Working safely with children
Code Clubs should be a creative, fun and safe place for children to learn.
Background checks
It's important to keep children in your Code Club safe. Before starting a Code Club, volunteers must complete any necessary local background checks specific to your country.
If there is a Code Club community in your country, please get in touch with your national team for further information. If there is no Code Club community, please make sure you familiarise yourself with the laws of your country and comply with them.
Our commitment to safeguarding
Code Club believes that a child, young person, or vulnerable adult should never experience abuse of any kind.
Our commitment to following good practice that promotes the welfare of all children, young people, and vulnerable adults is set out in our safeguarding policy.
We have also given guidance and advice in our free safeguarding e-learning module. We strongly recommend that everyone who volunteers with the Raspberry Pi Foundation and its programmes, including Code Club, CoderDojo, and Raspberry Jam, completes our module.
From January 2021, all new Code Clubs must provide details of a nominated safeguarding sponsor. This sponsor will need to be verified by the Code Club team before you can start running your sessions and will be required to support the club leader to ensure safeguarding guidance and best practice is followed.
Reporting a concern
If you need to report a safeguarding concern to us, you can do so using our safeguarding report form.
You can also call us on our 24 hour phone line on +(44)203 6377112, or contact James Aslett on [email protected].
Guidelines on safeguarding
Code Clubs should be a creative, fun and safe place for children to learn. Here are some tips to help keep students safe.
For volunteers
If you are volunteering at a club, you'll first need to obtain any necessary checks in your country needed to work with children. You should also complete our free safeguarding e-learning module, which summarises the key information you need to know about safeguarding and read our Code of behaviour for adults running Code Clubs.
You should then follow these safeguarding guidelines:
- Never be left alone with young people
- Take care not to have physical contact with young people attending the club
- Do not take or share photos of your club without appropriate permission
- Do not make personal contact with children, via social media or otherwise
- Ask for a copy of the venue’s Child Protection or Safeguarding policy and familiarise yourself with the contents
- As an adult working with children, you have a duty to report anything that concerns you about a child in your club. Should you have a concern or if a child in your club discloses information that concerns you, you should raise the matter immediately with a member of staff at the club venue, who will guide you on appropriate next steps
For venues
We ask all of our volunteers to obtain necessary local checks before starting their club. You may need to assist volunteers with this process.
It is your responsibility to do the following to safeguard the volunteer and the children you are working with:
- Review the volunteer’s checks when you first meet to plan the club
- Make sure that the volunteer is accompanied by a member of staff at all times whilst on site
- Identify a member of staff to act as the club’s nominated safeguarding sponsor
Tips on running your club
Head to our blog for community stories, ideas and advice to help you run your Code Club.