Welfare and safeguarding FAQs for swim schools

26 April 2022

Click or tap on the questions below to find out more about welfare and safeguarding within swim schools.

What is safeguarding?

Safeguarding and promoting welfare needs is defined by Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 as:

providing help and support to meet the needs of children as soon as problems emerge
protecting children from maltreatment, whether that is within or outside the home, including onlin
preventing impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development
ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

Child protection is part of safeguarding and promoting welfare and is defined as activity that is undertaken to protect specific people who are suspected to be suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm. This includes harm that occurs inside or outside the home, including online.

When people talk about poor practice, what do they mean?

Poor practice refers to when the behaviour of an individual falls below a required standard, usually a breach of a code of conduct. This could be intentional or accidental.

The behaviour may not be immediately dangerous or intentionally harmful, but it is likely to set a poor example that needs to be responded to appropriately and quickly before they escalate and adversely impact on those involved.

However, some behaviour is deliberate and intended to enable abuse at a later stage. This is done by manipulating a situation and breaking ‘small rules’. This might look like giving one child more attention than another, regularly transporting children on their own or encouraging unnecessary physical contact.

It is important that all swim schools create a safeguarding culture where everyone feels comfortable to raise concerns so that instances can be challenged, educated and corrected.

What training does the swim school Welfare Officer need?

They need to have attended a Safeguarding Course, and the school must ensure their Safeguarding certificate is uploaded to the Swim School Online Management System (SSOMS). In addition you are required to attend a Welfare Officer training (Time to Listen) mandatory 3-hour course which will provide further understanding of the role and what support is available. More information to follow.

Find a Safeguarding CPD course near you: https://www.swimming.org/ios/course-information/swim-england-safeguarding/.

What is my safeguarding responsibility as a swim school owner?

The statutory legislation and guidance around safeguarding is clear that safeguarding is the responsibility of everyone. As a member of the Swim School affiliation programme, you are bound by Wavepower. You should be ensuring that you create a safe, honest and open culture where safe recruitment is followed, best practice around techniques and CPD’s are attended and people can raise concerns and your members feel able to enjoy their sessions with you.

What is a Welfare Officer?

A Welfare Officer is a vital role who provides a first point of contact for people within your Swim School to be able to raise concerns about safeguarding or welfare, and who can act as a source of support, advice and expertise.They are important as they may be involved in some very private aspects of people’s lives and may liaise with Police, other statutory agencies and Swim England; so appointing the right person cannot be underestimated.

The role and responsibilities of a Welfare Officer are outlined from Page 75 of Wavepower. It is important to note that a Welfare Officer cannot be an active teacher or coach at your Swim School, be related to one, or be related to the owner of the Swim School.

Does our swim school need a Welfare Officer?

A welfare officer is needed in every swim school as part of your affiliation requirements. They are the contact between Swim England and the swim school for any safeguarding and welfare concerns, as well as being the designated person that all members/participants of the swim school would go to with any safeguarding or welfare concerns. If someone has concerns about the Welfare Officer, then Swim England must be made aware and other statutory agencies can then be advised.

What email address should I use for a Welfare Officer?

Any email must be secure, to safeguard individuals’ and businesses’ personal sensitive information against malware and other individuals being able to access them. Avoid the use of [email protected] which may be accessible to others, and which also can create mistrust in people who want to raise a concern that their email may not be confidential.We recommend that you set up an email, e.g. [email protected] or [email protected] and advertise this using a Welfare Officer poster or communications for people to be able to make contact.

This also protects any future handover of documents, emails and information to a future Welfare Officer as it is not held on any personal accounts.

I don’t have a Welfare Officer, what do I do?

You should be taking active steps to ensure you are able to appoint a Welfare Officer who meets the standards outlined from page 75 in Wavepower.It is recommended that you speak with other Swim School’s in your area if you are struggling as it may be that neighbouring schools can act as each other’s Welfare Officer.

If you require any support and guidance, please contact the Learn to Swim Team or National Welfare Officer.

Why do I have to attend a Swim England specific safeguarding course?

As an national governing body, we have a responsibility to all our members, especially our children to ensure our safeguarding training courses are part of a proactive approach to creating a safe culture. We also have a duty of care to educate members in positions of trust or responsibility with the relevant, specific and appropriate information for our aquatic environments. This decision to only accept the Swim England course from January 2024 was based on a number of factors, and ensuring we align with other NGBs.

In attending a Swim England safeguarding course, we can be confident members are receiving a bespoke course, and the content design has been based on the trends of concerns and scenarios in an aquatic environment. In addition, we must not forget the opportunity to network, collaborate and share ideas when we are in attendance. Creating the content for our courses enables us to embed the key messages, update information, and signpost to policies, which generic courses don’t provide.

Quality assurance and standardisation are important to the organisation, and understanding what our members are being educated on ensures everyone is receiving the same message. If we continue to approve affiliated external bodies, we will have to quality assure every course to ensure it is fit for purpose, which we aren’t able to do.

Do I have to complete this as soon as I have a membership?

No, the course needs to only be completed when your safeguarding certificate is up for renewal. For example, if you complete a certificate on 31st December 2023, you won’t have to renew until 31st December 2026. (However, we always advise you to consider attending a Swim England safeguarding course sooner, if able to for the reasons stated). You will then need to attend a Swim England safeguarding course at the point of renewal, and following this every 3 years you then have the option to choose with safeguarding refresher you want to complete.

If I have a safeguarding certificate do I have to send it to Swim England?

