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Child Protection Policy

Promoting a safer church

Introduction

  1. We hold the safety and welfare of the children at our gatherings to be critical. We do this because we love and care for these children, because it is a legal requirement and because we wish to be held to the highest standards in this matter. This policy sets out how we will protect children.
  2. This policy is designed to cover Christ Church Queensferry (“CCQ”) who currently meet at Rosebery Hall, 17 West Terrace, South Queensferry EH30 9LL, and offer a children’s programme during our regular Sunday gatherings. It must be reviewed if our meeting pattern or venue changes. It should be reviewed annually in any event.
  3. The policy sets out:
    • How we will operate the CCQ children’s programme.
    • How we will respond to a disclosure by a child of alleged abuse.
Operating the CCQ Children’s Programme
  1. Before working with children in CCQ in any capacity, volunteers must be approved through:
    • Completing an application form and providing two satisfactory references.
    • Applying for and being granted membership of the national PVG scheme.
    • Reviewing our child protection policy and practices.
  2. Volunteers must also be specifically endorsed by a CCQ elder in order to serve in a teaching role.
  3. Only approved volunteers will be regularly involved. Other adults will be allowed to participate under supervision of approved volunteers in exceptional circumstances (e.g. visiting missionary, potential volunteer, see Appendix 3).
  4. Our supervision policy is:
    • A minimum of 2 adults will be present in each room used by the programme.
    • We will also maintain a ratio of:
      • 1:8 for adult volunteers to children aged 5 and over.
      • 1:5 for adult volunteers to children aged 3 to 4.
      • 1:2 for adult volunteers to children in creche.
    • These ratios may be adjusted based on the balance of ages of children (guidance from external authorities on ratios is presented in Appendix 1).
  5. With regard to volunteers aged under 18 and vulnerable adult volunteers:
    • Volunteers aged under 16 are considered children. They are closely supervised by adults and are counted as children for supervision ratios. Application, references and PVG are not required.
    • Volunteers aged 16-17 and vulnerable adult volunteers are still under our protection. They are counted neither as a 'child' nor an 'adult' in terms of supervision (i.e. they do not count as one of the two required adults in a room). Application, references and PVG are required.
  6. Children will be allowed to use the toilet independently if able but will be given assistance by a single PVG’d adult where necessary. This will temporarily reduce the number of adults in the room below normal supervision ratios.
  7. We will have a robust registration process, including the capture of child-specific needs (e.g. health, dietary) and any restriction on who may collect a child either annually for regularly attending children or on arrival for visiting children.
  8. Every approved volunteer will attend regular child protection training.
  9. Any adult who wishes to meet one-to-one with someone aged under 18 for mentoring will:
    • Document an explicit grant of permission from both a church elder and the child’s parent or guardian via the one-to-one permission form (see Appendix 2).
    • Once permission is documented, meet only on the disclosed schedule, only under the supervision of the child’s parent or guardian, and only in the child’s home.
Responding to a Disclosure of Alleged Abuse
  1. We acknowledge and embrace our legal duty to refer all incidents of concern to the appropriate authorities. We will assist and cooperate fully with any investigation carried out by relevant external authorities.
  1. We adopt the working definitions of abuse detailed within the Scottish Government guidelines “Protecting Children – A Shared Responsibility: Guidance on Interagency Cooperation”:
  • Physical injury: Actual or attempted physical injury to a child, including the administration of toxic substances, where there is knowledge or reasonable suspicion, that the injury was inflicted or knowingly not prevented.
  • Sexual Abuse: Any child may be deemed to have been sexually abused when any person(s) by design or neglect, exploits the child, directly or indirectly, in any activity intended to lead to the sexual arousal or other forms of gratification of that person or any other person(s) including organised networks.  This definition holds whether or not there has been genital contact and whether or not the child is said to have initiated, or consented to, the behaviour.
  • Non-Organic Failure to Thrive: Children who significantly fail to reach normal growth and developmental milestones (i.e. growth, weight, motor, social and intellectual development) where physical and genetic reasons have been medically eliminated and a diagnosis of non-organic failure to thrive has been established.
  • Emotional Abuse: As defined as failure to provide for the child’s basic emotional needs, such as to have a severe effect on the behaviour and development of the child
  • Physical Neglect: This occurs when a child’s essential needs are not met and this is likely to cause impairment to physical health and development.  Such needs include food, clothing, cleanliness, shelter and warmth.  A lack of appropriate care, including deprivation of access to health care, may result in persistent or severe exposure, through negligence, to circumstance which endanger the child.
  1. On hearing a disclosure from a child/young person, the staff member or volunteer should take time to listen to the disclosure, avoiding any leading comments or judgements.  The circumstances and content of the disclosure are to be documented as soon as possible using the child’s language and avoiding statements of opinion.
  1. The documented disclosure is passed to the Safeguarding Coordinator as soon as possible who, if warranted, will make a referral to the appropriate external authorities. In the event that the disclosure relates to the Safeguarding Coordinator, it will be passed to an elder who is not related to the disclosure.
  2. The Safeguarding Coordinators are the elders. The elders can be found here and you can contact them here.
 
