mISSION & SAFEGUARDING POLICY
OUR MISSION
Miss Emma’s Dancing is a friendly village dance school, founded in February 2014 by Emma Trickett after she relocated to rural north Wiltshire, UK. We specialise in partner dancing and teach Ballroom & Latin, Kizomba & Bachata, Vintage Swing (Lindy Hop), Charleston, Boogie Woogie & Blues! Our fun and friendly dance classes and events are suitable for dancers of all levels, from complete beginners to experienced hobby dancers.
RURAL: We believe that everyone - regardless of location - should have the opportunity to learn and enjoy dance. We are committed to delivering high-quality dance classes and events to rural communities in north Wiltshire, UK, helping people connect, stay active, and express themselves through movement.
COMMUNITY: With us, learning to dance is about community enrichment, making new friends, spending time together, and discovering the joy, confidence, and rhythm that music and partner dancing can bring to your life. Our dance classes and events in the picturesque villages of Grittleton and Hullavington foster a warm, welcoming community atmosphere.
PROFESSIONAL: We aim to provide the best dancing experience for our students, helping them to discover and develop their dance skills, improve their technique, and reach their dancing goals. We provide a clear progression path, and all of our classes are designed to be creative, engaging and encouraging.
SKILLS & TECHNIQUE-BASED TEACHING: We help students understand and develop essential dance principles and techniques (such as alignment, posture, and placement) for safe dance practice. We also teach practical dancing skills to encourage thoughtful improvisation, adaptability, and musicality while developing strong floorcraft. Our unique approach prepares students to feel at ease dancing at any social event.
CARING: We take an active role in shaping, supporting, and advancing our rural dance community. To support its vibrancy, we schedule weekly dance classes and monthly Tea Dances, and celebrate individual achievements in all their forms, recognising that everyone learns at different rates, in unique ways, and for various reasons.
CHILD PROTECTION & SAFEGUARDING POLICY
THE PURPOSE OF THIS POLICY STATEMENT IS:
To protect children and young people from harm. This includes the children of adults who use our services.
To provide staff and volunteers, as well as children and young people and their families, with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection.
LEGAL FRAMEWORK:
This policy has been drawn up based on legislation, policy and guidance that seek to protect children in England. The main legislation in England is the Children Act 1989, the Children Act 2004 and the Children and Social Work Act 2017. A summary of the key legislation and guidance is available from www.nspcc.org.uk/childprotection.
WE BELIEVE THAT:
Children and young people should never receive abuse of any kind.
We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, to keep them safe and to practise in a way that protects them.
WE RECOGNISE THAT:
The welfare of children is paramount in all the work we do and in all the decisions we make.
All children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation, have an equal right to protection from all types of harm or abuse.
Some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues.
Extra safeguards may be needed to keep children who are additionally vulnerable safe from abuse.
Working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers, and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.
WE WILL SEEK TO KEEP CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE SAFE BY:
- Valuing, listening to and respecting them.
- Adopting child protection and safeguarding best practice through our policies, procedures and code of conduct for staff and volunteers.
- Appointing a nominated child protection and safeguarding lead for children and young people.
- Sharing information about safeguarding and good practice with children and their families.
- Building a safeguarding culture where staff and volunteers, children, young people and their families, treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns.
- Ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for our children, young people, staff and volunteers, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance.
- Creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment and ensuring that we have a policy and procedure to help us deal effectively with any bullying that does arise.
- Making sure that children, young people and their families know where to go for help if they have a concern.
- Using our safeguarding and child protection procedures to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving children, young people, parents, families and carers appropriately.
- Recording, storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance.
- Recruiting and selecting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made.
- Providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support, training and quality assurance measures so that all staff and volunteers know about and follow our policies, procedures and behaviour codes confidently and competently.
- Using our procedures to manage any allegations against staff and volunteers appropriately.
- Ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in place.
CONTACT DETAILS:
Nominated child protection and safeguarding lead: Emma Trickett
Phone: 07985 381963
Email: missemmasdancing@gmail.com
NSPCC Helpline: 0808 800 5000
DECLARATION: We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually. This policy was last reviewed on 3 June 2026.