Dance. Dream. Achieve.

Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy - Inspire Studios

We are an independent dance studio in Sunderland providing classes, rehearsals, events and performances for children and young people aged 3 to 18. 

We put children’s safety, welfare and dignity before commercial interests, performance results or the reputation of the business. Everyone acting for the studio must recognise concerns, respond promptly and follow the reporting procedures in this policy. 

Studio details 

Business name and address  - Inspire Studios Sunderland LTD , 196-197 High Street West, SR1 1UG, Sunderland  

Policy owners  - Natasha Hair and Isobel Hair 

Studio Safeguarding Lead  - Isobel Hair  

Deputy safeguarding contact  - Natasha Hair 

Approved by and date  - Natasha and Isobel Hair – October 2026 

Next review  - September 2027 

 This policy reflects Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 and relevant principles of Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026, alongside the Department for Education guidance for out-of-school settings updated in February 2026.  

1.  Responsibility and safeguarding leadership 

This policy applies to both owners, employees, self-employed and visiting teachers, assistants, volunteers, work experience students, contractors and anyone working on the studio’s behalf, including online and away from the premises. 

The owners will:

• Ensure a named lead or deputy is available whenever children are in the studio’s care, with a clear route if neither can be reached. Display the contacts and external reporting routes for families and staff. 
• Check existing training against the role and arrange suitable lead-level training. 
• Provide induction before work begins, regular safeguarding updates at least annually, and refresher training appropriate to role and local guidance. Check understanding through discussion and practice scenarios. 
• Maintain concern records, safer recruitment records and risk assessments; follow referrals through; and cooperate with children’s services, police and Sunderland safeguarding partners. 
• Review policies annually and after an incident, a significant change or new guidance. Seek external advice where competence or impartiality is in doubt. 
• Encourage a culture of vigilance and that everyone is responsible for safeguarding – all adults must act. 

2.  Recognising concerns and responding to a child 

What may indicate harm 

Physical abuse may include inflicted injuries or harmful force. Emotional abuse can include persistent humiliation, threats, rejection or coercion. Sexual abuse can involve contact, non-contact activity, grooming or exploitation, including online. Neglect involves unmet care, supervision, health or emotional needs. A concern may arise from a single event or a pattern; a disclosure is not required. 

Notice unexplained injuries, fear of an adult, marked changes in mood or attendance, sexualised behaviour, hunger, poor hygiene, persistent exhaustion or lack of appropriate care. These signs do not prove abuse; record what you observe and seek advice rather than diagnosing or investigating. 

Be alert to domestic abuse, teenage relationship abuse, coercive control, sexual or criminal exploitation, trafficking, modern slavery, radicalisation, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, harmful practices and harm outside the family. Harm may involve adults, children, groups or online contacts. Also recognise self-harm, eating difficulties and serious mental health concerns; arrange urgent medical help where needed. 

Be alert to dance specific warning signs such as pressure to lose weight, unsafe changing arrangements, or an adult seeking access to children through premises. 

If a child tells you something worrying: 

Stay calm, listen and take the child seriously. Reassure them that telling was the right thing and that abuse is not their fault. 

Do not promise secrecy. Explain simply that you need to tell people who can help keep them safe. 

Allow the child to speak in their own words. Ask only what is necessary to clarify immediate safety, using an open prompt such as “Tell me what happened”. Do not lead, challenge, repeatedly question or ask them to demonstrate. 

Do not confront the person involved, arrange mediation, ask other children to corroborate the account or conduct your own investigation. 

Check immediate safety, report without delay and make a dated factual record as soon as possible. Do not delay a call to finish a form. Explain the next steps to the child in a suitable way. 

Make reasonable communication adjustments and use appropriate independent interpreting support where needed. Do not rely on a person implicated in the concern to interpret. A child may communicate through behaviour, play, signs or a communication aid. 

3.  Sunderland contacts and immediate reporting 

Situation - Contact and action 

Immediate danger or urgent medical need:

999. Give the child’s location and describe the risk. Keep the child supervised and follow emergency instructions. 

Concern about a child during office hours :

Together for Children Children’s Safeguarding 
0191 561 7007 
Monday to Thursday 8.30am–5.15pm 
Friday 8.30am–4.45pm 

Concern outside office hours:

Emergency Duty Team 
0191 520 5560 
Evenings, weekends and out of hours. Do not wait until Monday where protection is needed. 

