Child safeguarding statement

hild safeguarding statement – International House Dublin

Name of service being provided: Study Abroad English Language lessons and leisure activities.

  • We provide English language lessons and leisure activities for children aged 11- 18 staying in on campus and host family accommodation.
  • We take young people on trips and outings
  • In IH Dublin Young Learner Centre at Wesley College, we have a designated outdoor secure area where we provide outdoor activities for young people.
  • In IH Dublin Young Learner Centre at UCC, we have a designated indoor secure area where we provide sports activities for young people.

Guiding principles to safeguard children from harm:

The welfare and safety of every child and young person who attends our service is paramount.

  • Our guiding principles and procedure to safeguard children and young people reflect national policy and legislation.
  •  We will review our guiding principles and child safeguarding procedures every two years.
  • All children and young people have an equal right to attend a course that respects them as individuals and encourages them to reach their potential.
  •  We are committed to upholding the rights of every child and young person who attends our courses, including the right to be kept safe and protected from hard, to be listened to, and to be heard.
  • Our guiding principles apply to everyone in the organisation.
  • Employees must conduct themselves in a way that reflects the principles of our organisation.

Risk assessment

We have conducted an assessment of any potential harm to a child while availing of our services, including online safety when accessing the internet. A detailed risk analysis is available on Child safeguarding statement (1).

Procedures

Our Child Safeguarding Statement has been developed in line with requirements under the Children First Act 2015, Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children (2017) and Tusla’s Child Safeugarding: A Guide for Policy, Procedure and Practice. In addition to the procedures listed, our risk assessment, the following procedures support our intention to safeguard children and young people while they are availing of our service:

  • Procedure for the management of allegations of abuse or misconduct against workers/ host family of a child/ young person availing of our services.
  • Procedures for the safe recruitment and selection of workers and volunteers to work with children
  • Procedure for provision of and access to child safeguarding training and information, including the identification or the occurrence of harm.
  • Procedure for the reporting of child protection or welfare concerns to TUSLA
  • Procedure for appointing relevant persons and maintaining list of mandated persons.

Implementation

We recognise that implementation is an on-going process. Our service is committed to the

implementation of this Child Safeguarding Statement and the procedures that support our intention to keep children safe from harm while availing our service.

This Child Safeguarding statement will be reviewed on 1st June 2024 or as soon as practicable after there has been a material change in any matter to which the statement refers.

For queries, please contact Carmel Hickey, Head of Education