Safeguarding is everyone’s business

Promoting the welfare of Children and Young People to protect them from harm.

Safeguarding Statement

The purpose and scope of this policy statement

MIAG Limited & MIAG Education, known as ‘MIAG’ for the purposes of this Safeguarding Statement undertake to protect children and young people who receive our services from harm.

This statement will 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 and safeguarding.

This policy applies to anyone working on behalf of MIAG Limited and/or MIAG Education, including senior managers, and the Management Board, paid staff, volunteers, sessional workers, agency staff or students.

The Legal Framework

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

Supporting Documents

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

Role Description for the designated safeguarding lead (DSL)
Dealing with disclosures and concerns about a child/young person
Managing allegations against staff and volunteers
Recording concerns and information sharing
Child protection records, retention and storage
Code of conduct for staff and volunteers
Behaviour code for learners
Photography and sharing images guidance
Safer recruitment
Online safety
Anti-bullying processes
Management of complaints
Whistleblowing
Health & Safety
Induction, training, supervision and support
Adult to child/young person supervision rations

Here at MIAG, we believe that

Children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind
We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of children and young people, to keep them safe and to practise in a way that protects them

We recognise that

The welfare of children and young people is paramount in all the work that we do, and all the decisions that 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 and young people, 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 and young people are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of need, communication needs or other issues
Extra safeguards may be needed to keep children and young people who are additionally vulnerable safe from harm

SENCO / DSL

A Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is the person who has the duty to ensure an organisations’ Safeguarding Policy is followed by all members of staff. The DSL is someone with the necessary knowledge, experience and training to fulfil their role. At MIAG our DSL is also our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo).

We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

Valuing, listening to, hearing from, and respecting them
Appointment of a nominated designated safeguarding lead (DSL); a deputy DSL and a nominated lead for Safeguarding on our MIAG Management Board (MMB)
Adopting child protection and safeguarding best practices 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 of staff and volunteers through supervision, support, training, quality assurance and improvement processes 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 using safer recruitment practices
Recording and storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance
Sharing information about safeguarding and good practice with children, young people 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 when they have a concern
Using safeguarding and child protection procedures to share concerns and relevant information with agencies on a ‘need to know’ basis, and involving children, young people and their families where appropriate
Creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment ensuring that we have a policy and procedure to help us deal effectively with any bullying issues that may arise
Ensuring that we have an effective complaints and whistleblowing processes in place
Ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for our children, young people, staff and volunteers by applying health & safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance
Build a safeguarding culture where staff, volunteers, children, young people and their families trust each other, respect each other and are comfortable to share any concerns

Our Successes…

“Thank you for the regular updates on our pupils, this really is appreciated and gives us assurance that our learners are attending and engaging”

School SENCO

“Spent an enjoyable morning delivering autism training to the wonderful team at MIAG in Bristol, thanks for inviting me. Lisa, thanks for making sure I could find the venue easil”

ASD Expert Professional

“Our learners are doing really well at MIAG, we get regular updates on progress and can really see that this type of learning environment is the right one for some of our students”

Head of Inclusion

I don’t want to go to another provider, MIAG get me

Current learner, academic year 24/25

MIAG is making a difference to young people’s lives, it is clear to see

SEND Consultant

What a fantastic provision, we wish we had known about MIAG before

Family of a potential learner