Safeguarding Policy

1. Status and legal context

This policy supplements, and does not replace, each school’s statutory and contractual safeguarding duties. Participating schools remain responsible for their students, staff, consent records, supervision, and mandatory reporting obligations.

For this policy, a child is any person under 18. Applicable law includes the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO), including mandatory reporting provisions and restrictions on identifying a child.

2. Safeguarding commitment

FIGS adopts a child-first, zero-tolerance approach to abuse, exploitation, harassment, bullying, discrimination, corporal punishment, neglect, grooming, and retaliation. The child’s safety and welfare take priority over competition results, reputation, schedule, or commercial interests.

• Every child is treated with dignity and without discrimination.
• Concerns are heard, recorded, escalated, and never dismissed because they appear minor.
• Adults do not promise secrecy to a child.
• FIGS does not investigate suspected criminal conduct; it safeguards, records, preserves evidence, and reports to the competent authorities.
• No person suffers retaliation for raising a concern in good faith.

3. Scope

This policy applies to FIGS officers, employees, contractors, officials, volunteers, photographers, partners, vendors, host venues, participating-school staff, students, parents, spectators, and any person accredited for a FIGS activity. It covers competition, training, rehearsals, meetings, online communication, travel arranged by FIGS, accommodation, changing areas, medical rooms, and associated social activity.

4. Responsibilities

5. Adult code of conduct

Adults must

• Use respectful, age-appropriate language and coaching methods.
• Keep interactions observable and interruptible wherever practicable.
• Use physical contact only when necessary, proportionate, explained, and appropriate for safety, first aid, or technical instruction.
• Challenge bullying, sexualised behaviour, humiliation, hazing, and discriminatory conduct.
• Use approved communication channels that include the school or parent where appropriate.

Adults must not

• Develop sexual, romantic, exploitative, or secret relationships with a child.
• Be alone with a child in a locked or concealed area except during an immediate emergency.
• Share a bedroom with a child, invite a child to private accommodation, or provide unauthorised one-to-one transport.
• Use corporal punishment, degrading treatment, threats, favouritism, or gifts intended to create obligation.
• Exchange private social-media accounts or send disappearing, sexualised, or secret messages.
• Photograph or publish a child contrary to consent, accreditation, event rules, or legal privacy requirements.

6. Minimum event controls

1. A named Event Safeguarding Officer and deputy with visible contact details.
2. Accreditation that distinguishes students, school staff, officials, vendors, media, and spectators.
3. Controlled access to field-of-play, changing, medical, accommodation, and student assembly areas.
4. School-controlled attendance, arrival, handover, departure, and missing-child procedures.
5. Separate and appropriately supervised changing arrangements; no photography in changing or medical areas.
6. Approved photographers only, with clear consent rules and no publication of unnecessary identifying information.
7. Accessible reporting routes for children and adults, including a private but observable conversation space.
8. Briefing for officials, volunteers, venue staff, and vendors before access is granted.

7. Reporting and response

If a child discloses a concern

1. Listen calmly; do not interrogate, lead, blame, or express disbelief.
2. Explain that the information must be shared with people who can help.
3. Record the child’s words, time, location, persons present, and immediate actions as soon as possible.
4. Protect the child from further contact with the person or hazard, without confronting an alleged offender in the child’s presence.
5. Notify the Event Safeguarding Officer and the school safeguarding contact immediately.
6. Where POCSO reporting duties apply, report without delay to the Special Juvenile Police Unit or local police. Internal escalation is not a substitute for statutory reporting.

Only those who need the information to protect the child, meet legal duties, or manage a fair process may receive it. Media, teams, spectators, and unauthorised staff must not be told.

8. Specific concerns

Allegation concerning an adult

Remove the adult from child-facing duties on a neutral, precautionary basis where necessary. Preserve fairness, avoid internal fact-finding that could compromise a statutory investigation, and notify the employer, school, venue, and authorities as legally appropriate.

Peer-on-peer harm

Safeguard every child involved. Harmful behaviour between children is not dismissed as “banter” or normal competition. Supervision, separation, school notification, and reporting decisions must reflect the nature and seriousness of the concern.

Missing child

Confirm identity and last known location, secure exits where safe, alert event control and the school immediately, search only under the event plan, contact the parent or guardian, and call 112 where risk or delay warrants emergency assistance.

Online, image, and media concerns

Preserve URLs or screenshots without redistributing illegal material. Escalate to the Safeguarding Officer and statutory authorities. Do not identify a child publicly or permit unauthorised interviews.

9. Records, confidentiality, and data

• Use a dated safeguarding concern form and preserve the reporter’s own words.
• Store records separately from routine event files with role-based access.
• Do not record speculation as fact.
• Document decisions, reasons, referrals, and persons notified.
• Retain and delete records under an approved FIGS retention schedule and applicable law.
• Do not include safeguarding details in general registration exports, team lists, or public incident reports.

10. Approval, training, and review

Before adoption, FIGS must appoint named safeguarding officers, approve reporting forms and retention periods, confirm background-check requirements with legal advisers, establish training standards, obtain insurance confirmation, and test procedures through a tabletop exercise. Review occurs annually, after a serious incident, and whenever law or official guidance changes.