Please click here for a full copy of our Safeguarding Statement

Definition of safeguarding

The statutory guidance ‘Working together to Safeguard Children’ defines the term Safeguarding as:

• providing help and support to meet the needs of children as soon as problems emerge;
• protecting children from maltreatment, whether that is within or outside the home, including online;
• preventing impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development;
• ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care;
• promoting the upbringing of children with their birth parents, or otherwise their family network through a kinship care arrangement, whenever possible and where this is in the best interest of the children; and,
• taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

Safeguarding is not just about protecting children from deliberate harm. It relates to aspects of school life including pupils’ health, safety and wellbeing including their mental health; managing behaviour and the use of reasonable force; meeting the needs of pupils with medical conditions; meeting the needs of children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities; providing first aid; educational visits; intimate care and emotional wellbeing; online safety and associated issues; and appropriate arrangements to ensure school security, taking into account the local context.
It includes issues for schools such as neglect; physical abuse; sexual and emotional abuse; face to face, prejudice-based and discriminatory bullying; racial, disability, and homophobic or transphobic abuse; risks linked to using technology and social media, including cyber/online bullying, the risks of being groomed online for exploitation or radicalisation, and risks of accessing and generating inappropriate content e.g. the sharing of nude and/or semi-nude images and/or videos; child on child abuse (such as sexual violence and sexual harassment between children); gender-based violence/violence against women and girls; radicalisation and/or extremist behaviour; children missing education; child sexual exploitation and trafficking; child criminal exploitation including county lines; teenage relationship abuse; substance misuse; issues that may be specific to a local area or population, for example gang activity and youth violence; and particular issues affecting children including domestic violence, homelessness, so-called honour-based abuse (female genital mutilation, forced marriage, breast ironing etc.); fabricated or induced illness and poor parenting, particularly in relation to young children.
This Safeguarding Statement should therefore be read and understood alongside other school Policies and procedures which fall under the safeguarding ‘umbrella’ as listed at the end of this document. Related Policies and procedures can be found in the school office. Some are also available to access via the school website or on request.
All relevant Policies and supporting procedures will be reviewed in accordance with the latest DfE Guidance by the Governing Body (or the persons nominated by them to approve such documents) that has responsibility for oversight of school safeguarding and child protection systems. The Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) will ensure regular reporting on safeguarding activity and systems in school to the Governing Body. The Governing Body will not receive details of individual pupil situations or identifying features of families as part of their oversight responsibility. The Chair of Governors will liaise with the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) and partner agencies in the event of a concern/allegation made against the Head teacher or in a situation where there is a conflict of interest in reporting the matter to the Head teacher. There is also a nominated Governor who will take leadership responsibility for the setting’s safeguarding arrangements.
Our school is a community and all those directly connected (staff, Governors, volunteers, parents, families and pupils) have an essential role to play in making it safe and secure. We welcome suggestions and comments from all these stakeholders contributing to this process.