Theatre Safeguarding Policy

Last reviewed: 28th March 2025

UnderWired Productions is committed to providing a safe and caring environment for children, young people and vulnerable adults. Their welfare is our main priority and is the responsibility of all UnderWired staff, trustees, freelancers and volunteers.

UnderWired Productions works with children and young people aged 0-18. Activities take place in theatres, studios, school halls and community centres that we have hired for specific projects & performances.

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that all children, young people and vulnerable adults are safeguarded and protected from abuse, neglect or harm. The policy will ensure all staff, trustees, freelancers and volunteers are aware of the need to protect children, young people & vulnerable adults, are able to recognise the signs of abuse, neglect or harm and are clear what action must be taken in line with our procedures.

The Children Act 1989 states the legal definition of a child is ‘a person under the age of 18’

A vulnerable adult is someone aged 18 or over who is, or may be, unable to take care of himself/herself or unable to protect himself/herself against significant harm or exploitation.

Our Duty to Safeguard

UnderWired Productions has a duty to safeguard all children, young people and vulnerable adults when they are participants in activities run by our organisation. We also have a duty to safeguard our staff, trustees, freelancers and volunteers. Safeguarding all parties will occur through:

Having a robust safeguarding policy and ensuring that all parties are familiar with the policy
Ensuring that the policy is reviewed by the Board of Trustees annually, is in line with current legislation and is an active document which is used in practice
Nominating a named safeguarding lead trustee and ensuring that all parties know who this is and how to communicate with them.

Our safeguarding policy will be the primary policy that our staff, trustees, freelancers and volunteers will adhere to. However, our activities take place in local schools, theatres, community centres and with external community groups and organisations. It is the duty of paid staff and freelancers to familiarise themselves with the safeguarding policy of the external school/group/theatre/organisation and use UnderWired’s safeguarding policy in tandem with the policy of the organisation that has the pastoral responsibility for the children, young people or vulnerable adults involved.

The role of UnderWired staff and freelancers in safeguarding

UnderWired staff and freelancers are in a position of trust and are requested to take shared responsibility for the safeguarding and safety of any children, young people and vulnerable adults in any school/theatre/community group/organisation or other location where UnderWired’s work is taking place, if they are involved in UnderWired Theatre led activities or shows. They will often be the first point of contact for a child or young person or vulnerable adult and therefore should understand their responsibilities and duties.

Code of Conduct

All staff, Board, freelancers and volunteers will be made aware of our ‘Code of Conduct’ when working with children, young people and vulnerable adults. The Code of Conduct outlines the expected behaviour of all staff, board members, freelancers and volunteers including confidentiality, relationships, communication (including online) and physical contact.

Policy

In order to fulfil our duty to protect all parties, we have the following policies, supported by clear procedures and training, which are updated annually by our Trustees

An up to date and robust Safeguarding Code of Conduct policy for staff, trustees, freelancers and volunteers as well as for participants
A clear stance on Anti-Bullying which protects participants from bullying from other participants or members of staff outlined in our Code of Conduct.
A strong expectation of company member behaviour which supports staff, freelancers and volunteers to manage challenging behaviour and follow procedure to solve behaviour issues in sessions outlined in our Code of Conduct.

We ensure all supporting policies are updated and approved by the Board of Trustees

Recruitment

We will carry out recruitment of staff, trustees, freelancers and volunteers through legitimate advertising channels.
We will ensure all staff, trustees, freelancers and volunteers are properly inducted and have signed to say they have read and understood all policies relevant to the work they are involved in, including the policies that relate to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults
All of our staff, trustees, freelancers and volunteers who are aged 18 or over will undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check or have a current DBS certificate that we can get verified
Our internal policy is that DBS certificates should be renewed every 3 years
- Employees – will need to apply for a new DBS certificate at the start of their employment
- Freelancers – will be able to present a current DBS for verification that is less than 3 years old or prove that they have signed up to the DBS renewal service

All paid staff and freelancers who will have responsibility for children, young people and vulnerable adults will not be able to have direct contact with participants until we have received their current DBS certificate

Volunteers over the age of 18 will be able to begin volunteering for us as long as they are currently undergoing a DBS check. They will not have any responsibility for children, young people, or vulnerable adults and will not be left alone with them under any circumstances until a current DBS certificate has been received and verified.

