POLICIES

GDPR Privacy and Data Protection Policy

Lucia Hassaine Trading As TOPAZ Therapeutic Life Story Practice and Creative Therapies

Topaz Therapeutic Life Story Practice is exempt from registering with the ICO.

At Topaz, we are committed to maintaining the trust and confidence of our visitors to our website.  In particular, we are not in the business of selling, renting or trading email lists with other companies and businesses for marketing purposes.

In this Privacy Policy we've provided information on  when and why we collect personal information (data), who we collect it from, how we use it, the limited conditions under which we may disclose it to others and how we keep it secure.

Who we collect personal data from:  Personal data is collected from organisations to which we are contracted to conduct Therapeutic Work, such as Local Authorities, Adoption and Fostering Agencies, Educational establishments, Residential establishments and Charitable organisations.  Data will also be collected from birth family, foster carers, schools, pre-schools, doctors surgeries, hospitals, residential units and other person/s or organisations as necessary.

Types of personal data we collect:  This will include (not exhaustive) names, current and previous addresses, contact details, birth details, family heritage, ethnicity and nationality information, criminal convictions and history, health and medical history, history of substance abuse, issues of neglect and abuse and relationship information, and all other data necessary to provide Therapeutic Work.

Use of personal data:  The data collected with be used solely to provide the children and young people we have been contracted to work for with Therapeutic Work.

Sharing of personal data:  We may share anonomized information with the person/s or organisations who have contracted us to provide Therapeutic work.  No information will be shared with any other person/s or organisations without the permission of the person/s or organisations that have contracted us to provide Therapeutic  Work.  All recipients of emails from l_hassaine@hotmail.co.uk and Topaz24@hotmail.co.uk will be informed that these email addresses are NOT SECURE and all personal data should be anonomized.  All persons will be directed to use Egress-Switch secure email.

Keeping personal data secure:  All personal data, contained on paper, by electronic means and by spoken word will be kept secure at all times and all data protection protocol will be strictly adhered to.

Data Breach:  In the unlikely event of a Data Breach, the person/s or organisation that has contracted the Therapeutic Work will be informed immediately.

Access to personal data: Authorised person/s or organisations are entitled to view, amend or delete the personal data we hold.  Email  your request to Lucia Hassaine l_hassaine@hotmail.co.uk or Topaz24@hotmail.co.uk

Destroying personal data: All data relating to the work contracted for will be destroyed 90 days following the completion of the Therapeutic Work, unless otherwise directed by the person/s or organisations who have contracted us to provide Therapeutic Work.

Dated 08/08/2023 Lucia Hassaine t/as TOPAZ Creative Therapies/Therapeutic Life Story Practice.

Behavior Policy

TOPAZ Therapeutic Life Story Practice and TOPAZ Creative Therapies

Behaviour Policy

The purpose and scope of this policy statement:

The aim of TOPAZ is to provide Therapeutic Life Story Work and Creative Therapies.

The purpose of this policy statement is: to protect children and young people who receive TOPAZ Therapeutic services. This includes the children of adults who use our services.

Legal framework: This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England.

Behaviour:

The Practitioner will follow and encourage the Parents/Carers to follow a Therapeutic Parenting model of Behaviour Management. (Therapeutic Parenting Sarah Naish).

Understanding the root cause of the child's behaviour is essential, as without this it is unlikely that any behaviour strategy will be sustainable.

Children and young people who have been removed from their birth parents care and have been subjected to abuse and/or neglect will have experienced trauma.

There are five basic models in understanding child behaviour.

These include: • biological • behavioural • cognitive • systemic • psychodynamic

Biological: Children have a tendency to interact with the environmental influences around them and this interaction informs their behaviour. Research evidence has come from studies around twins separated at birth and early infancy. This goes to show that both nature and nurture are involved in our development, although when dealing with behaviour attention needs to be paid to creating a positive environment and experiences to promote good behaviour. Behavioural Behaviour can be modified through 'conditioning'. This is achieved by another event following an action. There are two types of 'conditioning'. Classical conditioning – a behaviour is connected with a certain stimulus, for example a child feels happy and excited on a Friday afternoon as this is the time the whole class has 'Fun Friday'. Operant conditioning – a behaviour is connected and repeated by rewarding the positive behaviour and issuing sanctions for the negative behaviour.