Police where there is no emergency:

101. For suspected crime; use 999 if danger is immediate. 

Allegation about an adult working or volunteering with children:

Sunderland Designated Officer also known as LADO 
designatedofficer@togetherforchildren.org.uk 

Use the referral form linked on the SSCP Designated Officer webpage. Do not use email for an emergency. 

What to do and what to provide 

Report promptly to the Studio Safeguarding Lead or deputy and contact children’s social care immediately where harm is suspected or protection may be needed. If uncertain, telephone for advice. A referral must not depend on an internal assessment or permission. For a concern about a working adult, also follow section 4. 

Give the child’s name, date of birth if known, current location, home address, parent or carer contacts, exact concern, immediate risks, other children affected and action already taken. Identify yourself and give a safe callback number. Explain any risk from informing the family. 

Record who took the referral, time, advice and agreed next steps. Complete any written referral requested through the service’s current process. Follow up if acknowledgement or action is unclear; if no response within one working day, chase it, and escalate sooner if the risk requires. If dissatisfied, ask for a manager and use local professional disagreement procedures. Call again if circumstances worsen. 

For a child living outside Sunderland, seek the home authority’s children’s social care route. If urgent or unsure, use Sunderland services or police and ask them to coordinate; never delay for a boundary issue. 

4.   Concerns about owners and other adults 

This procedure applies to owners, teachers, volunteers, contractors and other adults with access to children. It includes relevant conduct outside work and concerns arising from another household member. An allegation is not a finding of guilt; protect children and seek impartial advice. 

Allegations requiring external advice 

Contact the Designated Officer without delay, normally the same day and no later than one working day, where an adult may have harmed a child, committed an offence involving a child, presented a risk to children, or behaved in a way suggesting they may be unsuitable to work with children. Where a crime may have occurred, also contact police. Refer the child’s protection needs separately to children’s social care; a LADO referral does not replace this. 

Use the current SSCP referral form and send it to designatedofficer@togetherforchildren.org.uk. If you need urgent advice and cannot reach the Designated Officer, telephone Children’s Safeguarding or the Emergency Duty Team. Use 999 for immediate danger. 

Whistleblowing and referral duties 

No one will be penalised by the studio for raising an honest safeguarding concern. Commercial or personal loyalty must never stop an external report. The owners will check and fulfil any legal DBS referral duty where someone is removed from regulated activity, or would have been removed had they not left, because the relevant harm conditions are met. Resignation or a private settlement does not remove a referral duty. 

5.   Safe people and safe premises 

Recruitment and continuing suitability 

Before appointment, check identity, relevant qualifications, work history and unexplained gaps; obtain and verify references, including relevant work with children; discuss safeguarding and boundaries; and check right to work where applicable. Assess overseas history and obtain appropriate additional checks where needed. Confirm role suitability rather than relying on familiarity or a DBS certificate alone. 

Determine each role’s DBS eligibility using current DBS rules. Obtain an Enhanced check for eligible work and a Children’s Barred List check where the role is eligible for that check, including regulated activity. Do not request checks for which a role is ineligible. Apply this assessment to owners, freelancers and volunteers as well as employees; obtain advice from DBS or an appropriate umbrella body if unsure. Record the check type, date, decision and any risk assessment securely. 

Do not permit a person to undertake regulated activity before the required suitability and barred-list checks are resolved. A barred person must not undertake regulated activity. Use current DBS guidance for self-employed applicants. Monitor suitability through supervision, conduct reporting, training and review; agree a documented rechecking approach rather than treating a certificate as a permanent clearance. 

Visitors and external providers 

Verify visiting teachers’ suitability and agree supervision, reporting and conduct expectations before they attend. A provider’s own policy or DBS check does not replace the studio’s responsibilities. Identify and supervise visitors, photographers, maintenance workers and delivery personnel as appropriate; they must not have unsupervised access to children by default. 