Health and Safety

To ensure the Health and Safety of everyone in the organisation we will:

Have an up-to-date Health and Safety policy and procedures in place to deal with any safeguarding issues including First Aid resources, confidential and robust reporting of accidents and incidents and COSHH procedures to ensure children, young people and vulnerable adults are not at any risk
Have risk assessments for all activities we deliver with and for children, young people and vulnerable adults in theatres, in schools and community settings.
Create a safe environment for children, young people and vulnerable adults to come to and follow our Health and Safety Policy to ensure all Health & Safety issues are recognised and dealt with to protect their welfare
Ensure that we have sensible staff ratios for all workshops

Talking and Listening to children, young people and vulnerable adults

It is important that trustees, staff and freelancers understand how to talk to and listen to children, young people and vulnerable adults when they may be making a disclosure.

Listening

Keep an open mind
Listen carefully
Ensure you are in a safe environment where the young person feels comfortable
Do not show anger, shock or react in a speculative/accusative manner – stay calm and work at the young person/vulnerable adults’ pace
Do not interrupt the young person/vulnerable adult or make suggestions about what is being said

Talking

Reassure the young person that they are right to be talking to you
Do not make false promises about confidentiality – make it clear to the young person/vulnerable adult that you will need to share their disclosure with the safeguarding officer at UnderWired Theatre and we will help to get the support they need
If you must ask questions, ensure they are open questions and clarify the facts – don’t interrogate
Summarise the key points and check back with the young person/vulnerable adults that you have the correct facts

Action to take and procedures for reporting

Listen and Record

Use the guidance above to listen to and talk to the young person/vulnerable adult who is making the disclosure

Ensure they understand that you will need to make a record of their disclosure to share with the Artistic Director Kali Peacock at UnderWired Productions – make sure they know you cannot keep it a secret
Reassure them that we are here to help them to get the support they need to be safe and this may involve getting their parents/carers involved, external agencies such as social workers/health professionals or the police (in extreme circumstances)
Take notes to record the disclosure accurately and quickly using the young person/vulnerable adults’ words – use quotation marks and be very clear and precise
Differentiate clearly between fact, opinion (if one is offered) and interpretation

Recording a concern without disclosure

It is possible that you may have a safeguarding concern from something you observe or hear. It may not be appropriate to talk to the young person you are concerned about immediately. In cases like this, please report and record your safeguarding concern immediately (procedure outlined below) and the Artistic Director will decide if the concern needs following up

Report

Please contact Kali Peacock Artistic Director of UnderWired Productions immediately (and certainly within 24 hours) if you have a safeguarding concern or if a disclosure has been made to you. You can contact Kali in person, by telephone or by email depending on the time of day/night. She will support you to submit your safeguarding report. If the concern is about the Artistic Director, please contact the safeguarding lead on the board of trustees.

Record

Once you have reported the safeguarding concern or disclosure you will then need to make a recording of the safeguarding concern on the provided form. This will be used as an accurate account of your concern/young person’s disclosure and will help the Artistic Director decide on the best action to take. Records will be kept confidential and only be shared with the appropriate people that need to be involved.

Consult

Depending on the nature of the safeguarding concern or disclosure, the Artistic Director will consult with outside agencies to determine the best cause of action to safeguard the young person/vulnerable adult

Discuss (if appropriate)

Depending on the nature of the safeguarding concern or disclosure the Artistic Director will discuss the issue with the young person involved and/or their parents/carers where appropriate. The Artistic Director will make recommendations to seeking the appropriate support and signpost to agencies that can support the safeguarding issues.

Referral

Where appropriate, a referral will be made to the appropriate agency/police to ensure that the safeguarding issue gets dealt with in a timely manner with the ultimate goal being to ensure the young person is safe, protected and free from abuse.

Record case confidentially

All safeguarding concerns or disclosures MUST be recorded through the procedures outlined above. Records will be kept in a confidential file that can only be accessed by UnderWired Senior Management.

Emergency Safeguarding Issue

If you feel the safeguarding concern poses an immediate threat to a young person’s safety call Kali Peacock regardless of the time of day/night. If you cannot reach Kali Peacock, call Michelle Garrett (Trustee Safeguarding Lead) and if you cannot reach Michelle Garrett, call the police. All contacts are in the key contacts section below. Please make a note of these contacts in case of an emergency.

