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Code of good practice

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CHURCH of SCOTLAND
Policy Statement – safeguarding the well-being of young people

‘The Church of Scotland has a deep concern for the wholeness and well-being of each individual. It seeks to safeguard the welfare of all people, regardless of age, who come into contact with the Church and its organisations. It is the responsibility of each individual within the fellowship of the Church to prevent the physical, sexual or emotional abuse of children and young people.’

St. Andrew’s Church has adopted the above policy. It governs all of our activities with children and young people and the conduct of our full-time and volunteer youth workers.Within that, we have developed various systems to put the guidelines into practice:

• Our fulltime youth worker is a well-trained, experienced professional. Our youth work team are trained in youth work issues and child protection matters; several are trained first-aiders. All are aware of necessary procedures should an evacuation of the buildings be required. Training is ongoing.
• Adequate staffing is provided for at all of our groups and organisations.
• Trips and outings will, on all occasions, be properly supervised. Such trips will only be engaged in following careful risk assessments.
• When appropriate to the needs of the young person concerned and, where, for example, a degree of privacy is required, members of our youth work team may, from time to time, engage in ‘one to one’ work.

CODE OF GOOD PRACTICE
(a summary of the code that our youth work team follow)

• We treat all children and young people with respect
• We provide an example of good conduct we wish others to follow
• We ensure that, wherever possible, there is more than one adult present during activities with young people
• We respect a young person’s right to personal privacy
• We encourage young people to feel comfortable about sharing what they think and feel
• We recognise that special caution is required when dealing with sensitive issues with young people
• We believe that the ‘common sense’ approach is usually the most prudent one
• We do not initiate inappropriate physical or verbal contact with young people, understanding that such contact can be misinterpreted
• We do not engage in inappropriate attention-seeking behaviour
• We do not make suggestive or derogatory remarks in front of young people
• We do not exaggerate or trivialise issues that are important to young people
• We do not show favouritism to any individual