Safeguarding
No forced disclosure. Trusted adults. Specific permissions. Reviewed work. These are part of the creative process, from the first conversation to public presentation.
Download the guide · PDF ↓During an activity, contact your school or youth organisation’s designated safeguarding adult. If someone may be in immediate danger, seek an available trusted adult and local emergency help now. The website, assistant and general enquiry form are not emergency services.
Ask a non-urgent safeguarding question ↗01 / A young person can participate without disclosing
Students can use fiction, metaphor, symbols, imagined characters or general observations. They may pass, write quietly, pause or ask for support. No one is rewarded for the intensity of trauma disclosed. Creative work is not a diagnostic instrument.
Lynn Chinenyanga is the festival safeguarding lead in the current source plan. Each school or youth organisation must identify its own responsible safeguarding adult and approved support route. The coordinator is not automatically a counsellor. Operational contacts, deputies and event arrangements must be confirmed during onboarding.
During a school or youth-group activity, go to its designated safeguarding adult. For non-urgent questions about festival arrangements, contact the Secretariat and request the safeguarding lead; share only the information needed to arrange a private conversation. Public forms and the chatbot are not monitored emergency channels.
If someone may be in immediate danger, seek an available trusted adult and local emergency help now. Do not wait for a website response. The festival has not published a verified on-duty emergency service or round-the-clock response promise.
02 / Before and during a conversation
Confirm the facilitator, age-appropriate brief, support contact, quiet option, supervision, consent and no-recording expectations. Explain how a participant can step out without being singled out.
Participation is voluntary within the agreed activity. No naming private people, gossip, humiliation or pressure to tell a story. Respect confidentiality, while explaining that safety concerns cannot be kept secret from the appropriate safeguarding adult.
Use general questions or fictional scenarios. Do not ask “Who has experienced this?” or collect diagnoses, private messages, family allegations or counselling histories. Review written responses before sharing them.
Pause or redirect the public discussion. Listen without interrogation or promises of secrecy. Connect the participant privately with the designated adult under the agreed procedure. Record only what that procedure requires, separately from the creative activity log.
03 / Permission is specific
Use guardian permission where required and the young person’s own assent. Explain the activity in language they understand. A general signature does not authorise every public use.
Record display/performance, name preference, photography, film, audio, interviews, social media, sponsor reporting and archive permissions separately. “No” to optional publicity must not be treated as “No” to every festival opportunity.
Check each contributor’s permission. Resolve mixed permissions before publication, using editing or appropriate anonymous attribution. Record withdrawal or correction requests and stop future use where reasonably possible; already distributed print or third-party copies may not be recoverable.
Any participant-level study requires its own institution, principal investigator, ethics determination, funding, data plan and consent/assent. Declining research does not prevent festival participation. Private journals remain private unless a separately approved, voluntary route applies.
04 / Review before anything becomes public
Adult review → private submission → completeness and permissions → safeguarding screen → curatorial assessment → requested edits → selection → technical confirmation → cleared public presentation. Uploading never auto-publishes.
Check for private allegations, identifiable peers, screenshots, humiliating material, graphic or instructional self-harm content, romanticised death, substance-use promotion, hate and rights issues. Sensitive topics can use symbolism, recovery, prevention and realistic hope.
The Wall addresses the shared losses of Cyclone Idai in Chimanimani and the Kariba Ferry Disaster. The Memory Gallery uses approved deceased public or creative figures and organisational founders. No political figures or private pupil, family or staff memorials. Students may choose an alternative without explaining private reasons.
No filming of distress, private disclosure or support conversations. Unclear permission means no identifying close-up. Sponsors, exhibitors and visitors must not take students aside unsupervised, seek private contacts or solicit personal stories.
05 / Event and data readiness
Confirm supervision, first aid, safeguarding contacts, quiet space, arrival/collection, lost-participant procedure, access needs, transport, weather arrangements and permission-aware media controls. Procession routes and stewards require specific planning and permission.
A Green Badge signifies an approved, trained and supervised non-clinical listening/support-navigation role only after competency and role clearance. Attendance at a workshop or appearing on a runway does not make a student a counsellor.
The Secretariat handles adult enquiries. Schools/organisations retain confidential consent and support records in their authorised systems. Sponsors receive approved aggregate reporting, never student contact lists or private cases. Operational records and research must remain separate.
Use the consent, review, code-of-conduct and restricted incident templates. These blank tools support the current framework; the accountable leads must complete local procedures, verified contacts, access roles and retention decisions before student activities begin. This guide does not claim that pending provider agreements or legal approvals are complete.
Begin with a conversation
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