items being ostracised or ignored
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 39
Bullying
unexplained bruising or injuries
sexually explicit language/actions
sudden changes in behaviour
something a child has said
a change, observed over a long period of time
The presence of one or more of these indicators does not necessarily mean that abuse is occurring
In the first instance, you may wish to raise your concerns with your head coach/mentor
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 40
Possible indicators of abuse include:
It is not your responsibility to decide whether or not a child is being abused…
…but it is your responsibility to act if you have any concerns
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 41
Responsibility
Learning Outcome 4
Take appropriate action if concerns about a child arise
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 42
What Are You Going To Do?
Don’t panic! Stay calm; do not show disbelief
Support the person making the disclosure/allegation
Listen carefully
Write down exactly what is said
Take the concern seriously
Pass the information to head coach/mentor
Be aware of mirroring!
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 43
Reporting Structure
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 44
Poor Practice to Potential Abuse
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 45
Workshop Outcomes
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 46
Can you:
identify and recognise good coaching practice and the implications for your coaching
recognise your values and feelings in relation to child abuse, and understand their potential impact on your response
establish the signs and symptoms of child abuse and poor practice
take appropriate action if you have concerns about a child?
Where Next?
For further information on sports coach UK workshops, visit www.sportscoachuk.org
For further information on safeguarding children, please visit www.nspcc.org.uk
For further information on safeguarding children in sport, please visit www.thecpsu.org.uk
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 47
Do You Have Any Questions?
Thank you for your participationand support
Good luck with your coaching
Safeguarding and Protecting Children (1618) Slide 48
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