Safety of children's sports club

Mine was in karate from 5, sensai had 2 helpers and parents were free to watch. (They thought 5 was possibly too young and did a 3 week trial to see if he was able to focus. He could but that’s not typical)

This man sounds arrogant and foolish. There’s quite a few sensai out there who are very full of themselves, but it doesn’t mean disregarding basic safeguarding.

This is such a red flag. I would remove my child now and contact the sport’s governing body if possible.

To give you a bit of perspective OP DD has been a part of many groups the dance school had the Ofsted registration on the wall along with posters for how to contact the safeguarding lead.

Rugby has information on head case and concussion first aid, and names and pictures of first aiders on the wall, posters with safeguarding information including the list of safeguarding officers at Club and County level and Rugby governing body links.

Swimming had the same with Swim England links, the team safeguarding team info, first aiders.

For this man to have a dedicated space and no information like that up suggests he isn't in a position to teach youth sport. I think you are right and this a side arm tacked on as a money spinner thinking he can run it as he has personal experience but unless he has spent time as a teacher as a day job it's highly likely he has minimal experience with that many students with a large age range and if he had been a teacher he would be on top of safeguarding.

My DS started karate at 4 and was in a mixed age class, that bit I don’t see a problem with, some kids will be ready to follow instructions at that age and some won’t, if they’re not ready then pull them out until they’re a bit older.

DS started during Covid and parents weren’t allowed to stay due to Covid restrictions, however the instructor always had one other adult in the room for safeguarding reasons. Instructor also has DBS. After restrictions were lifted parents were allowed to stay but DS is older now and we usually drop off. I guess it depends on the venue though - DS’s lessons are in a school hall so plenty of space for parents. At other activities he’s done, there isn’t much space for parents to stay so you can’t.

Why are you complying?
He sounds coercive, avoident and without the ability to question his own stupidity.

Adults do not put themselves in that situation unless they're so confident/arrogant that he will get away with taking more risks with your own child.

Pre schools, nurseries and childminders all have ratios. Why?

Schools have camera in them and send the photos of the children's day to mum and dad. Why?

Dbs check simply means he's not got a criminal record up until the date. People in powerful positions still intimate and abuse, they just haven't been caught yet.

It doesn’t matter if he himself is an abuser. He doesn’t understand safeguarding and is leaving things open for others to take advantage. Who are the older “kids” helping for example? Toileting? It gets busy and popular so he takes on another male helper who spies an opportunity etc etc.

So many red flags and he is either an abuser himself or an absolute fool for not understanding and has no business running a kids group.

Tricky one, dance classes often start at 2/3 and you don't go into the room at thr more serious schools, you sit outside the room though and you would take your children to toilet yourself.

Martial arts is a but different as you have the safety aspect, I've never known of one with only one instructor for a class with such young children.

3 is really young to be preventing parents watching. This is really odd.
Move your child to a different club.

My son did karate from age 7 and most parents stayed and watched. I wouldn't leave a 3 year old at any sports club that didn't allow parents to stay, I don't think that's the norm at all. I would check to see if the instructor is affiliated with a governing body - martial arts are usually pretty hierarchical. Who do they do gradings/belts with?

I would expect insurance cert of some kind to be on the wall, if he doesn’t mention being linked to a governing body he almost certainly isn’t

I've watched far too many documentaries to be okay with that.

I remember one they actually had beds in the basement and told the parents the kids were there for a sleepover because they had to get to a competition early the next day. they went along with it for the same reason - because the other parents did. of course the kids were sexually abused.

My DD is 22, so this isn't up to date, but at 3 she did ballet and parents weren't allowed to watch. We were in another room down a corridor
Teacher would pop in several times in a half hour class to say "xxx needs a wee"

DD was fine, but if you're unhappy, pull your child.

Incidentally, fast forward, and Dd age 10 is in guides.
It was in a club room down a path with no parking at the end.
Guide leader told me how stunned she was that new parents would just drop their kids off and never even meet her.
Parents get a bit more lackadaisical by the time their kids are 10, apparently

I can get on board with no parents present but there should be other safeguards like other adults around. Plus one adult doesn't sound enough for a group of children ,especially young ones who need more supervision.

I personally don't place much reliance on a DBS check (it only shows there are no convictions not that it makes a person safe to be around children). I would like teachers to have it but it's not enough by itself ..

Very few parents ask about checks and training. I chaired a volunteer led playscheme and before/afterschool club for 15 years and even before we were Ofsted registered (so no easy inspection to look at) people didn't ask because they assume you're all checked and trained.

Especially if you're in a venue owned by the council or a school or somewhere 'official' because they assume that venue also checks things.

I'd remove them. I would never allow any of my children to attend an activity with only one adult there. The only time in all those years I had to call an ambulance was when one of the adults took ill. There should always be a second adult at activities imo, both for safeguarding and also for practical stuff in emergencies.

In a fire drill, for example, one adult can't both take the register and check the area is empty of children.

Yeah at 3 I wouldn't feel comfortable with that. Maybe wait a few years and revisit then.

I think that’s fairly obvious, however if a person running a kids club can’t produce one - it’s a big red flag

If you don't feel comfortable, don't send your child. He doesn't need to be doing any activity you can't watch at that age.

In my experience, I've been able/expected to stay and watch at swimming, martial arts, football and trampolining.
However my daughter does dance and it is strictly no parents!
Similar set up, one adult teacher and 1-2 teen helpers.
To be honest I haven't asked if the teacher has a DBS check, I assume she does, but I feel comfortable and my daughter is comfortable with the set up.

This is so bizarre. At the martial arts school we attend the parents all watch the class for the younger kids. DD turns 3 soon and no way would I feel comfortable leaving her alone at that age, especially with one adult responsible for all kids

Just because someone hasn't been caught yet doesn't mean they haven't done done anything. A DBS is just a check for convictions, it isn't someone who lives with a person 24/7 and can vouch for them

I wouldn’t ask about DBS, because it would simply never occur to me that a children’s coach wouldn’t have one (tbf DS doesn’t do any activities taught by a solo teacher - it’s a big swim school, tennis club, rugby club etc with loads of teachers, loads of classes and affiliated with a governing body).

I wouldn’t want 3 year olds leaning with 7 year olds - either the 3 year olds are very biddable, or the 7 year olds must be very bored. And 30 kids is way too many for a class.

Just tell your 3 yr old the class has finished. DS used to go to Hartbeeps, and when he grew out of it aged 4 we just stopped going and he literally never mentioned it again.

They don’t need to swear to anything, he can show her the certificate - you get sent a paper copy & all convictions are on it

Does it claim affiliation to a sports body? Does he have a website with policies? Insurance? There should be minimum adult/child ratios for safe supervision. What happens if a child needs the toilet or feels unwell? Some of what you expect such as being present or seeing the dbs certificate is unreasonable but there should be policies in place to protect both children and the teacher. The centre may cover some of this but if not try the Local Authority Designated Officer(LADO) for advice. Three is too young for such a casual attitude towards safeguarding or such an activity group.

As I said in 15 years & thousands of kids I’ve been asked about a DBS once - lots of parents (more than I ever expected) are happy to leave the kids anywhere!
what’s important is what feels ok for you & your child, don’t worry about what others think