Residential flats and shared access 

Where residential flats are above or connected to the studio, access must be managed safely. The owners must check the actual layout and record how access, entrances, stairs, toilets and escape routes are managed. Prevent unauthorised access to teaching and changing areas, with safe fire escape maintained. 

Supervision and readiness 

Set safe group sizes and adult supervision for age, ability, SEND, space and activity, including breaks and toilet access. Children or teenage helpers must not carry sole responsibility for supervising a class. Keep attendance and emergency contacts available, check equipment and floors, provide first aid arrangements, and record accidents. Operate linked first aid, health and safety, fire and emergency procedures. 

6.  Safe dance teaching and care arrangements 

Touch and physical correction 

Use explanation, demonstration or visual cues first. Explain any proposed teaching contact, ask the child’s permission each time and respect refusal or discomfort. Contact must be necessary, brief, appropriate and observable. Parental consent never overrides a child’s refusal. Do not touch intimate areas, force flexibility, use painful corrections or require a child to continue through injury. Stop and record any unexpected incident or concern. 

Young children and personal care 

Agree toileting and any intimate care needs with parents before attendance, reflecting the child’s communication and abilities. Encourage independence; use named adults, privacy and appropriate oversight without exposing the child. Explain assistance, seek cooperation, record exceptional care and tell parents. Avoid unnecessary intimate contact; if care needs exceed safe staffing or facilities, agree adjustments before the child attends. Never leave a child distressed or needing help as punishment. 

One to one work and changing 

Plan private lessons with parental knowledge, a visible teaching space, clear start and finish times and arrangements that avoid isolated, closed-door contact. No secret lessons, home invitations or unnecessary private transport. If emergency contact or transport is unavoidable, notify an unimplicated owner and parent as soon as safe, and record why and what happened. 

Provide private, age-appropriate changing and toilet arrangements, considering individual needs and preferences. Separate adult changing from children’s changing; an 18-year-old student is an adult for these arrangements. No photography, recording or device use in changing or toilet areas. Adults enter only for a justified care or safety reason, explain first where possible and record any exceptional incident. 

Arrival collection and missing children 

Record arrivals and departures, authorised collectors and emergency contacts. Agree written permissions for older children to leave independently. Do not release a child to an unknown or unauthorised person without verification. Keep uncollected children safely supervised; contact parents then emergency contacts. If no safe collection can be arranged, seek children’s social care or Emergency Duty Team advice. If a collector presents a safety risk, seek police assistance as needed. 

If a child is missing, alert the lead immediately, secure supervision of the remaining group, check the immediate area and register, and contact police promptly according to the risk. Do not delay police contact for a young or vulnerable missing child. Inform parents unless doing so would create risk, document actions and review the incident. 

Shows and offsite activities 

Plan venue, travel, backstage access, changing, headcounts, handovers, first aid and emergency arrangements. Check child performance licensing, exemptions and approved chaperone requirements with the relevant local authority before the event; parental permission is not a substitute. Reassess safeguarding arrangements for holiday sessions or extended days. 

7.   Peer harm online safety and information 

Harm between children 

Bullying, discriminatory abuse, hazing, coercion, sexual comments, unwanted touching, sexual harassment and sexual violence are safeguarding concerns. Do not dismiss them as jokes or an inevitable part of growing up. Intervene to secure safety, listen separately, record and use the reporting routes. Support the child harmed and assess the needs and risks of the child alleged to have caused harm. 

Communication and online harm 

Use approved business accounts and platforms. Communicate with parents or carers for under-18 students; any necessary student group communication must be transparent, authorised and visible to another authorised adult, with parental knowledge. No private social media friendships, secret chats, disappearing messages or personal accounts for teaching contact. Follow the same boundaries during video lessons. 

Take reports of grooming, cyberbullying, sextortion, AI-generated sexual images, deepfakes or harmful chatbot interactions seriously. Do not ask a child to forward a sexual image, or view, download, copy or circulate it to check the allegation. Record the report without reproducing images; preserve other relevant information safely and obtain police advice about devices or evidence. Act immediately on threats or immediate risk. 

