Safeguarding - Parent - Poltair School

Safeguarding at Poltair School

Information, Advice and Guidance to keep our young people safe

Poltair School recognises that it has a duty to ensure arrangements are in place for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.

All members of the school community (including volunteers and governors) will at all times establish and maintain a safe and stimulating environment where children feel secure, are encouraged to talk to adults they can trust and are listened to.

Through training, all staff (teaching and nonteaching) will be able to recognise the signs of abuse and understand their responsibilities when a child may be at risk of harm. Training of all staff will be updated annually and the school has a large team of Tier 3 trained professionals.

The school will ensure that it provides written referrals in the correct format and recognises the importance of attendance at all meetings called when there is a concern regarding the safeguarding of a student.

Working together to safeguard children – a guide!

Working together to safeguard children This booklet offers an easy to read guide for safeguarding.

This provides an overview for our young people in terms of the concept of ‘safeguarding’ and identifies key actions, questions and possible outcomes from raising concerns. Please have a look and if you have any more questions contact: Miss Gemma Owens, Assistant Headteacher and Designated Safeguarding Lead on [email protected] or Miss Clare Dingwall, Year 9 Year Team Leader and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead on [email protected]

Staff Recruitment

In line with the guidance 'Safer Recruitment', the Headteacher and Chair of Governors have completed Safer Recruitment training. All staff including volunteers who have access to children in our school have been carefully selected and screened and all have had an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check prior to commencing work. All details of all appointments/checks are held in a central record. Staff will be inducted into the school and training will be given with regard to child protection.

Safeguarding Team

Designated Safeguarding Lead:Miss G Owens
(Assistant Head- Student Safety and Well-Being)

Deputy Des Safeguarding Lead:Miss C Dingwall (Year 9 Year Team Leader)
Safeguarding Team:Mrs C Harvey (Year Manager)
Safeguarding Team:Mr M Robins (Year Manager)
Safeguarding Team:Miss K Cook (Year Manager)
Safeguarding Team:Mrs R Wingrave (Year Manager)
Safeguarding Team:Miss G Lee (School Counsellor)
Safeguarding Team:Mrs R Stoneman (Family Support Advisor)
Safeguarding Team:: Mrs L Ghiblawi (Educational Engagement Officer)

Our 'Safeguarding Team', as shown above, are fully trained and receive updated training every 2 years.

The designated person ensures all confidential records are kept securely. It is the responsibility of the designated member of staff to have oversight of all discussions with Social Care when concerns arise regarding the safety of a student in this school. All such students are closely monitored, including attendance, and where extra concerns arise these are always passed on to the appropriate agencies. The DSL & DDSL ensure that all staff are trained with regard to Safeguarding and Child Protection.

Designated Governor

Our school has a designated safeguarding governor, Mr S White, who will act as the link person between the governing body and the designated leads. The governor will review safeguarding procedures/practices including access to training through termly meetings with the safeguarding officer. The governors will ensure that sufficient time is given to carry out the duties including accessing training. Where safeguarding concerns arise regarding a member of staff, the governor will liaise with the Chair of Governors.

Parents

This school believes in working closely with parents and there is an open door policy so that parents can feel able to visit at any time to discuss concerns. Email is used extensively by parents to contact members of staff directly including the Headteacher.

This school is fully signed up to the Safeguarding of Children and the Policy is in place and can be found on the website as can all other policies e.g. SEN - Behaviour and Attendance - Anti Bullying.

ViST Reports/ Operations Encompass

From time-to-time the school receive highly confidential reports (Vulnerable Individual Screening Tool) from the Police. These will contain brief details regarding any incidents dealt with by the police that have connections with young people attending Poltair School. We always log these and ensure that any appropriate actions are followed up.

In addition to this, we are occasionally contacted by Devon and Cornwall Police following challenging situations in which our young people are in the home when incidents of domestic violence are reported. These are received and actioned by the Safeguarding Lead or Deputy Safeguarding Lead only and actions then directed to allow us to support our young people.

CSE

Child Sexual Exploitation is one particular risk, laid out in the KCSIE 2019 Guidance (Keeping Children Safe in Education- 2019). This is an area which is included in update training for staff and we ensure that we log to track any concerns. More guidance can be found here.

Keeping it together A parent’s guide to coping with child sexual exploitation

FGM

Religious, social or cultural reasons are sometimes given for FGM. However, FGM is child abuse. It's dangerous and a criminal offence. More information can be found, including ways to support. Click Here

FGM Guidance A Guide to FGM

FGM Mandatory Reporting Procedural Information

The Prevent Strategy – A Parents' Guide

What is the Prevent strategy?

Prevent is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorist or extremist causes. The Prevent strategy covers all types of terrorism and extremism, including the extreme right wing, violent Islamist groups and other causes. Guidance for schools on the Prevent Duty can be found here.

How does the Prevent strategy apply to schools?

From July 2015 all schools (as well as other organisations) have a duty to safeguard children from radicalisation and extremism. This means we have a responsibility to protect children from extremist and violent views the same way we protect them from drugs or gang violence. Importantly, we can provide a safe place for pupils to discuss these issues so they better understand how to protect themselves.

What does this mean in practice?

Many of the things we already do in school to help children become positive, happy members of society also contribute to the Prevent strategy. These include:

Exploring other cultures and religions and promoting diversity
Challenging prejudices and racist comments
Developing thinking skills and a strong, positive self-identity
Promoting the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils, as well as British values such as democracy

We will also protect children from the risk of radicalisation, for example by using filters on the internet to make sure they can’t access extremist and terrorist material, or by vetting visitors who come into school to work with pupils. Different schools will carry out the Prevent duty in different ways, depending on the age of the children and the needs of the community.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Prevent relate to British values? Schools have been required to promote British values since 2014, and this will continue to be part of our response to the Prevent strategy. British values include:

The rule of law
Individual liberty and mutual respect
Tolerance of different faiths and beliefs

Isn’t my child too young to learn about extremism?

The Prevent strategy is not just about discussing extremism itself, which may not be appropriate for younger children. It is also about teaching children values such as tolerance and mutual respect. These are both key in our school values and what we already do. The school will make sure any discussions are suitable for the age and maturity of the children involved.

Is extremism really a risk in our area?

Extremism can take many forms, including political, religious and misogynistic extremism. Some of these may be a bigger threat in our area than others. We will give children the skills to protect them from any extremist views they may encounter, now or later in their lives.

Key Terms

Extremism - vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values such as democracy, the rule of law and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs Ideology - a set of beliefs

Terrorism - a violent action against people or property, designed to create fear and advance a political, religious or ideological cause

Radicalisation - the process by which a person comes to support and be involved with extremist causes.