Child Protection Policy

Action Watersports Ltd

Safeguarding and Protecting Children and Young People Policy

Policy owner: Action Watersports Ltd
Club Welfare Officer: Dianne Raine
Reviewed: August 2026
Review frequency: Annually, or sooner following a safeguarding incident, change in legislation, governing body guidance or operational practice.

1. Policy Statement

Action Watersports Ltd is committed to providing a safe, positive and enjoyable environment for all children and young people who participate in activities at the centre.

For the purposes of this policy, a child or young person is anyone under the age of 18.

Action Watersports accepts its moral and legal responsibility to safeguard children and young people and to promote their welfare. We will take all reasonable steps to protect children from abuse, neglect, exploitation, bullying, harassment, discrimination and other forms of harm.

It is the policy of Action Watersports to:

Place the welfare and safety of children and young people at the centre of our activities.
Respect and promote the rights, wishes, dignity and feelings of every child and young person.
Provide activities in an environment where children should feel safe, welcome and able to raise concerns.
Recruit, train and supervise employees and volunteers appropriately so that they understand their safeguarding responsibilities.
Require relevant staff, coaches and volunteers to comply with this policy, Action Watersports procedures and the safeguarding requirements and codes of conduct applicable to their role.
Follow the British Water Ski & Wakeboard Safeguarding and Protecting Children and Young Persons Policy and associated codes and guidance where applicable.
Take all safeguarding concerns, disclosures, allegations and reports of poor practice seriously and respond appropriately.
Work with parents, carers, schools, cadet forces, youth organisations, governing bodies and statutory agencies where necessary to safeguard children.

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. Any member of staff or volunteer who becomes concerned about the welfare of a child must act on that concern rather than assume somebody else will do so.

2. Scope

This policy applies to all:

Directors
Managers
Employees
Coaches and instructors
Seasonal and casual staff
Volunteers
Contractors where their work brings them into relevant contact with children
Any other person acting on behalf of Action Watersports

It applies during all activities operated by Action Watersports, including waterskiing, wakeboarding, Aqua Park sessions, paddleboarding, personal watercraft training, inflatable fun rides, swimming activities and other organised activities taking place at the centre.

Where schools, cadet forces, clubs or other organisations visit Action Watersports, their own leaders retain their normal safeguarding responsibilities for members of their group. Action Watersports staff remain responsible for complying with this policy and for reporting any safeguarding concern that comes to their attention.

3. Club Welfare Officer

Action Watersports has a designated Club Welfare Officer, Dianne Raine, who is the primary point of contact for safeguarding concerns within the centre.

The Club Welfare Officer is responsible for:

Providing a point of contact for children, parents, carers, staff and visiting organisations.
Receiving and recording safeguarding concerns.
Ensuring concerns are dealt with promptly and appropriately.
Following the reporting procedures contained within the BWSW Safeguarding Policy.
Seeking advice from the BWSW Lead Safeguarding Officer where appropriate.
Referring concerns to statutory agencies where required.
Maintaining appropriate confidential safeguarding records.
Supporting Action Watersports in maintaining good safeguarding practice.

Details of the Club Welfare Officer should be made available to staff and displayed appropriately at the centre.

Where a concern relates to the Club Welfare Officer, or where an individual does not feel able to report a matter internally, the concern may be reported directly to the British Water Ski & Wakeboard Lead Safeguarding Officer.

4. Recruitment, DBS Checks and Safeguarding Training

Action Watersports is committed to safe recruitment.

Roles involving regular work with children will be assessed to determine the appropriate level of Disclosure and Barring Service check in accordance with current DBS legislation, eligibility requirements and BWSW requirements.

Where a role is eligible, Action Watersports will require the appropriate DBS check before, or as part of, the individual's appointment.

DBS checks for relevant BWSW roles will normally be processed through British Water Ski & Wakeboard unless the individual holds an appropriate certificate registered with the DBS Update Service which BWSW is able to verify.

The required level of DBS check will be determined by the duties undertaken by the individual. Action Watersports will not request a level of DBS check for which a role is not legally eligible.

Relevant coaches and staff working with children will also be required to undertake appropriate safeguarding training in accordance with BWSW requirements. Where BWSW requires DBS checks and safeguarding qualifications to be renewed, Action Watersports will ensure these remain current.

Safeguarding responsibilities will also form part of staff induction and ongoing staff training.

A DBS certificate is one part of safe recruitment and does not replace appropriate recruitment, supervision, training and safeguarding procedures.

