YOUNG SPEAKERS SCOTLAND ONLINE COMPETITION
CHILD PROTECTION PROTOCOL (as at November 2022)
To ensure that the children and young people who work with us remain safe and protected during online events and that we remain GDPR compliant, YSS has instituted a Child Protection Protocol for online competitions. This protocol is a supplement to our already-existing policies and does not negate or undo anything in those documents.
Platform
All online events will be run using Microsoft Teams. This is a platform approved by the majority of Local Authorities in Scotland. Meetings, calls and broadcasts will always be hosted by a YSS staff member or approved volunteer. Only YSS staff or approved volunteers will be allowed to create groups.
Participant Authorisation
All participants and observers will be required to reply to event invitations and will only be permitted to join a call if they are on the list for the event.
Chaperone Involvement
Teachers and other chaperones are allowed to observe all of our online events. There will never be a situation where we have access to pupils but teachers/chaperones do not. Any part of our events that a pupil can access, teachers and chaperones will be allowed to access too.
Volunteer Conduct
All volunteers will be sent a code of conduct to sign prior to their involvement in an online competition.
All feedback will be given collectively, to an entire debate room. Volunteers are not permitted to contact pupils individually. If volunteers wish to give individual feedback, or if a pupil requests individual feedback from a volunteer, this can be facilitated through YSS. No contact information will be shared between volunteers and pupils.
Use of Video
Pupil participants of online events will be informed beforehand about whether the event will use video. Participants may request to opt-out of video and use only audio in our online events. Adult participants will not use video either, except in limited approved circumstances – such as lectures – which will be communicated to all participants beforehand.
Recordings
Debates will not be recorded unless consent from all participants is obtained beforehand. Consenting to being recorded will never be a prerequisite for progression at a tournament: for example, we will never require participants in a final to consent to the final being recorded.
Complaints
Complaints can be emailed to the Programmes Director at jordan@youngspeakersscotland.org.uk. If the complaint involves the Programmes Director, it can be emailed to the Chair of Trustees – Gurvinder Brar – or the Deputy Chair, Wendy Bellars: g.s.brar@hotmail.com; wabellars@yahoo.co.uk.