Child Safeguarding Policy & Code of Conduct
Last updated: 17/06/2024
We take children's safety and wellbeing very seriously and this page describes our commitment to this.
Our Code of Conduct sets that our first responsibility is to children. To fulfill this, we partner with teachers and scientists; schools, cultural or public institutions, research entities and many others. In meeting their needs, everything we do must be of high quality. We constantly strive to prioritize underserved communities, promoting equitable education through the implementation of our programmes and projects. We have strong ethics and liaise with people promptly, accurately, and respectfully.
We may update this Child Safeguarding Policy from time to time in order to reflect changes to our practices or for any other reason. If we make changes, we will post the revised version on our website and update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page.
This policy should be considered together with the national applicable laws and regulations.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us by email at info@nativescientists.org.
1. Who does this policy apply to?
All members, collaborators, volunteers, or others working within the scope or on behalf of Native Scientists and/or attending its activities. A child is anyone who has not yet turned 18.
2. What is Child Safeguarding?
Safeguarding means:
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Ensuring children grow up with the provision of safe and effective care;
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Taking action to enable all children and young people to have the best outcomes;
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Preventing harm to children's health or developemnt;
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Protecting children from abuse and maltreatment.
3. Our commiment
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Recognise at all times that the welfare of the child is paramount.
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Guarantee that all children who engage with Native Scientists are treated with dignity, respect, listened to, and valued.
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Recognise that all children, regardless of age, disability, gender, ethnicity, religious belief, or other, have a right to equal protection from all types of harm and abuse.
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Recognise that some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs, or other issues.
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Guarantee that all suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and dealt with in confidence and free from harassment.
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Recognise that anyone who is bound by this policy has the responsibility to highlight concerns.
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Recognise that working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting children's welfare.
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Provide Native Scientists members, collaborators, volunteers and others with appropriate supervision, support and training so that those working directly with children know what to do in the event of a child safeguarding incident.
4. Procedures
4.1 People participating, managing or coordinating Native Scientists programmes involving children are required to read the programme's risk assessment and to adhere to our guidelines and instructions on how to deliver our programmes and work with children.
4.2 The participation of children in our activities and questionnaires is voluntary. Activities and questionnaires are carefully designed and monitored to provide a positive experience to children. A child's participation in an activity and/or questionnaire requires that a parent or legal guardian fills in a consent form.
4.3 All Native Scientists members, collaborators, volunteers and others coming in contact with children have access to a training session where our child safeguarding commitment and measures are explained. Moreover, all activities involving children require that at least one host institution staff member (e.g., teacher, school assistant, librarian, or any other individual nominated and deemed qualified by the host institution), or two designated parents/legal guardians, are present at all times and in the same space of the activity. At our activities, the teacher or parents/legal guardians are responsible for overseeing the safety and wellbeing of the children.
4.4 Anyone who suspects or becomes aware of a behaviour or situation raising any form of concern regarding Child Safeguarding must report this concern immediately to the Director of Native Scientists (the Safeguarding Lead) or, alternatively, to the Deputy Director. This can be done through email (info@nativescientists.org), telephone or other contact channels (see Team page on the website). The Safeguarding Lead will open an investigation in any situation, then assess the gravity of the behaviour/situation, and based on the information available/gathered, take the most adequate course of action. All enquiries and concerns will be treated promptly and with confidentiality.
4.5 Taken into consideration that our programmes do not involve regular contact with children but rather one-off or sporadic contact, we are not required and do not perform criminal record checks on Native Scientists members, collaborators, volunteers and others. Instead, we provide training, share this safeguarding policy, and further instruct people to refrain from physical contact with children or any other type of contact (e.g., messages, emails, social media) that is not strictly necessary and not related to Native Scientists. When needed, we are committed to collaborating with all the parties involved in the activities to assess the risk and co-decide on additional safeguarding measures.
4.6 All audiovisual materials (e.g., photographs, videos, audios) of children collected during Native Scientists activities require formal informed consent from a parent or legal guardian. The audiovisual materials collected are handled and stored with care and used mainly to (i) share the activity results with its participants, (ii) present the work in conferences, meetings and similar events, (iii) report the work to stakeholders, and (iv) apply for future funding. Sometimes, it may also be used in websites, social media and other digital platforms (see 4.7), and in the press, local media or similar (see 4.8).
4.7 Audiovisual materials used by Native Scientists or their partners in their multiple media and marketing outlets, including but not limited to websites and social media channels, are used with the sole purpose of disseminating the work carried out, and focus, at all times, on the activity as a whole rather than a particular child, strictly avoiding the exposure of the full face and body of the child and/or angles that may be more prone to misinterpretation or misuse.
4.8 No personal information about individual children is disclosed alongside the audiovisual materials or any other type of materials unless agreed otherwise with the children's parents/legal guardians and deemed important by Native Scientists. When consent is given, we disclose only the first name of the children, i.e. we do not include their surname or identify them by their full name. We may also disclose personal information such as children's age, heritage language, and/or area of residency (excluding home address and school). We make our best efforts to not disclose information that allows children to be easily tracked.