Child Safeguarding Statement

IFI & Child Safeguarding

The IFI is committed to safeguarding all children and young people on our premises and/or engaging with our activities. Please see our Children Safeguarding Statement below. A copy of the IFI Child Safeguarding Statement can also be downloaded here.

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The Irish Film Institute Child Safeguarding Statement

The IFI is the national body for film in Ireland. Located in Temple Bar, Dublin 2, the remit of the organisation is to Exhibit, Preserve and Educate. We provide access to cultural cinema both at IFI and nationwide with exhibition partners and create opportunities for audiences to enjoy film and related programmes in our Dublin city venue.

Under the core function of Educate, the IFI welcomes children, young people and families to engage with IFI activities through our extensive education programme. This programme comprises screenings, a family festival, workshops, and other film-based activities and incentives for young people. While membership of IFI and the main programme is over 18s, we offer incentives for 15 – 18 to attend IFI with parental / guardian consent and we curate programmes for children, families and young people especially, and according to age appropriacy. Our aim is to create an ambient, open and safe environment for all audiences to enjoy and where children and young people availing of our services are safe from ‘harm’.

In providing for young audiences, the IFI is a relevant service for child safeguarding. As defined by the Children First Act (2015), this includes “Any work or activity which consists of the provision of— (a) educational, research, training, cultural, recreational, leisure, social or physical activities to children[1]”.

[1] According to Children First: National Guidance, ‘a child’ means a person under the age of 18 years, who is not or has not been married.

https://www.tusla.ie/uploads/content/Children_First_National_Guidance_2017.pdf

 

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What is Child Safeguarding?

Child Safeguarding is about protecting children from harm, promoting their welfare and, in doing so, creating an environment in which children and young people are enabled to grow, develop and achieve their full potential.

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IFI & Child Safeguarding

The IFI is committed to safeguarding all children and young people on our premises and/or engaging with our activities.

We define our principals for Child Safeguarding as follows:

We aim to create a safe atmosphere of mutual respect, where all children and young people will have a positive, enjoyable experience in a shared cinema or workshop space.

IFI Education programmes are curated according to age appropriacy, drawing on film classification guidelines or IFI Education Age Recommendations, based on international best practice.

IFI staff who are regularly engaging directly with children and young people are Garda vetted and will undertake Tusla online Child Protection Training – Children First E-Learning.

Facilitators / volunteers engaged by IFI Education will commit to our Child Safeguarding Statement and be familiar with our Guiding Principles and Child Safeguarding Procedures.

Our Child Safeguarding Procedures (2018) are fully compliant with the Children First Act (2015). The procedures are for all permanent, contract, and freelance staff, as well as volunteers, who engage with children and young people at IFI.

Groups of children and/or young people up to age 15 attending IFI Education events will always be accompanied by an adult(s) both in and outside the screening spaces.

Children under 12 are always accompanied by a parent/guardian/teacher when attending an IFI Family or Schools event or screening on IFI premises.

Young people under 18 will not be served alcohol or will not be permitted to view films outside of their age range.

Young people under 18 will not be employed by IFI for reasons of alcohol sales and potential late nights.

Young people 15-18 attending IFI independently with Irish Pass or reduced price ticket will not be permitted to view films outside of their age range.

Young people 15-18 signing up to IFI incentivised youth tickets will provide photo ID and parental/guardian consent.

Any child safeguarding or welfare concerns will be reported to Tusla/Gardaí in a timely manner.

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Risk Assessment

We have carried out an assessment of any potential for harm to a child while availing of our services. Below is a list of the areas of risk identified and the list of procedures for managing those risks.

Risk Identified	Procedure in place to manage risk identified
Non-compliance with the IFI’s Child Safeguarding Procedures	All staff, facilitators and volunteers engaging directly with children are provided with the IFI Child Safeguarding Statement. The Statement will be reviewed every 2 years. Any breach of the Child Safeguarding Procedures will be reported to the relevant line manager and Designated Liaison Person. All events involving children and young people at IFI are facilitated through IFI Education personnel.
Incident of inappropriate behaviour by a member of staff	Guidelines on recognising and reporting issues regarding child safeguarding as outlined in the IFI Guiding Principles and Child Safeguarding Procedures. Garda vetting required for all staff engaging directly with children. Staff are familiar with procedures and personnel for reporting to Designated Liaison Person and Tusla.
Recruitment of inappropriate person	Recruitment and selection procedures in place. Induction training includes familiarisation with Child Safeguarding procedures. Garda vetting required for any new personnel engaging directly with children.
Inadequate supervision of children	Children are never left unsupervised attending events in IFI Appropriate ratios of supervision adhered to Teachers/accompanying adults advised to be actively involved in supervision Children under 12 are not allowed in cinema unaccompanied Workshop facilitators accompanied by IFI personnel in workshop situation Transition Year work placement students are never left unsupervised or required to carry out age-inappropriate tasks 15-18 year olds attending IFI independently will not be served alcohol in café bar Staff training will include processes for age checking
Young people 15-18 attending IFI independently and accessing age appropriate films	All under 18s will obtain parental/guardian consent to avail of IFI incentivised ticketing or passes. Age information will be retained and used to verify age for film classification purposes and checked at point of ticket purchase.
Young people aged 15-16 attending IFI independently in 18s venue	Incentivised ticketing or passes for young people are only available on matinee shows.
Incident of inappropriate behaviour by member of the public / workshop facilitator / volunteer	Staff familiar with procedures for reporting to Designated Liaison Person or directly to Tusla
Online Engagement	All data on children comes under IFI GDPR code of practice Parental/guardian/teacher approval is secured before images of children at IFI events are posted on IFI website/social media Young people signing up to IFI incentives will obtain parental /guardian consent to receive mailouts/ezines etc.

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Procedures

Our Child Safeguarding Statement has been developed in line with requirements of the Children First Act 2015, the Children First: National Guidance, and Tusla’s Child Safeguarding: A Guide for Policy, Procedure and Practice. It operates in conjunction with our Guiding Principles and Child Safeguarding Procedures.

In addition to the procedures listed in our risk assessment, the following procedures support our intention to safeguard children while they are availing of our service:

• Procedure for the management of allegations of abuse or misconduct against workers/volunteers of a child availing of our service

 

• Procedure 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 of the occurrence of harm

 

• Procedure for the reporting of child protection or welfare concerns to Tusla

 

• Procedure for appointing a Relevant Person

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Implementation

We recognise that implementation is an ongoing process. Our service is committed to the implementation of this Child Safeguarding Statement and the Guiding Principles and Child Safeguarding Procedures that support our intention to keep children safe from harm while availing of our service.

This Child Safeguarding Statement will be reviewed every two years, or as soon as practicable after there has been a material change in any matter to which the statement refers.

 

Signatory of this Statement:

Provider

 

Ross Keane, Director/CEO

IFI 6 Eustace St.,

Dublin 2.

 

For queries in relation to this Child Safeguarding Statement please contact Alicia McGivern, Head of Education & Designated Liaison Person, IFI, 6 Eustace Street, Dublin 2. amcgivern@irishfilm.ie

Education Officer & Deputy Designated Liaison Person: Holly Furlong, hfurlong@irishfilm.ie