We are committed to providing a caring, friendly and safe environment for all of our players so they can participate in football in a relaxed and secure atmosphere. Bullying of any kind is unacceptable at our club. If bullying does occur, all players or parents should be able to tell and know that incidents will be dealt with promptly and effectively.

This means that anyone who knows that bullying is happening is expected to tell any Year Group Manager or the Club Welfare Officer. We are committed to playing our part in teaching players to treat each other with respect.

You can view our Anti-Bullying Policy here.

Safeguarding

Westbury Park Foxes Youth Football Club acknowledges its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of every child and young person who has been entrusted to its care and is committed to working to provide a safe environment for all members. A child or young person is anyone under the age of 18 engaged in any Club football activity. We subscribe to The Football Association’s Safeguarding Children - Policy and Procedures and endorse and adopt the Policy Statement contained in that document.

The key principles of The FA Safeguarding Children Policy are that:

• The child’s welfare is, and must always be, the paramount consideration
• All children and young people have a right to be protected from abuse regardless of their age, gender, disability, culture, language, racial origin, religious beliefs or sexual orientation
• All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately
• Working in partnership with other organisations, children and young people and their parents/carers is essential.

We acknowledge that every child or young person who plays or participates in football should be able to take part in an enjoyable and safe environment and be protected from poor practice and abuse. Westbury Park Foxes recognises that this is the responsibility of every adult involved in our club.

Westbury Park Foxes has a role to play in safeguarding the welfare of all children and young people by protecting them from physical, sexual or emotional harm and from neglect or bullying. It is noted and accepted that The Football Association’s Child Protection Regulation (see The FA Handbook) applies to everyone in football whether in a paid or voluntary capacity. This means whether you are a volunteer, match official, helper on club tours, football coach, club official or medical staff.

Westbury Park Foxes has appointed a Club Welfare Officer (CWO) in line with The FA’s role profile and required completion of the Safeguarding Children and Welfare Officers Workshop. The post holder will be involved with Welfare Officer training provided by The FA and/or County FA (CFA). The CWO is the first point of contact for all Club committee members regarding concerns about the welfare of any child or young person. The CWO will liaise directly with the CFA Designated Safeguarding Officer and will be familiar with the procedures for referring any concerns. They will also play a proactive role in increasing awareness of Respect, poor practice and abuse amongst their Club members.

Adults who work with children

We endorse and adopt The FA’s Responsible Recruitment guidelines for recruiting volunteers.  If we need to appoint people who are not known to the club, we will:

• Develop a role profile
• Request identification documents
• As a minimum meet and chat with the applicant(s) and where possible conduct interviews before appointing
• Request and follow up with two references before appointing
• Require an FA CRB Unit Enhanced Disclosure where appropriate in line with FA guidelines.

All our current members who are regularly caring for, supervising, training or being in sole charge of children and young people will be required to complete a CRB Enhanced Disclosure via The FA CRB Unit . If there are concerns regarding the appropriateness of an individual who is already involved or who has approached us to become part of our club, guidance will be sought from The Football Association. It is noted and accepted that The FA will consider the relevance and significance of the information obtained via The FA CRB Unit Enhanced CRB Disclosure and that all decisions will be made in the best interests of children and young people. It is accepted that The FA aims to prevent people with a history of relevant and significant offending from having contact with children or young people and the opportunity to influence policies or practice with children or young people. This is to prevent direct sexual or physical harm to children and to minimise the risk of ‘grooming’ within football.

Bullying and Respect

We acknowledge and endorse The FA’s identification of bullying as a category of abuse. Bullying of any kind is not acceptable in our league. If bullying does occur, all players or parents/carers should be able to tell and know that incidents will be dealt with promptly. Incidents need to be reported to the CWO or alternatively, in cases of serious bullying, we may contact the CFA Designated Safeguarding Officer.

Respect codes of conduct for Players, Parents/Spectators, Officials and Coaches have been implemented by our Club. In order to validate these Respect codes of conduct the Club has clear actions it will take regarding repeated or serious misconduct at Club level and acknowledges the possibility of potential sanctions which may be implemented by the CFA in more serious circumstances. All registering members will be required to adopt the Respect codes.

Reporting concerns

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. If you are worried about a child it is important that you report your concerns - no action is not an option.  Westbury Park Foxes supports The FA’s Whistle Blowing Policy.

