Safeguarding and child protection policy

Code Hamsters (Simple Platform Work Limited)
Version 1.0, approved 13 October 2026 by Mathew Long, Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL). Next review: October 2027, or sooner after any incident or change in the law or guidance.

1. Our statement

Our first priority is to keep children safe. It comes before teaching, before business and before anything else we do. Every child who comes to Code Hamsters has the right to be safe, to be listened to and to be protected from harm, whatever their age, disability, gender, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

This policy applies to everyone who works for or with Code Hamsters: our founder, tutors, volunteers, contractors and visitors. It covers every child and young person under 18 who attends a session, and it applies wherever and whenever we are working with children.

2. Our commitment

No person will harm any child in our academy. To make sure of that, we will:

• only let adults work with children after they have passed our safer recruitment checks
• make sure every adult knows how to recognise abuse and neglect and what to do about it
• supervise children at all times and never leave them with an adult we have not checked
• listen to children, take what they tell us seriously and never promise to keep abuse a secret
• act on every concern on the same day, and share it with the people who can protect the child
• act on every concern about an adult, whoever they are, including our founder
• keep accurate, secure records of concerns and what we did about them
• be open with parents and carers, unless telling them would put a child at greater risk
• review this policy and our procedures at least once a year

3. Our procedures

These are the procedures we have in place to keep children safe. Each one is published in full.

• How we handle disclosures from children: what a tutor does when a child tells them something.
• Reporting concerns about an adult who may pose a risk to children. Every tutor is given a printed copy.
• Code of conduct for tutors. Every tutor is given a printed copy and signs it.
• Safer recruitment: enhanced DBS and other checks before anyone works with children.
• Child protection records: how concerns are written down, stored and shared.
• Online safety: keeping children safe on computers and the internet.
• Photography and video: taking, storing and sharing images of children.
• Missing child: we ring the police and parents immediately.
• Health and safety, including first aid, accidents, arrival and collection.
• Sickness: children and tutors do not attend when they are ill.
• Risk assessment and emergency procedures.
• Fire safety and evacuation plan.
• Registration and parental consent form, completed when parents and carers book: emergency contacts, health conditions, school and consents, collected before a child’s first session and checked every term.

4. Contacts

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is Mathew Long, our founder. The DSL is responsible for this policy, for acting on every concern, and for making referrals to the services below. Mathew Long teaches every session, so the DSL is on site whenever children are, and holds an enhanced DBS certificate, which parents and carers are welcome to ask to see.

The local services above are for Manchester City Council, where our sessions run. If a child lives in a different local authority, we contact the children’s services for the area where the child lives.

5. Recognising abuse and neglect

Abuse is any action, or failure to act, that harms a child. It can be carried out by an adult or by another child, in person or online, and by someone the child knows or a stranger. The four main kinds are:

• physical abuse: hitting, shaking, burning, poisoning or otherwise hurting a child
• emotional abuse: persistently making a child feel worthless, frightened, unloved or ignored
• sexual abuse: forcing or enticing a child to take part in sexual activity, including online and whether or not the child understands what is happening
• neglect: persistently failing to meet a child’s basic needs, such as food, warmth, safety, supervision or medical care

Tutors are also alert to bullying and child-on-child abuse, online abuse, domestic abuse, child sexual and criminal exploitation, radicalisation, female genital mutilation and children who are struggling with their mental health. A tutor does not need to be sure, or to know which kind of abuse it is, before they report a concern.

Signs that something may be wrong include:

• injuries that are unexplained, or where the explanation does not fit
• a change in behaviour: becoming withdrawn, anxious, aggressive or clingy
• a child who is often hungry, tired, dirty or dressed wrongly for the weather
• knowledge or behaviour that is sexual and not expected at their age
• being afraid of a particular person, or of going home
• something the child says, writes, draws or types

6. What we do when there is a concern

1. If a child is in immediate danger or needs urgent medical help, we call 999.
2. The tutor tells the DSL straight away, and always before they go home that day. They write down what they saw or heard in the child’s own words.
3. The DSL decides what to do on the same day. If a child is suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm, the DSL makes a referral to children’s social care by phone immediately and follows it up in writing within 24 hours. If a crime may have been committed, the DSL also tells the police.
4. If the concern is about an adult who works with children, the DSL contacts the LADO within one working day, before any investigation. If the concern is about the DSL, anyone can contact the LADO directly.
5. We tell the child’s parents or carers what we are doing, unless that would put the child at greater risk or get in the way of a police investigation. Children’s social care or the police will advise us.
6. The DSL records the concern, the decision and the reasons, and follows up until the child is safe.

Anyone can make a referral. A tutor who is worried that a concern is not being acted on can contact children’s social care, the police or the NSPCC themselves.

7. Confidentiality and sharing information

We keep information about children confidential and share it only with people who need it to keep a child safe. Data protection law does not stop us sharing information to protect a child, and we do not need consent to do so when a child is at risk. We never promise a child that we will keep a secret. See our child protection records policy and our privacy policy.

8. Training

• The DSL completes training for designated safeguarding leads before sessions start, and refreshes it at least every two years.
• Every tutor completes safeguarding and child protection training before they work with children, and refreshes it at least every year.
• Every tutor reads this policy and the procedures in section 3 as part of their induction, and confirms in writing that they have understood them.

9. Working with venues

Where a session runs at a school or another organisation’s premises, we share this policy with them, find out who their safeguarding lead is, and agree how we will pass on concerns about a child who is also their pupil.

10. The law and guidance we follow

• the Children Act 1989 and the Children Act 2004
• Working Together to Safeguard Children (HM Government)
• After-school clubs, community activities and tuition: safeguarding guidance for providers (Department for Education)
• Keeping Children Safe in Education (Department for Education), as good practice
• What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused (HM Government)
• the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
• the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018
• the procedures of the local safeguarding children partnership

11. Complaints and concerns about us

If you are worried about how we have handled a safeguarding matter, contact the DSL. If your concern is about the DSL, or you are not satisfied with the response, contact the LADO or children’s social care using the details in section 4. Staff can also call the NSPCC Whistleblowing Advice Line on 0800 028 0285.