Cognitive: The cognitive approach helps the child judge and reason effectively and have a perception of their surroundings. This means that the way in which we behave is influenced by our thinking.

The cortex is the conscious, rational-thinking part of the brain and determines the child's response to certain situations. Research has shown that if an infant is constantly being subjected to negative situations, for example experiencing domestic violence and/or neglect, then the connections that form the cortex to help deal with situations in a rational way are limited. In situations such as this the child is left to rely on the limbic system which is the body's alarm system. So when a child is faced with a mild situation, for example the person sitting next to them takes their pencil without asking, instead of the rational-thinking cortex being engaged the limbic system is triggered displaying the flight/fight reaction.

Systemic: The systemic approach looks at targeting the individual's behaviour within the system. These systems can include: • their family • their friends • their school • their classmates • their community • their outside school clubs, e.g. Scouts. The quality of these systems is a great influence on the child's behaviour. For example, a child living in a family where domestic violence takes place will naturally struggle within another system, i.e. school. The behaviour the child experiences at home, for example shouting, violence and/or aggressiveness, will not work in a school context which can cause problems for the child. In situations such as this, working with the family to understand the environment in which the child lives is paramount in finding solutions to help their behaviour.

Psychodynamic: The psychodynamic approach is one used in a clinical setting as it focuses on understanding and intervening by unravelling past conscious and unconscious experiences in order to help the child deal with them.

Behaviour during Sessions:

The initial sessions will include activities to help the child/young person to understand the expectations of the Practitioner and the parents/carers, with regards to their behaviour.

• A set of rules and routines will be discussed with the child/yp and the parents/carers

• have agreed rewards and positive reinforcements

• have set sanctions for misbehaviour

• have a selection of options for dealing with disciplinary problems

• make use of their physical space

• encourage respect and develop positive relationships.

Rules and Routines: Rules and routines create clear expectations for the children and need to define what is acceptable behaviour. These must be reinforced on a regular basis. The child/yp will be involved in developing the rules and routines as this will give them ownership and they will be more likely to accept their terms and conditions and therefore comply.

The session rules and routines, will be: – clear – comprehensive – enforceable.

• The rules and routines will be written in a positive way and avoiding using 'don'ts'.

• Children require understandable directions. Hence, the rules and routines will be specific and explainable, e.g. telling children to 'Be good' or 'Don't do that' is too vague.

• The rules and routines will be available to go over them with the children on a regular basis.

• The Child/YP understanding of the rules and routines will be checked.

• The rationale behind the rules and routines will be explained.

• There will be consistency in enforcing the outcomes for breaches of the rules and routines when an incident occurs.

Praise:

Praise is an effective way to encourage children to engage in the desired behaviour as it focuses on a child's effort rather than on what is actually accomplished. Genuine praise will be given that is specific, spontaneous, and well-deserved, to encourage continuous participation in the session and if appropriate decrease competition among other children/yp in the session.

• Praise should be given immediately following the desired behaviour. • Vary the ways in which praise is given. • Praise will be related to effort. • Perseverance and independence will be encouraged. Praise will not be given continuously and without reason. • Praising will be sincere. • Criticism will never immediately follow praise.

Positive relationships:

Practitioner–child relationship. The heart of effective behaviour management is building positive relationships with the child/yp. This allows the Practitioner to connect to the child/yp forming a strong foundation from which behavioural change can take place.

• The child/yp will be greeted warmly

• The child/yp will understand what is expected of them.

• A positive environment will be created where the child/yp feels relaxed and accepted.

• Genuine interest will be shown by the Practitioner in each child's family, talents, goals, likes and dislikes.

