ASA releases updated Child Safeguarding guidelines for clubs

The ASA has released the 2016-19 edition of Wavepower – the Child Safeguarding Policy and Procedures publication.

Ensuring that children are safeguarded is one of the most important roles for a club or swim school. The updated edition of Wavepower has been produced to assist in safeguarding and protecting all children in our sport. It includes details of child safeguarding policies, mandatory requirements, practical information and good practice guidance for all ASA affiliated clubs and organisations.

The document provides vital information for club officers, club members, parents and children so that everyone involved in the sport can play their part in providing a safe, happy and fun environment in which children can learn to swim and develop their skills.

Jenni Dearman, ASA National Co-ordinator for Child Safeguarding, said: “This edition of Wavepower provides our members, and all those involved in aquatics, with updated policies and guidelines to ensure that the welfare of children is central to everyone’s actions in the pool.

“The guidelines are in place to allow children to continue to have fun in a safe and comfortable environment for many years to come.”

ASA clubs, county and regional welfare officers will all be supplied with one copy of Wavepower 2016–19 before the end of April 2016.

Based on feedback from previous editions of Wavepower, here are few of the things we’ve done to improve the updated edition:

• Emergency contact details in plain sight: we encourage you to complete and store the updated emergency details at the very front of your copy of Wavepower so you can get in touch with the right people at short notice
• Information is quicker and easier to find: with the addition of a contents page at the front and an index at the back, you’ll quickly be able to find what you’re looking for
• Clearer and more concise: we’ve taken out some of the jargon to make the important Information easier to understand
• Updated social media and communication guidance: technology has advanced since the last edition and the way we communicate is changing; our new guidance includes all you need to know
• Content: the Wavepower content is now relevant to all aquatic disciplines, clubs and schools