5. Good Practice

Everyone working with children at Action Watersports is expected to:

Treat all children fairly, respectfully and with dignity.
Put the welfare and safety of the child before competitive, commercial or performance considerations.
Provide positive and constructive instruction.
Maintain appropriate professional boundaries.
Be an appropriate role model.
Challenge bullying, discrimination, harassment, threatening behaviour and inappropriate language.
Avoid conduct that could reasonably be considered intimidating, humiliating, sexualised, discriminatory or abusive.
Avoid unnecessary physical contact.
Where physical contact is necessary for instruction, fitting safety equipment, assisting a participant or responding to an emergency, explain what is being done where practicable and ensure the contact is appropriate to the situation.
Avoid unnecessary situations in which an adult is isolated with an individual child.
Conduct one-to-one instruction, where required, in an appropriate and observable environment wherever reasonably practicable.
Ensure that parents, carers or group leaders understand the arrangements for activities involving children.
Avoid giving individual children lifts in private vehicles except where properly authorised or in an emergency.
Not form inappropriate relationships with children or abuse a position of trust.
Report behaviour which breaches these standards.

A child who is aged 16 or 17 remains a child for safeguarding purposes.

6. Changing Rooms, Toilets and Personal Privacy

Action Watersports recognises that changing and shower facilities require particular safeguarding awareness.

Children should be given appropriate privacy when changing.

Staff should not enter changing areas being used by children unless there is a legitimate operational, welfare or emergency reason to do so. Where intervention is necessary, staff should act appropriately and, wherever practicable, avoid being alone with an individual child.

Parents, carers and visiting group leaders remain responsible for providing appropriate supervision of children within their group, taking account of their age, maturity and the circumstances of the visit.

Any concern regarding behaviour within changing or shower facilities must be reported immediately to the Club Welfare Officer.

Photography or filming is not permitted in changing rooms, showers or toilets.

7. Photography, Video and Images

Action Watersports seeks appropriate consent through its participant waiver for photography or video which may be taken during an activity, event or training session and used by Action Watersports.

For children, the appropriate parent or carer must provide the relevant consent.

Consent may be refused.

Where Action Watersports publishes photographs or video of children:

Images should be appropriate and show the activity in a positive and safe manner.
Children should be suitably dressed for the activity.
Unnecessary personal or identifying information should not accompany an image.
Images must not be taken in changing rooms, toilets or showers.
Images must not be used in a manner which could reasonably place a child at risk.

Parents, carers, spectators or other people taking photographs or filming at the centre should be prepared to identify themselves and explain the purpose of the photography if requested by a member of staff.

Any concern regarding inappropriate, intrusive or suspicious photography, filming or use of images must be reported immediately to the Club Welfare Officer.

8. Electronic Communication and Social Media

Staff and volunteers must maintain professional boundaries when communicating with children.

Communication relating to bookings, training, activities or arrangements for children should, wherever practicable, take place through a parent, carer, school, group leader or appropriate official communication channel.

Staff should not use personal social media accounts to develop private relationships with children they have met through their role at Action Watersports.

Any inappropriate electronic communication, online behaviour, image sharing or contact involving a child must be treated as a safeguarding concern and reported.

9. Recognising a Safeguarding Concern

Safeguarding concerns may arise from:

Something a child tells a member of staff.
Something witnessed by a member of staff.
A change in a child's behaviour or appearance.
Information provided by another participant, parent, carer, teacher or group leader.
Concerns about the behaviour of an employee, coach, volunteer or another adult.
Bullying or harassment, including online behaviour.
Inappropriate photography, filming or electronic communication.
Physical, emotional or sexual abuse.
Neglect.
Exploitation or grooming.
Any conduct which causes a member of staff to be concerned for a child's safety or welfare.

Staff are not expected to investigate or establish whether abuse has occurred. Their responsibility is to recognise, respond, record and report concerns.

10. Responding to a Disclosure

If a child tells a member of staff that something has happened to them, the member of staff should:

Remain calm and listen carefully.
Take what the child says seriously.
Allow the child to speak in their own words.
Avoid asking leading or unnecessary questions.
Reassure the child that they were right to speak to somebody.
Never promise to keep the information secret.
Explain that the information may need to be shared with people whose job it is to help keep them safe.
Make an accurate written record as soon as possible, recording what was actually said rather than interpretation or opinion.
Report the concern immediately to the Club Welfare Officer.