• If you are worried about a child then you need to report your concerns to the CWO
• If the issue is one of poor practice they will either: a). Deal with the matter themselves or b). Seek advice from the CFA Welfare Officer
• If the concern is more serious - possible child abuse - they will, where possible, contact the CFA Welfare Officer first, then immediately contact the Police or Children’s Services
• If the child needs immediate medical treatment take them to a hospital or call an ambulance and tell them this is a child protection concern. Let your CFA Welfare Officer know what action you have taken
• If at any time you are not able to contact your Club Welfare Officer or the matter is clearly serious then you can either: a). contact your CFA Welfare Officer directly; b). contact the Police or Children’s Social Care; c). call the NSPCC 24 hour Helpline for advice on 0808 800 5000 or text 88858 or email help@nspcc.org.uk; d) contact The FA Safeguarding Team on 0844 980 8200 4787 or by writing to The FA Case Manager, The Football Association, Wembley Stadium, PO Box 1966, London SW10 9EQ.

Further information

The FA’s Safeguarding Children Policy and Procedures is available via www.TheFA.com/Footballsafe. Click on the ‘downloads’ under Policy and Procedures. It outlines in detail what to do if you are concerned about the welfare of a child and includes flow diagrams to describe this process. This is also covered within the Safeguarding Children workshop, where participants are given the opportunity to discuss how this feels and how best they can prepare themselves to deal with such a situation.

Further advice on Safeguarding Children matters can be obtained from:

• the Westbury Park Foxes Club Welfare Officer, cwo@westburyparkfoxes.co.uk
• County Football Association’s Designated Safeguard Officer, email support@gloucestershirefa.com
• www.TheFA.com/Footballsafe or email footballsafe@thefa.com
• The FA Safeguarding Children general enquiry line 0845 210 8080.

 We ask all our players, parents, carers and coaches to read and understand our Code of Conduct.  It explains what we expect from our players, and what you can expect from us.

You candownload this if you want to.  

Code of Conduct – Players

Players are the most important people in the club. Fair play and respect for all others in the game is fundamentally important. Players should:
1. Never swear or use inappropriate language.
2. Never argue with, or make derogatory remarks to, match officials. The decisions of the match officials should be accepted without protest.
3. Never verbally or physically abuse opposing players, coaches or spectators – even if provoked.
4. Safeguard the physical fitness of opponents, avoid violence and rough play, and help injured opponents.
5. Avoid all forms of gamesmanship (i.e. cheating) and time wasting.
6. Win, lose or draw, shake hands with the players of the opposing team after the game.
7. Show respect for the coaches and each other.

Code of Conduct – Managers / Coaches

The conduct of Managers and Coaches is crucial and their attitude directly affects the behaviour of players under their supervision. Managers and Coaches should:
1. Place the well-being and safety of each player above all other considerations.
2. Encourage and guide players to accept responsibility for their own behaviour and performance.
3. At the outset, clarify with the players (and, where appropriate, parents) exactly what is expected of them and also what they are entitled to expect from their coach.
4. Always promote the positive aspects of the sport (e.g. fair play) and never condone behaviour contrary to the spirit of the Laws of the Game.
5. Consistently display high standards of behaviour.
6. Not use or tolerate inappropriate language.

Code of Conduct – Parents / Carers and Spectators

As a parent / carer, you are responsible for your child. If you are not in attendance at training or at a match, it is your responsibility to ensure that there is another adult present who has agreed to look after and take responsibility for your child. The coaches are there to coach, and cannot necessarily attend to your child if, for example, they hurt themselves or are ill.

All parents / carers will ensure that their child is registered through the Foxes website, and that this information is kept up to date.

Parents and family members have a great influence on children’s enjoyment and success in football. With this in mind, parents/carers and spectators are asked to adhere to the following:
1. It is expected that during matches, parents and spectators will provide support and encouragement to the whole team not just their own child.
2. Make your year group coach aware of any medical condition or injury to your child that might be affected by training or playing football (e.g. asthma).
3. If you want to discuss any aspect of your child’s involvement please talk to your year group coach. We are always very open to constructive feedback and suggestions for improvement.

Westbury Park Foxes Football Club will not tolerate abuse of opposing players, managers / coaches, supporters or match-day officials by anyone connected with the club.