Allegations against a member of staff/board/freelancers/volunteer

If a young person/vulnerable adult makes an allegation against a member of staff, board member, freelancer or volunteer you must contact the Artistic Director Kali Peacock immediately. If the allegation relates to the Artistic Director, contact the Board Safeguarding Lead, Michelle Garrett. If you have a safeguarding concern about the conduct of a member of staff, board member, freelancer or volunteer please follow the same procedure. Your rights as an employee will be protected according to the Public Interest Disclosure Act (1998) even if an allegation or concern is against someone in a more senior position to you.

The Artistic Director and Board of Trustees will decide on appropriate action to be taken depending on the nature of the concern or allegation.

Types of abuse and neglect

Abuse

A form of maltreatment of a child or vulnerable adult. Somebody may abuse or neglect a child or vulnerable adult by inflicting harm or by failing to act to prevent harm. They may be abused by an adult or adults or by another child or children

Physical Abuse

A form of abuse which may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm to a child or vulnerable adult. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of or deliberately induces illness in a child or vulnerable adult.

The harm caused by physical abuse can range from minor injuries to major trauma. These can include:

Bruising
Burns or scalds
Bite marks
Fractures
Scarring
Poisoning
Drowning or suffocating
Head injuries caused by a blow or by shaking
Fabricated or induced illness

Effects of Physical Abuse

The experience of being harmed may also cause mental health and behavioural problems in a child or vulnerable adult such as:

Depression and anxiety
Aggression and violence
Problems with relationships and socialising
Trying to hide injuries under clothing
Running away from home
Being distant and withdrawn

Signs of Physical Abuse

All children have accidents like bumps and falls which cause injury. However, you may have reasons for thinking that an injury has been inflicted on purpose if:

An injury strikes you as odd
A child is injured repeatedly
A parent/carer delays seeking treatment
A parent/carer or child gives unconvincing or inconsistent explanations about an injury

Emotional Abuse

The persistent emotional maltreatment of a child or vulnerable adult such as to cause severe and adverse effects on the child’s emotional development

Types of Emotional Abuse

Emotional abuse could include

Humiliating or criticising a child/vulnerable adult
Disciplining a child with degrading punishments
Not recognising a child/vulnerable adults’ own individuality and limitations, like pushing them too hard or being too controlling
Exposing a child to distressing events or interactions, like domestic abuse or substance misuse
Failing to promote a child’s social development, such as not allowing them to make friends
Persistently ignoring a child, being absent, never expressing positive feelings towards a child or never showing any emotions in interactions with a child (emotional neglect)
Serious bullying (including internet bullying) causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger

Effects of Emotional Abuse

Emotional abuse can affect a child from infancy through adolescence and into adulthood. It can setback a child’s physical development. It can hold back a child’s mental development such as their intelligence and memory and put a child at greater risk of developing mental health problems, such as eating disorders and self-harming. It can hamper a child’s emotional development, including their ability to feel and express a full range of emotions appropriately and to control their emotions.

It can put a child at greater risk of developing one or more behavioural problems such as

Learning difficulties
Problems with relationships & socialising
Rebellious behaviour
Aggressive and violent behaviour
Anti-social behaviour and criminality
Self-isolating behaviour (making people dislike you)
Negative impulsive behaviour (not caring what happens to you)

Signs of Emotional Abuse

A parent/carers behaviour is central to a child’s development, if a parent or carers negative behaviour towards their child is severe and persistent, it may indicate that a child is being emotionally abused. You may also notice difficult relationships between a child and parent/carer, a fearful, distant, or unaffectionate relationship may indicate a problem.

Signs of emotional abuse may also be present in a child’s actions. A child should be able to understand and express a range of emotions as they grow older. Similarly, their mental capacities such as intelligence, memory and speech should be normal for their age; as should their behaviour. It takes a lot of training to understand if a child’s development is not where it should be. However, if you think a child’s emotions, mental capacities or behaviour seem very different from other children of the same age, it may indicate an emotionally abusive relationship with a parent/carer

Sexual abuse

Involves forcing or enticing a child, young person, or vulnerable adult to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child or vulnerable adult is aware of what is happening. Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children. Sexual abuse can take place online as well as in person.