• The Practitioner will be fully engaged with the child/yp throughout the session.

• The child/yp will be treated with respect, never embarrassed or ridiculed.

• All successes and attempts at activities will be given appropriate level of praise and encouragement

• Each child/yp's strengths will be recognised appropriately.

• The child/yp will be involved in making decisions regarding rules, routines and activities within the sessions.

The Child/YP manners and respect:

The child/yp may not have had good manners modelled at previous homes. It is therefore important for the Practitioner and the parent/carer to model and reinforce manners to help develop children's social skills. Manners not only make a good impression on others but also make us feel good about ourselves.

• The child/yp's good manners will be acknowledged and reinforced

• The child/yp will be encouraged to treat others with respect by modelling the desired behaviour.

• The child/yp will be supported to understand of the importance of treating others the same way they like to be treated.

• Opportunities for role play of various situations to demonstrate appropriate responses will be available.

• The child/yp will be supported to understand the importance of showing respect to others; write thank-you notes

This policy was last reviewed on: 08/08/2023

Equality and Diversity Policy

TOPAZ Therapeutic Life Story Practice and TOPAZ Creative Therapies

Equality and Diversity Policy

The purpose and scope of this policy statement:

The aim of TOPAZ is to provide Therapeutic Life Story Work and Creative Therapies.

The purpose of this policy statement is: to protect children and young people who receive TOPAZ Therapeutic services. This includes the children of adults who use our services.

Legal framework: This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England.

TOPAZ aims to create a safe and welcoming atmosphere in the Therapeutic sessions for everyone. TOPAZ wants to challenge all forms of oppression including those based on race, ethnicity, nationality, creed, gender, sex, class, sexuality, gender reassignment, learning ability, physical impairment, mental illness, HIV status, age, occupation, income, wealth and unrelated criminal conviction. TOPAZ aims to design our activities, services and decision making processes specifically to encourage and support participation from children and families who face disadvantage in society, including women, BME people, disabled people, LGBTQ people, and people on low incomes.

Goals: Children

• To support children's identity and sense of belonging.
• To support children to become comfortable with difference.
• To foster each child's critical thinking about bias.
• To empower children to stand up for themselves and others in the face of bias.

Goals: Adults

1. To be conscious of one's own culture, attitudes and values and how they influence practice.

2. To be comfortable with difference, engage effectively with families

3. To critically think about bias and discrimination

4. To confidently engage in dialogue around issues of bias and discrimination

Primary Goal: Supporting Children's Identity and Sense of Belonging.

• Respect names, how they are pronounced and spelt.
• Ensure the environment and resources depicts all children and backgrounds in the sessions.
• Reflect the everyday reality of the child's life (not out of context images) to support and validate his/her daily experiences.
• Include or refer to aspects of all the children's identities in activities: casual conversations, stories told and read, food, art, music and dramatic play props and themes. For example, facilitate children by giving opportunities to talk about different kinds of families and family structures. Some children may live with one parent, in both parents' homes, with gay or lesbian parents, with a foster family, a stepparent, or with an extended family.
• Talk with children and devise activities around the ways in which people are the same as well as different. Children will feel more comfortable talking about matters like disability, skin colour, living in a caravan etc.
• Look for opportunities to recognise a child's individual skills, talents and abilities to encourage pride in his or her personal and cultural identity. Find opportunities to tune into individual interests and strengths; caring for animals, speaking cant, knowledge of cars (e.g. a child with a disability, from a disadvantaged background, Traveller child).
• Discourage any sense of superiority whereby a child may express that their way of life is 'correct' or preferred.
• Provide a wide range of positive role models in a variety of positions. This helps build confidence and a sense of possibilities for the future. Seeing negative images or no images of people sharing your background or ability can send negative messages and a child may reject his/her identity.
• Be aware of the cultural and educational significance of the child's first language. For example, encourage parents to use their family language with children. Also encourage parents to support the child in the learning of the second language.
• Provide an interpreter for children who have hearing or speech difficulties and/or little or no use of English language.