Swim School members and their employees must ensure that their Safeguarding certificates are uploaded to the Swim School Online Management System (SSOMS) for their Swim School to become a member.

If you need to discuss what courses were accepted by Swim England prior to the change in January 2024, please contact the Learn to Swim Team.

If I have a safeguarding certificate do I have to send it to Swim England?

Swim School members and their employees must ensure that their Safeguarding certificates are uploaded to the Swim School Online Management System (SSOMS) for their Swim School to become a member.If you need to discuss what courses were accepted by Swim England prior to the change in January 2024, please contact the Learn to Swim Team.

What is a LADO?

The Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) is the person who should be notified when it has been alleged that a professional or volunteer who works with children has:

behaved in a way that has harmed a child, or may have harmed a child
possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child
behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates she or he may pose a risk of harm to children
behaved or may have behaved in a way that indicated they may not be suitable to work with children.

How and when should I contact the LADO?

All notifications that meet the criteria for the LADO should be reported to them within one working day.

You will find their contact details by searching for the LADO in your area. Different LADO’s have different reporting mechanisms so please check if yours is via an online form, an email, a referral document or via telephone.

It is really important that these are one of the contacts you are able to find quickly, so it would be a good idea to look this up pre-emptively, in case you ever need it.

If you do make contact with the LADO, please also fill in the same details on one of Swim England’s referral forms.

How do I report a safeguarding concern?

In the first instance, any safeguarding or welfare concerns should be raised to your Welfare Officer at Organisation level. If you cannot do this, and you have a safeguarding or welfare concern relating to a Swim England Member, please fill in the appropriate referral form, dedicated to either children or adults – the link for these forms is here: https://www.swimming.org/swimengland/how-raise-concern-complaint/.

You are also able to contact the Safeguarding and Welfare Team by emailing [email protected] or calling 01509 640700 (Option 1 for Swim England and Option 3 for Safeguarding and Welfare).

I have an urgent safeguarding concern, what should I do?

If you are concerned that a child or adult is at an immediate and serious risk of harm or abuse, you should contact the Police on 999 and the local Children/Adult’s Social Care Team in your area. For non-emergencies, you can also contact the Police on 101.If the concern is about a child, you can also contact the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000 which is available Monday-Friday 10am-8pm.

Any referrals made to any of these agencies will then need to be followed up with your Organisation’s Welfare Officer and the Swim England Safeguarding and Welfare Team using a referral form, email [email protected] or calling 01509 640700 (Option 1 for Swim England and Option 3 for Safeguarding and Welfare).

Should our Swim School have an emergency contact list in the event of a safeguarding situation?

Yes, it would be ideal for this list to also contain a procedure of who to contact and when. It should contain details of:

Swim School Welfare Officer.
Swim England Safeguarding & Welfare Team: [email protected]
Swim England Learn to Swim Team: [email protected]
Police: 999 or 101
LADO in your area
Children & Adult Social Care for your area
Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH).
NSPCC Helpline: 0808 800 5000 – Monday-Friday 10am-8pm
Any others that you feel are necessary and applicable.

What is whistleblowing and why is it important?

Whistleblowing is when someone raises a concern about a dangerous or illegal activity or any wrongdoing within their organisation. Raising a concern is known as “blowing the whistle” and is a vital process for identifying risks to people’s safety. You can raise a concern at any time about something that happened in the past, is happening now, or you believe will happen in the future.

Sharing information or talking through a concern can be the first step to helping an organisation identify problems and improve their practices.

A whistleblowing policy outlines the process for people to report certain types of wrongdoing that affect other people. It is important as it offers legal protection to you and offers a route for you to raise concerns about incidents, misconducts, or other offences.

Swim England has its own Whistleblowing Policy. You can also contact the NSPCC on 0800 028 0285 Monday-Friday 8am-8pm and 9am-6pm on weekends or Protect on 020 3117 2520.

Can I ask for safeguarding and welfare advice and guidance from Swim England?

Your initial point of call should be your Welfare Officer. If they are unable to provide support, you can contact [email protected] or [email protected] or call 01509 640700 (Option 1 for Swim England and Option 3 for Safeguarding and Welfare). Explain when you speak to someone that you are from an affiliated Swim School and they will be able to support or signpost you to the most appropriate department.

How do we securely record and store safeguarding and welfare concerns?

It is the responsibility of the Welfare Officer to ensure there is a secure method of retaining these records and making them accessible to those who require it. You may wish to use a Google Drive or other online storage that is linked to a generic welfare email address. The NSPCC provide advice and guidance on records here: https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/research-resources/briefings/child-protection-records-retention-storage-guidance/.

Does Swim England provide guidance on Safe Supervision and teaching in the water?

Yes, Swim England have a running pools section on the website which includes the Safe Supervision guidance. https://www.swimming.org/swimengland/worker-health-and-safety/

Where can I find advice and guidance on safeguarding adults?

The Ann Craft Trust (ACT) is a national charity which exists to minimise the risk of abuse of disabled children and adults at risk. Through pioneering training, practice reviews and contributing to world-leading research, they support organisations to safeguard disabled children and adults at risk and minimise the risk of harm.

For further guidance please consult Wavepower: https://www.swimming.org/swimengland/wavepower-child-safeguarding-for-clubs/

Ann Craft Trust

https://www.anncrafttrust.org/

Swim England Teaching Resources

https://www.swimming.org/swimengland/teaching-swimming/swimming-teachers/

For more information, please visit Wavepower: https://www.swimming.org/swimengland/wavepower-child-safeguarding-for-clubs/

What are some useful links to support my swim school with safeguarding matters?