Chaperones
"the Chaperone is acting in loco parentis and should exercise the care which a good parent might be reasonably expected to give that child"
Chaperone Responsibilities
A Chaperone's first priority is always to the child. A Chaperone is the key person to whom the child looks to for guidance, protection, clarification and support. At no time should a child perform if unwell. If there are ever serious child protection issues, don't wait, contact the POLICE immediately and remove the child from the situation.
One of a Chaperone's greatest strengths is her/his ability to negotiate with the production company 'on site' and be able to say 'no' when what is being requested of the child is contrary or detrimental to either the child's health, well being and/or education. For example, requesting a child to stay at a place of performance over and above the hours/times laid down on either the child's licence or within the regulations, lack of education time, and so forth. A chaperone will need to know these things. See Broadcastand Non-Broadcast Performance Table.
Chaperones should keep a note of important contacts, for example, their Licensing Authority, the child's Licensing Authority, the Local Authority in whose area the child is performing, the child's Agent and the child's Parent/Legal Guardian.
The maximum number of children chaperones are allowed to have in their care at any one time is 12. But, in a lot of instances this may be too high a ratio (diverse mixture of ages and sexes requiring more concentrated supervision, type of venue etc.) Therefore, the issuing local education authority may insist on a smaller ratio of children per chaperone or that two chaperones are required in order to split the care of male and female children or/and wide differences in age groups. Ratios are at the discretion of the child's licensing local education authority.
The child should not perform if a licence has not been granted, unless they fall within the exemption period. Chaperone's should not presume that a child is licensed. Always ask to see the licence of a child you are chaperoning upon arrival at the place of performance, if you have not yourself already received a copy. Note: many local education authorities automatically issue copies to the named chaperone when issuing the child's licence. If the production company cannot prove that the child you are chaperoning is licensed, you should, on all occasions, inform the child's local education authority, or the local authority in whose area the performance is taking place as soon as is practicably possible, otherwise a contravention may have occurred.
Production companies are required to log certain activities during a performance i.e. arrival & departure times at the place of the performance etc. See Record Keeping & Record Sheet (1). Record Sheet (2). In many cases this task is designated to the chaperone who completes the forms and submits them to the company at the end of each day. But, the legal responsibility for record keeping is still with the Licence Holder.
Each local education authority's Licensing procedure may be slightly different. Applicants must apply to the local education authority in whose area they normally live. Generally applicants will be required to produce the following documentation when applying to become an approved chaperone to children in entertainment i.e. name, address, references and passport photographs plus complete a Disclosure Application.
Disclosure applications replace the previous Police Check system used by most local education authorities and comes under the Department of Health's Criminal Records Bureau, not the local education authority. If your local education authority follows this procedure you will be required to attend their offices in person and produce documentation i.e. passport, birth certificate and so forth.. The local education authority will then send your documentation to the Criminal Records Bureau for checking. The results of this check will be sent to the applicant and the applicants local education authority separately. Once this information is received by a local education authority a decision will be made whether to issue a chaperone licence. In addition to this some local education authorities require applicants to take part in their chaperone training as part of their licensing procedures and some local education authorities charge for disclosure checks.
If you want to see where your CRB within the CRB go to www.crb.gov.uk/Default.aspx?page=381 you will need is your CRB application form reference number and your date of birth.
There is still a wide variety of practices occurring with regard to the approval of chaperones so it is vital that you contact your local education authority to check their procedures.
NOTE: You need to think ahead when applying for a Chaperone Licence, especially if you are booked to chaperone a forthcoming performance, as the disclosure checks through the Criminal Records Bureau can take 6 weeks or more to come through - some take less?
In order to protect children the National Network for Children in Employment & Entertainment strongly believe that it is vital that ALL applicants applying for a chaperone licence (approval to become a chaperone) are checked through the Criminal Records Bureau's enhanced disclosure procedure. We would also actively encourage local education authorities and regions to run training programmes in child protection and entertainment legislation for prospective and current chaperones. See Local Authority Contact.
Legislation
Children & Young Persons Act 1933 & 1963
Children (Performances) Regulations 1968
The Children (Performance) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 1998(1)
The Children (Performance) Amendment Regulations
The Children (Performance) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2000
Statutory Instruments: 1968 No. 1728, 1998 No. 1678, 2000 No. 10, & No. 2384
Children & Young Persons (Sale of Tobacco) Order 2007 October 1st, 2007