Types of Sexual Abuse

Child Sexual Abuse Includes

Sexual touching of any part of the body, clothed or unclothed, including using an object
All penetrative sex, including penetration of the mouth with an object or part of the body
Encouraging a child to engage in sexual activity, including sexual acts with someone else or making a child strip or masturbate
Intentionally engaging in sexual activity in front of a child or not taking proper measures to prevent a child from being exposed to sexual activity by others
Meeting a child following sexual grooming with the intention of abusing them
Taking, making, permitting to take, distributing, showing or advertising indecent images of children
Paying for the sexual services of a child or encouraging them into prostitution or pornography
Showing a child image of sexual activity including photographs, videos or via webcams

Effects of Sexual Abuse

Children who have been sexually abused may show a variety of signs and symptoms including:

Aggressive behaviour, sleep problems, bed-wetting, or soiling
Problems with schoolwork or missing school
Risk taking behaviour during adolescence
Becoming sexually active at a young age
Promiscuity

Signs of Sexual Abuse

In addition to the effects that sexual abuse may have on a child, you may also notice other warning signs, such as a child who

Suddenly starts to behave differently
Thinks badly of themselves or does not look after him or herself
Displays sexually inappropriate behaviour, including using sexual language and sexual information which you would not expect them to know
Has physical symptoms that suggest sexual abuse – these can include anal or vaginal soreness or an unusual discharge or pregnancy
Avoids being alone with a particular family member
Fears an adult or is reluctant to socialise with them
Tries to tell you about abuse indirectly, through hints or clues
Describes behaviour by an adult that suggests that they are being groomed for future abuse

You should also be alert to any adults who pay an unusual amount of attention to children for example:

Giving a child gifts toys or favours
Offering to take a child on trips, outings, and holidays
Seeking opportunities to be alone with children

Neglect

The persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development. Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse. Once a child is born, they need adequate food, water, shelter, warmth, protection and health care. They also need their parents or carers to be attentive, dependable, and kind. Children are neglected if these essential needs – the things they need to develop, and grow are persistently not met.

Types of Neglect

An inadequate home environment may suggest that a parent/carer cannot cope and can be a sign that children are being neglected
Adults leave their children alone for long periods, persistently ignore them, or fail to properly supervise or protect them from danger
Adults who have mental health problems, suffer violence in the home, or have a drug or alcohol addiction. It is possible that the children in their care may be neglected
Poor appearance is also a common sign that may indicate a child is being neglected
A child taking on the role of carer for other family members, in the absence of a parent is another sign

Effects of Neglect

Neglect can have a debilitating and long-lasting effect on a child’s physical wellbeing and on their mental, emotional and behavioural development. The effects may last into adulthood and may cause a person to neglect their own children later in life. In some cases, the effects can cause permanent disabilities and in severe cases death.

The effects of physical neglect may include:

Poor muscle tone/prominent joints
Poor skin, sores, rashes, flea bites
Thin or swollen tummy
Poor hygiene like being dirty or smelly
Untreated health problems such as bad teeth
Unwashed clothing
Inadequate clothing like not having a coat in winter

The effects of neglecting a child’s mental health development may include:

Difficulties with schoolwork
Missing school

The effects of neglecting a child’s emotional development may include

Being anxious about or avoiding people
Difficulty in making friends
Being withdrawn

The effects of neglecting a child’s behavioural development may include

Anti-social behaviour
Early sexual activity
Drug or alcohol misuse

Specific Safeguarding Issues

There are specific safeguarding issues that are prevalent for children, young people and vulnerable adults which we need to consider when looking at the above types of abuse. They include:

Bullying including online bullying
Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and grooming
Discriminatory abuse
Domestic violence
Fabricated or induced illness
Faith abuse
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
Forced Marriage
Foster Child or living in care
Gangs and youth violence
Mental health including self-harm
Radicalisation and Violent Extremism
Sexting
Substance misuse (alcohol and drugs)
Teenage relationship abuse
Trafficking

For more information about any of the above safeguarding issues please speak to UnderWired Productions Artistic Director, Kali Peacock or visit www.gov.uk for more detail and advice on each issue

Key Contacts:

Kali Peacock

Artistic Director

Kali.underwired@gmail.com

07958 743569

Michelle Garrett

Trustee Safeguarding Lead

07748 827129

safeguardinglead.underwired@gmail.com

External Contacts:

Single Point of Advice (SPoA) at East Sussex County Council

01323 464222,

0-19.SPOA@eastsussex.gov.uk

NSPCC Helpline

0808 800 5000