The welfare of the child is paramount.

All children, whatever their age, culture, disability, gender, language, racial origin, religious beliefs and/or sexual identity, have the right to protection from abuse.
All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately.
All staff (paid/unpaid) working in sport have a responsibility to report concerns to the appropriate Club Welfare Officer.

Chosen Hill RFC Child Protection Policy document can be found in the document below :

Your Child Protection Policy Statement
Chosen Hill FP RFC has a duty of care to safeguard all children involved in rugby at the club from harm. All children have a right to protection, and the needs of disabled children and others who may be particularly vulnerable must be taken into account.
Chosen Hill FP RFC will ensure the safety and protection of all children involved in
rugby through adherence to the Child Protection guidelines adopted by Chosen Hill FP RFC.
A child is defined as a person under the age of 18 (The Children Act 1989).

Policy aims
The aim of Chosen Hill FP RFC Child Protection Policy is to promote good and best practice:
• Providing children and young people with appropriate safety and protection whilst in the care of Chosen Hill FP RFC.
• To promote and achieve the highest standards thoughout the club whilst aiming for best practice within the area of child protection.
• Allow all staff/volunteers to make informed and confident responses to specific child protection issues.

Promoting good practice
Child abuse, particularly sexual abuse, can arouse strong emotions in those facing such a situation. It is important to understand these feelings and not allow them to interfere with your judgement about the appropriate action to take.
Abuse can occur within many situations including the home, school and the sporting environment.
Some individuals will actively seek employment or voluntary work with young people in order to harm them. A coach, instructor, teacher, official or volunteer
will have regular contact with young people and be an important link in identifying cases where they need protection. All suspicious cases of poor practice should be reported following the guidelines in this document.
When a child enters the club having been subjected to child abuse outside the sporting environment, sport can play a crucial role in improving the child's self-esteem. In such instances the club must work with the appropriate agencies to ensure the child receives the required support.
Good practice guidelines:
All personnel should be encouraged to demonstrate exemplary behaviour in order to protect themselves from false allegations. The following are common sense examples of how to create a positive culture and climate.
Good practice means:
• Always working in an open environment avoiding private or unobserved situations and encouraging open communication.
• Treating all young people/disabled adults equally with respect and dignity.
• Always putting the welfare of each young person first.
• Maintaining a safe and appropriate distance with players (eg it is not appropriate for staff or volunteers to have an intimate relationship with a child or to share a room with them).
• Building balanced relationships based on mutual trust and empowering children to share in decision making.
• Making sport fun, enjoyable and promoting fair play.
• Ensuring that if any form of manual/physical support is required, it should be provided openly and according to guidelines provided by the Coach Education Programme. If it is difficult to maintain hand positions when the child is constantly moving, young people should always be consulted and their agreement gained. Some parents are becoming increasingly sensitive about manual support and their views should always be carefully considered.
• Keeping up to date with technical skills, qualifications and insurance.
• Involving parents/carers wherever possible. For example, encouraging them to take responsibility for their children in the changing rooms. If groups have to be supervised in the changing rooms, always ensure parents, teachers, coaches or officials work in pairs.
• Ensuring that if mixed teams are taken away for the day or night, they should always be accompanied by a male and female member of staff. However, remember that same gender abuse can also occur.
• Ensuring that at tournaments or residential events, adults should not enter children's rooms or invite children into their rooms.
• Physical abuse occurs when young people are given alcohol or inappropriate drugs or there is a failure to supervise their access to these substances.
These are both illegal and not within the law therefore Chosen Hill FP RFC agree on zero tolerance on these matters. If these matters arise the Club the Club Welfare Manager and Chosen Hill FP RFC Error! Reference source not found.Disiplinary Committee will meet to discuss the action to be taken if any of these events occur
• Being an excellent role model - this includes not smoking or drinking alcohol in the company of young people.
• Giving enthusiastic and constructive feedback rather than negative criticism.
• Recognising the developmental needs and capacity of young people and
disabled adults - avoiding excessive training or competition and not pushing them against their will.
• Securing parental consent in writing to act in loco parentis, if the need arises to administer emergency first aid and/or other medical treatment.
• Keeping a written record of any injury that occurs, along with the details of any treatment given.
• Requesting written parental consent if club officials are required to transport young people in their cars.