For Everyone

Keeping children safe in education

Safeguarding

Our Safeguarding designated Lead is: Gail Weir

Name of Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead: Sandra Chaaya

Name of Designated member of staff for looked after children: (LAC) Sue Hogan

Additional safeguarding officers: Charlotte Millward

Child Protection

It is a sad reality that some children are abused by members of their family or by trusted adults physically, emotionally, sexually or through neglect.

All schools have a legal duty to respond to any signs of abuse and report suspected cases to Social Services, who will then carry out any necessary investigation. At Waverley we take this matter very seriously, using the local authority’s guidelines in carrying out our duty of care to all our students.

Schools are also required by law to provide relevant information on children to Social Services (Cheviots – Joint Service for Disabled Children) as part of any investigation and to share that information at multi-agency child protection meetings, to which parents are usually invited.

While we always aim to work in partnership with parents in relation to children’s welfare, the safety and protection of the children are always paramount.

Our Safeguarding Statement

At Waverley we have a strong commitment to safeguard all our students, ensuring their health, safety and wellbeing in all areas of our practice. We all have a duty of care and to this end we aim to:

ensure all our staff have a clear understanding of and commitment to their responsibilities towards children’s safeguarding;
ensure the school has clear procedures and key personnel in place to ensure safeguarding in all aspects of school life;
ensure the school specifically incorporates the teaching of health and keeping safe within the wider curriculum;
ensure the school audits its safeguarding practices on an annual basis to ensure we meet all statutory requirements and remain vigilant around all aspects of safeguarding.
ensure all staff aware of procedures for extremism and radicalisation following the Keeping Children Safe documentation (September 2015, and updates in October 2015 and February 2016)

Key Areas of Safeguarding Responsibilities:

Safeguarding encompasses the following:

Staff recruitment, vetting, appointment and training
Volunteers, trainees and visitors to the school (including parents and carers)
All aspects of child protection
Site security and safety, including fire procedures
Risk assessment of all activities, including swimming, trips and manual handling duties
E-safety teaching, learning and procedures
Medical and first aid procedures
Behaviour, bullying and physical interventions
Equalities and discrimination
Radicalisation and Extremism
Female Genital Mutilation to protect children and young women

Staff Recruitment

The school follows the safer recruitment procedures and the Head Teacher, Deputy Head, Assistant Head and Chair of Governors have undertaken the Safer Recruitment training. Application forms and CVs are carefully scrutinised and any education or employment gaps are queried. References, medical checks and all necessary DBS checks are undertaken in line with recommended good practice and statutory requirements. The school maintains an up to date Single Central Record on all its employees.

Staff receive a clear induction which includes information on safeguarding and their responsibilities towards ensuring students and all who come into the school are kept safe.

All staff are asked to read and familiarise themselves with key policies including – Health and Safety, Child Protection, Behaviour, Code of Conduct and E-safety.

Staff Training

All staff receive in-house training with regards to child protection prior to beginning work with children.

The Designated Safeguarding Leads and School Business Manager keep a record of when staff have been trained, and can ensure this is updated every three years. The Designated Safeguarding Leads receive central training at least every two years.

Regular training and updates on all other aspects of safeguarding also takes place to ensure that all staff, including premises staff, are up to date with key elements of safeguarding such as Fire Warden training, paediatric First Aid and First Aid at work and any E-safety updates.

Allegations Against Staff

Any allegations made are referred to the LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer – Maria Anastasi) for advice and relevant procedures followed. Should a member of staff leave or be dismissed as a result of safeguarding concerns the school has a legal duty to make a referral to the DBS and failure to do so would be a criminal offence. This referral would be made by the HT or in the case of an allegation against the HT, by the Governing Body.

The school has adopted the Local Authority Whistleblowing policy and all staff have a duty to ensure any safeguarding issues concerning staff are brought to the Headteacher’s immediate attention.

