Writing a booklet for Probationary Members. What to add...?

[Marmite5]

Specific rules for young persons and a policy for young persons, I think its required by law.

[TattooedGun]

Specific rules for young persons and a policy for young persons, I think its required by law.

Would you care to elaborate...?

[dromia]

I think he is talking about a clubs Child Protection Policy.

[TattooedGun]

Hmm, I'm sure we have one. I'm not sure I've ever needed to see it. I'll look into it. Thanks :)

[Marmite5]

She is .

Yes if a club allows young people in then it need to look at the regulations regarding the protection of young persons. Our club adapted this.

NRA Policy

The NRA believes that child protection is everyone’s responsibility. We all have a moral and legal obligation to look after children with whom we may be working. The same consideration applies equally to shooters that may be ‘vulnerable adults’.

b Guidance

To help affiliated Associations and Clubs the NRA has produced a guide containing practical advice, based on work done by British Shooting. The NRA’s full policy statement can be found on its website in a downloadable pdf format.

c Effective Implementation

For the policy to be effective will depend upon a reporting system using Child Protection Officers (CPOs) at all levels. CPOs will be 100% reliable in terms of discretion and will understand the importance of confidentiality in the handling of child protection issues. The NRA has appointed a national CPO: associations and clubs will need to consider their own appointments.

d Good Practice

The guide contains advice and gives examples of good practice for everyone involved in shooting. It deals with

i The types of abuse, bullying and harassment that may occur.
ii Coaches or officials working with children in an open environment.
iii The need for keeping physical contact to a minimum when coaching children, seeking agreement from the child before adjusting a shooting position or helping with shooting equipment, and making parents aware of these issues.
iv Consent issues if officials/coaches are required to transport young people in their cars.
v Avoiding children staying at a coach’s home unsupervised.
vi Coaches/club officials working in pairs and/or as mixed male/female teams if classes or groups of children have to be supervised in a changing room or overnight.
vii Dealing with emergencies.
viii The need to make a detailed note of what they have seen or heard if a child or any other person mentions concerns or suspicions
ix To listen carefully if a child tells a coach that he or she is
being abused, and take it seriously.
x Reassuring a child but without promising confidentiality.
xi The need to make a detailed note of what the child has said
and to pass on the information immediately.

e Reporting and Disciplinary Issues

The guide deals with reporting and disciplinary issues. It advises
that all concerns and allegations of abuse must be reported
immediately to a club official, ideally the Association or Club
CPO. It may require referral to Social Services and to the Police.
It stresses that it is not the responsibility of club officials to
decide whether or not child abuse is taking place but it is their
responsibility to report the concerns or suspicions. It covers the
priority actions when dealing with concerns about behaviour or the
welfare of a child including dealing with any medical emergencies,
reporting the incident to the Club CPO, completing the reporting
forms, and reporting the incident to the Police or Social Services
who will then investigate.
Thereafter the guide notes that the relevant shooting bodies will
need to consider what action to take against any individual through
their disciplinary procedures.

f Photography

Photographing children or vulnerable adults at sporting events,
ranging from school sports days to major events has given
rise to much comment. The term “photograph” applies to any
photographic image:
i whether it is recorded on film or digitally, or for immediate
transmission/broadcast and
ii consisting of still or moving/video images and
iii taken with any sort or camera, webcam, mobile phone or
even a satellite.
The guidance deals with this in detail.

g Conclusion

We all hope that we never have to become involved in any incident
of the sort for which the law has been enacted or the NRA guide
prepared. The guidance is both common-sense and a practical
approach to our obligations. Use it and safeguard vulnerable
groups and protect all those that participate.

[TattooedGun]

She is .

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Wait, you're a girl...?

[Countryman]

The child safety piece doesn't go into the probationary handbook. It needs to go into the clubs policies.

[Countryman]

I have one last item for mine to resolve. An apparent opposite in the rules for where a muzzle loader must be loaded between the NRA and MLAGB. Everything else has been signed off now.

Sorry to those waiting my document.

[Chuck]

Amongst all that is there a general Health & Safety policy and also a Diversity Policy and "Social Inclusion" for people who are impaired in some way, what policies and procedures have you in place for them??

[TattooedGun]

I think the point of this document is getting lost with policies for this that and the other.

We may have some work to do on getting together the policy documents that have been put in place as the information that we have at present is sparse and often found lacking however for the purposes of this document, I just want some information a probationer can take away and read at their leisure to hopefully help them become a safe member and give them a basis for safety on the range. just enough information that the first time they sit behind a rifle (baring in mind this is a smallbore club, primarily) they'll hit the target and not the outer target area, and know what to expect.

With this in mind, if anyone has a full list of all documents that a club must have available for members and policies that should be in place, I'd be interested in a list so I can check that we have them and check they are all up to date.