 

Appendix 1: External Guidance on Supervision Ratios


Scottish Government regulations for children in non-domestic premises (child-care):
  • 2 adults present at all times
  • Supervision ratios: 1:3 for age 0-2; 1:5 age 2+; 1:8 age 3+; 1:10 age 8+
NSPCC recommendations:
  • 2 adults present at all times
  • Supervision ratios: 1:3 for age 0-2; 1:4 age 2-3; 1:6 age 4-8; 1:8 age 9-12; 1:10 age 13-17
  • <18s helping with younger children do not count as adults for ratios
  • These are minimum ratios; children with additional needs or higher risk activities would require more adults.
  • Only vetted adults may supervise toilet trips
  • Have a trained first-aider on site
 

Appendix 2: One-to-one Permission Form

 
Volunteer Name:
Child Name:
Date of Birth:
 
Proposed meeting arrangements
            Location: in the child’s home
            Day, time and duration:
            Purpose:
 
Permission from CCQ elder
Name:
Date:
 
Permission from parent/guardian
Name:
Date:

 

Appendix 3: Volunteers from Other Countries


We are open to welcoming visitors from other countries to serve on a short-term basis in our Sunday school. We will follow these steps to ensure child protection:
  • Conduct interview with the person wishing to serve, establishing quality of spoken English and understanding of the Bible's teaching.
  • Check that they have the correct visa for volunteering.
  • Require an application form and two satisfactory references.
  • Request Police check (equivalent of PVG) from the home country, including assessment where possible of the reliability of this check.
  • Make full risk assessment of the individual based on all this information.
  • Require a PVG be completed if the person establishes an address in Scotland which permits this.

(Based with thanks on policy and guidance from SU Scotland)

Glenys
Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and plan your visit.
Please click here.

Planning your Visit

Hello!

The following information will help you plan your first visit, so that you know, beforehand, what to expect on a Sunday. Below you'll find information about our location, parking options, accessibility, the format of our meetings and what we have on for children and babies.

If we have missed anything, just let us know by using the form at the bottom of this page.

Where and When

We meet at Rosebery Hall, 17 West Terrace, South Queensferry, EH30 9LL for our Sunday Service which starts at 2:30pm.

For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10-15 minutes early to ensure you find somewhere to park and find somewhere to sit before the service begins.

When you arrive, you should be greeted by someone on our Welcome Team who will be wearing a Welcome lanyard. If you have kids with you, the Welcome Team can tell you about our crèche and Sunday School.

Plan your journey

Here is a link where you can open Google Maps. Find our exact location using what3words: oblige.backswing.fallen

Parking

The building itself has no parking. There is free parking on Morison Gardens, Station Road and The BinksScotmid also has free parking but only for 2 hours so be careful to avoid a ticket!

Public Transport

We're on the Edinburgh side of the Forth Bridge so our nearest train station is Dalmeny. It is a 15-minute walk to our church building from the train station. The number 43 bus will bring you from Edinburgh almost to our church building. Ask to get off on 'The Loan' and head down the hill.

Accessibility

There is wheelchair access to the rear of the building (accessed via the flats at the bottom of The Loan). We have a ramp set out each Sunday and someone from the Welcome Team is always standing by to assist. As you come along the corridor you'll find accessible toilets on your left. From there you'll enter the main corridor and our meeting room is only a few metres away. We have moveable seating rather than pews and we have plenty of space for wheel chairs.

If there is something we can do to improve access for you, please let us know. We want to make our church as accessible as we can because we want everyone to feel welcome.

Our Service

The service begins at 2:30pm with a warm welcome from the person leading the service. The service includes different aspects: songs (led by our musicians), prayers, Bible readings, as well as news and notices being shared.

One of our leaders will then give a talk based on a passage from the Bible. The talk will help us understand what the passage meant for the original hearers and us now, how it points to Jesus Christ, and how it applies to our everyday life. We then finish with a final song.

At least once a month we also take the Lord's Supper together. This is offered to all members who are in good standing with their church family and who aren't living in unrepentant sin. Visitors who belong to other gospel-preaching churches where they are in good standing, not living in unrepentant sin and where they'd normally take the Lord's Supper, are also welcome to participate. Everyone else is welcome to observe what is happening.

At the end of the service there is always someone around to talk with you about what you have heard or about anything else that you want to talk about!

What about my kids? 

We have a great programme lined up for kids:

  • Crèche (0 months to 3 years).
  • Sunday School (3 years to the end of Primary 7).
Children under 3 years old can be dropped off at crèche before the service begins. In crèche the children get a snack. Please let the crèche leader know if your child has any dietary requirements and please make sure you pack a water bottle for them to use during this time. 

Children over 3 years old stay with their parent or grown-up for the first part of the service. We really value worshipping God all together as a family. Part way through the service someone will announce that it’s time for Sunday School. If it is your first Sunday you will need to go with your children to register them as part of our child safety policy. Even if you come regularly you still need to take the children to Sunday School to sign them in.

In Sunday School there is a friendly welcome, bible stories and lessons, praying, music, craft, drama and fun games. Please remember to pick your children up when the service finishes!

Children

Nursing Mums' Room
If you would like somewhere discreet to feed your little one or you just need to settle them, we have a room specifically set aside for this near our main meeting hall. Just ask one of Welcome Team to show you the way.

You'll find baby changing facilities in the accessible toilet which is just off the main corridor.
 
Get in touch with us to plan your visit
If you would like to come and visit the church beforehand you are more than welcome! Get in touch and we can arrange a time that suits you.
 
Name:
Telephone:
Email Address:
Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?

Next, we will contact you by email to say hello and help arrange anything necessary for your visit.
  
We hope that whoever you are, you will feel very welcome when you visit!
 
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