Breaches of Conduct

If an individual wishes to report a breach of conduct, they should approach the relevant team manager or the Club Welfare Officer. Where this is not appropriate, they should approach a member of the Club Committee. Names are listed here.

If a breach of conduct cannot be resolved in an informal manner, the Club Committee can be asked to formally consider the matter. The Club Committee will then take whatever action they deem to be necessary. The ultimate sanction is removal of the player(s) from the club.

We take the transmission and storage of your data that you give us very seriously.  All our transactions involving our Shop or payments that you may make are made using the secure SSL protocol.

You can view our Data Policy here.

Our commitment is to confront and eliminate discrimination whether by reason of age, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, marital status, race, nationality, ethnic origin, colour, religion or belief, ability or disability and to encourage equal opportunities.

You can view our Equality Policy here.

Our website comprises a small publically-accessible front end, and a more comprehensive set of pages that are only visible to registered users. Search engines do not have access to this restricted area.

The publically-accessible pages may from time to time include photographs. No photographs on this part of the website will show any player’s face without express permission of the player’s parents or carers.

The restricted area includes a photo gallery section. These photos are held either within the website itself, or in a private cloud-based photo store. Parents or carers who do not want photographs of their Fox held in this way can indicate such in that player’s profile. We adhere to The FA Guidelines to ensure that images are safe and respectful, and used solely for the purposes for which they are intended, which is the promotion and celebration of the activities of the club, and for training purposes.

Who we are and what we do

Westbury Park Foxes began in 2004 to give children at Westbury Park School the chance to have fun, get to know each other and learn to play the game of football. 

All children, of any ability, who are associated with Westbury Park School are welcome at Foxes sessions. We run regular training for children from Reception to Year 11 (age 16) We are also open to children from other Bristol schools where there is space; although priority will be given to Westbury Park School children.

We are a non profit-making organisation.  We collect a minimal fee (for Reception it is nothing; Year 1 approximately £45; and thereafter appropriate fees to cover costs) to fund the purchase of enough kit (footballs, goals, bibs, cones, etc) to enable the children to have a good time, while having a chance to run around and learn more about football. The fees also fund the cost of entering teams in leagues and tournaments and administration costs such as insurance, coaches’ tops, etc.

The parents and carers who help organise and coach the Foxes do so on a voluntary basis. The coaches are CRC checked, and many have undergone (or will undergo) the FA Level One coaching course.

We try very hard to be fair and inclusive. In friendly fixtures (Y2-Y5) played throughout the year, all children will have an equal opportunity to take part and, in general, mixed ability teams will be fielded. In summer tournaments, coaches may take a different approach and select a first and second team based on ability, but even so, all children will have the opportunity to take part in at least one competitive tournament.

From Y6, teams will be entered into a competitive league that the Year Group Manager and coaches feel is at an appropriate level for the players who want to play. These leagues are more formal, players are registered through the FA, and results and league tables published. 

What we need all parents / carers to do

For the club to work successfully we need the support of all parents and carers. Although we have close ties, the Foxes is not formally linked to Westbury Park School.

We need parents and carers to stay on the Downs during training sessions or nominate another adult to keep an eye on their child. Coaches (from Reception to Y9) cannot be responsible for all children at all times, and may need to send a child to a parent or carer if they are upset or injured.

The coach may also feel the need to ask a child to sit out for part of a session if that child is misbehaving, or spoiling the enjoyment of other children.

Parents and carers should make sure their children have a drink, suitable foot wear, shin pads and enough clothing to protect them from freezing winds and rain.

They must also register their children on this website (www.westburyparkfoxes.co.uk) and sign up to the Foxes’ Code of Conduct. It is important that the registration details are kept up to date from year to year. They must also ensure that they pay the appropriate subscription fees on a timely basis.  

If any parent or carer has a question about the Foxes, please talk to the Year Group Manager or a member of the Club Committee.  

Why register?

Registration is for our existing players, coaches and their supporting friends and family.  If you are a new player wanting to join us, please contact the relevant Year Group Manager.

We ask all our players and coaches to register their contact details with us.  You can do this here.  As part of this registration, you will be asked to read our Code of Conduct.

Once you have registered, you will also be granted access to your Year pages.  If you are a coach, you will find 'Coaches' Corner' appears on the menu.

Westbury Park Foxes is a youth football team serving the children of north west Bristol.

You will find a copy of our Club Rules here.  These define our principles, and the way we operate as a club.