· Provide resources suitable for children with additional needs and/or a disability.

This policy was last reviewed on: 08/08/2023

Health and Safety Policy

TOPAZ Therapeutic Life Story Practice and TOPAZ Creative Therapies

Health and Safety Policy

The purpose and scope of this policy statement:

The aim of TOPAZ is to provide Therapeutic Life Story Work and Creative Therapies.

The purpose of this policy statement is: to protect children and young people who receive TOPAZ Therapeutic services from harm. This includes the children of adults who use our services.

TOPAZ aims to provide and maintain safe and healthy working conditions, equipment and systems of work for all our children, and families. TOPAZ aims to make children and parents aware of health and safety issues and to minimise the hazards and risks to enable the children to thrive in a healthy and safe environment.

Legal framework: This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England.

We believe that:

• children and young people should be protected and kept safe and healthy during the sessions.

• TOPAZ has a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, to keep them safe and healthy 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 take

• working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people's health, safety and overall welfare

• 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

• 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 healthy and safe

In order to keep the environment safe and clean for the children and families the following procedures are followed:

Health and Safety:

▪ The Practitioner will encourage the children to stay safe by having appropriate ground rules e.g. no running indoors, no pushing etc.

▪ A risk assessment of the home/premises will be carried out by the Practitioner at every visit.

▪ Any unsafe item or situation will be rectified before the session takes place.

▪ The Practitioner will ensure that the home/premises will be kept clean, well lit, adequately ventilated and maintained in a suitable state of repair and decoration. Rooms will be maintained at an adequate temperature at all times. If there are any issues with regards to the temperature not being sufficient, the Practitioner will ensure that this is rectified or the parents will be asked to rectify this.

▪ No one is permitted to smoke or vape whilst in the home/premises throughout the session.

▪ No one will be permitted to be under the influence of illegal drugs or alcohol whilst in the home/premises throughout the session

It is the Practitioners and the Parent/Carers responsibility to ensure that workspace is clear during the session and all equipment is packed away safely, left 'clutter free' and safe at all times.

The Practitioner is responsible for ensuring that all children are safe and therefore will ensure that the right equipment/resources are used in relation to the age of the children that they are working with.

Hygiene:

▪ The Practitioner and Parents/Carers will be positive role models with regards to good hygiene procedures which will then encourage the children to follow these good practices.

▪ All children will be encouraged to wash their hands before the session and if necessary at regular intervals through the session with anti-bacterial soap for 20 seconds, or anti-bacterial gel, but particularly before any meal/snack time, after using the toilet and coughing or sneezing.

▪ All resources, toys and equipment will be kept in good repair and washed/cleaned on a regular basis with anti-bacterial spray or sterilizing fluid. Resources, toys and equipment will be rotated regularly and items such as malleable materials or soft materials will be either be washed regularly or replaced as and when necessary.

▪ The practitioner will be responsible for the checking of all resources and equipment regularly to ensure it complies with health and safety standards.

This policy was last reviewed on: 08/08/2023

Safeguarding Policy

TOPAZ Therapeutic Life Story Practice and TOPAZ Creative Therapies

Safeguarding Policy

The purpose and scope of this policy statement:

The aim of TOPAZ is to provide Therapeutic Life Story Work and Creative Therapies.

The purpose of this policy statement is: to protect children and young people who receive TOPAZ Therapeutic services from harm. This includes the children of adults who use our services.

Legal framework: This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England.

We believe that:

• children and young people should never experience 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 take

• working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people's welfare

• 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.

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 and procedures

• developing and implementing an effective online safety policy and related procedures

• recording and storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance

• sharing information about safeguarding and good practice with children and their families

• 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

• 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

• ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in place

• ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for our children, young people, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance

• building a safeguarding culture where children, young people and their families, treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns.

This policy was last reviewed on: 08/08/2023