Staff must not investigate the allegation themselves, confront the person who may be involved or attempt to determine whether the allegation is true.

11. Reporting a Concern

Anyone concerned about the welfare of a child, whether the concern relates to something happening at Action Watersports or elsewhere, must report the concern to the Club Welfare Officer as soon as possible.

The Club Welfare Officer will follow the reporting procedures contained within the BWSW Safeguarding Policy and seek advice or make referrals where appropriate.

The current BWSW Lead Safeguarding Officer is:

Sarah Wassell
British Water Ski & Wakeboard
Email: safeguarding@bwsf.co.uk
Telephone: 01932 560007 / 07919 131671

Where there is an immediate risk of serious harm or an emergency, the priority is the child's immediate safety and the emergency services should be contacted on 999.

The Club Welfare Officer may also need to refer a concern to Children's Social Care, the Police, the Local Authority Designated Officer or another appropriate statutory authority depending upon the nature of the concern.

12. Concerns or Allegations About Staff or Volunteers

Any allegation or safeguarding concern involving an Action Watersports employee, coach, volunteer, contractor or other person working on behalf of the centre must be reported immediately to the Club Welfare Officer.

The person receiving the allegation must not investigate it themselves.

The Club Welfare Officer will follow BWSW procedures and obtain appropriate safeguarding advice. Where required, the matter will be referred to BWSW and/or the appropriate statutory authority, including the Local Authority Designated Officer or Police.

Action Watersports may alter or suspend an individual's duties while a safeguarding concern is considered where this is appropriate to protect children or allow a proper investigation. Such action is a protective measure and does not in itself imply guilt.

Where the allegation concerns the Club Welfare Officer, the matter should be reported to another Director and directly to the BWSW Lead Safeguarding Officer.

13. Recording and Confidentiality

Safeguarding information will be treated seriously and handled sensitively.

Information should only be shared with those who need it in order to protect the child, manage the concern appropriately or fulfil a legal or safeguarding responsibility.

Records should:

Be made as soon as possible after the concern arises.
Be factual and accurate.
Clearly distinguish between fact, observation, allegation and opinion.
Record relevant dates, times, people involved and actions taken.
Where possible, record the child's own words.
Be stored securely with access appropriately restricted.

Confidentiality must never be used as a reason not to report a genuine safeguarding concern.

14. Incidents During Activities

If a member of staff accidentally hurts a child, a child becomes significantly distressed, an action or physical contact is misunderstood, or an interaction could reasonably be misinterpreted, the member of staff should report the matter promptly to a manager or the Club Welfare Officer and make an appropriate written record.

Parents, carers or group leaders should be informed where appropriate.

Recording such incidents protects both the child and the member of staff and allows any welfare concerns to be identified and addressed.

15. Visiting Schools, Cadet Forces and Youth Groups

Action Watersports regularly welcomes organised groups including schools, youth organisations and cadet forces.

The relevant information is available for the group organisers to enable them to understand the arrangements for the activities being undertaken.

Visiting organisations are expected to:

Provide appropriate adult supervision for their group.
Inform Action Watersports of relevant safeguarding or additional support requirements where necessary for safe participation.
Ensure appropriate parental or organisational consent has been obtained.
Ensure participants understand expected standards of behaviour.
Work with Action Watersports staff if a welfare or safeguarding concern arises.

Action Watersports staff will not ignore a safeguarding concern because a child is attending as part of another organisation. Any concern identified at the centre will still be dealt with in accordance with this policy.

16. Poor Practice and Breaches of this Policy

Safeguarding is wider than responding to allegations of abuse. Poor practice which falls below the standards expected by Action Watersports must also be addressed.

Any employee, volunteer or other person working on behalf of Action Watersports who fails to comply with this Safeguarding Policy, applicable codes of conduct or reasonable safeguarding instructions may be subject to disciplinary action.

Serious concerns may also be referred to British Water Ski & Wakeboard and/or the relevant statutory authorities.

17. Policy Review

This policy will be reviewed at least annually and whenever there is:

A significant change in safeguarding legislation or statutory guidance.
A change to relevant BWSW safeguarding requirements.
A significant safeguarding incident or concern.
A change in Action Watersports activities or operating arrangements which affects safeguarding.

Action Watersports will continue to review its procedures to ensure that safeguarding arrangements remain appropriate, effective and consistent with current good practice.

Approved by: Action Watersports Ltd
Date: August 2026