What a chaperone is
Chaperones act in the place of each child's parent or guardian for the duration of the time they are in their care. They must always ensure that the child is put first, that their needs are met, and that they are safe. Anyone wanting to become a licenced Chaperone needs to be trained to understand these responsibilities and how to fulfil them.
A chaperone must take full responsibility for each child in their care. They must engage with the child so that the child will feel confident in approaching them and will know that they can rely on them at all times. It is a chaperones responsibility to:
- protect, safeguard, and support the children they are responsible for (this includes having an awareness of online safety)
- ensure that a child is not asked to work when they are tired, ill or upset
- ensure that a child is not exposed to adult behaviour or language
A chaperone can supervise up to 12 children at any one time. Good practice is to have 2 chaperones to 12 children as this will allow for any time in which the children may need to be split up.