Photography and recording 

Use a clear, separate permission process stating the purpose and intended audience for each use, such as teaching feedback, a show recording, website or social media. Obtain appropriate parent or carer permission for under-18s and the child’s agreement; obtain an adult student’s own consent. Do not assume a registration signature permits every future use. Refusal must not disadvantage participation. 

Use approved devices and storage, restrict access and avoid names, school details, live locations or identifying information alongside images. No filming in changing areas, toilets or private care. Set audience rules at shows, brief photographers and protect children without image permission. Honour withdrawal for future use and remove studio-controlled published material where practicable; explain the limits once material is shared externally. 

Recording and sharing information 

Keep safeguarding records separately from routine class and marketing records in access-controlled storage. Record facts, exact words, actions, advice and decisions, including reasons for sharing or not sharing. Do not keep records on personal phones or informal messaging groups. Share relevant information securely with those who need it for protection; data protection is not a reason to withhold necessary safeguarding information. 

8.  Families records and adoption actions 

Parents and early support 

Usually explain concerns and intended referrals to parents and seek cooperation. Do not seek consent or alert a parent where this could increase danger, lead to intimidation or destruction of evidence, or compromise an investigation. Seek agency advice if unsure and record the decision. Necessary child protection referrals may be made without consent; an internal confidentiality promise must never prevent them. 

For emerging needs without an immediate protection concern, discuss support with the family and seek advice about community early help or Sunderland Family Help. Involve the child appropriately and review progress. Early support must not delay referral if harm is suspected. Cooperate with plans and meetings relevant to the studio, sharing observations rather than attempting social work assessments. 

Retention and access 

The owners must maintain a documented retention schedule covering child protection, allegation and recruitment records, taking account of current safeguarding guidance, data protection law, insurer requirements and legal advice where needed. Keep information only for a justified period, review securely and dispose of it confidentially. Do not delete relevant records during an investigation, complaint or legal hold. Seek advice before releasing sensitive records through an access request. 

Appendix A Safeguarding concern record 

Complete promptly and store securely. Call emergency or safeguarding services first where necessary. Use a separate continuation sheet if needed; do not limit the account to the spaces shown. 

Child name date of birth and current location 

________________________________________________________________________ 

Parent or carer details and safe contact arrangements 

________________________________________________________________________ 

Your name role and contact details 

________________________________________________________________________ 

Date time and place of incident or disclosure 

________________________________________________________________________ 

Concern and observations including exact words of the child 

________________________________________________________________________ 

Immediate safety action and other children potentially affected 

________________________________________________________________________ 

Who was informed when and how including agency reference 

________________________________________________________________________ 

Advice received decisions reasons and next steps 

________________________________________________________________________ 

Whether parents were told and reasons if not 

________________________________________________________________________ 

Child wishes communication needs and support agreed 

________________________________________________________________________ 

Follow up owner deadline outcome and review date 

________________________________________________________________________ 

Record completed by signature date and time 

________________________________________________________________________ 

Appendix B Guidance and local procedures 

Sources checked on 24 October 2026. Use current versions through the publication pages below. This policy adapts safeguarding principles to the studio; it is not a certification of legal compliance or a reproduction of school procedures. 

Department for Education Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2 

HM Government Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children--2 

Department for Education Out of school settings safeguarding guidance for providers updated February 2026 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-out-of-school-settings-code-of-practice 

Together for Children Safeguarding telephone contacts and opening hours 

https://www.togetherforchildren.org.uk/article/21096/Get-in-touch 

Sunderland Safeguarding Children Partnership Designated Officer and referral form 

https://www.safeguardingchildrensunderland.com/p/professionals-information-and-resources-1/designated-officer 

Ofsted Childcare registration exemptions 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/childcare-registration-exemptions 

Home Office Crime and Policing Act 2026 safeguarding provisions and implementation 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/crime-and-policing-act-2026-factsheets/crime-and-policing-act-2026-independent-inquiry-into-child-sexual-abuse-recommendations-factsheet 

Relevant legal framework includes the Children Acts 1989 and 2004, Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, Equality Act 2010, applicable child performance and childcare legislation, and current UK data protection law. Specific duties depend on the activity, role and registration status. Check current DBS eligibility and referral guidance when making decisions.