Volunteers and Visitors

All volunteers and visitors sign in and read the school information summary on Health and Safety. Volunteers/visitors may not be left unsupervised with any children at any time. Regular volunteers to the school complete a DBS check.

Child Protection – the school has a separate, detailed and up to date Safeguarding and Child Protection policy – this is read and a declaration signed by all staff as part of the in-house child protection training. Waverley school follows the ‘Keeping Children Safe ‘(October 2015) Document. Please see link below.

Keeping Children Safe (2015) document replaced by Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance September 2016

Working together to Safeguard children (2015) document

Radicalisation and Extremism

The National Crime Agency (CEOP) ThinkuKnow

Information on Preventing Radicalisation

Protecting children from the risk of radicalisation should be seen as part of schools’ wider safeguarding duties, and is similar in nature to protecting children from other forms of harm and abuse. During the process of radicalisation it is possible to intervene to prevent vulnerable people being radicalised. Radicalisation refers to the process by which a person comes to support terrorism and forms of extremism. There is no single way of identifying an individual who is likely to be susceptible to an extremist ideology. It can happen in many different ways and settings specific background factors may contribute to vulnerability which are often combined with specific influences such as family, friends or online, and with specific needs for which an extremist or terrorist group may appear to provide an answer. The internet and the use of social media in particular has become a major factor in the radicalisation of young people.

As with managing other safeguarding risks, staff should be alert to changes in children’s behaviour which could indicate that they may be in need of help or protection. School staff should use their professional judgement in identifying children who might be at risk of radicalisation and act proportionately which may include making a referral to the Channel programme.

All Staff at Waverley have received Prevent briefing and one of the Designated Safeguarding Lead had the Wrap 3 training. All staff have been made aware of the processes and procedures in place for concerns and referrals. Please see our Policy.

Site safety – please see our Health and Safety policy for a comprehensive understanding of all procedures here.

Risk Assessment – the School Business Manager maintains a risk assessment file for all school activities and trips, as well as for aspects of the site, and unexpected events such as a strike day or inclement weather plan.

E-safety – the school has separate E-safety guidelines for staff and children and also provides advice and support to parents. This is a constantly changing area and needs regular review. Updates on emerging issues are provided to staff by SLT.

Online Safety– Helpful advice and tools you can use to help keep your child safe whenever and wherever they go online. Please click the links:- How to set up a facebook privacy control, How to set up google safe search, Learning disabilities; Autism and Internet safety a parent’s guide, Links to online resources for parents, How to make the most of window 7 parent controls, The adventure of smartie the penguin, Keep your child safe online and How to set up youtube safety mode.

Behaviour and Bullying

All staff are expected to act as exemplary role models and ensure they create an environment with clear behaviour expectations which create security for the children. Children should feel safe and nurtured. The school has a clear Behaviour and a Physical Interventions Policy which staff are familiar with and apply. All staff are made aware of the importance of being aware of any children’s concerns. We have a zero tolerance to bullying. If a parent has any concerns about bullying it is taken seriously and a full investigation takes place.

Equalities and Discrimination

All staff need to have a clear commitment to equalities and adhere to our Equalities Policy. OUr students are taught in an environment where explicitly any form of discrimination on grounds of race, religion, sexuality, disability is wrong and there is a zero tolerance approach. All children and staff should be treated with care and respect. The school is aware of the “Trojan Horse” issue in Birmingham schools and is vigilant with regard to ensuring children and staff are protected from any form of extremism or indoctrination. The school’s “Golden Rules” values reinforces our commitment to equalities and includes the values of tolerance, respect and kindness.

Staff with Key Responsibilities:

The Headteacher Gail Weir, Deputy Head Teacher Sandra Chaaya, and Assistant Headteacher Sue Hogan and Charlotte Millward are Designated Safeguarding Leads.

The Site Manager Graham Williams, in partnership with the SBM Helene Bacchus, and Deputy Head SAndra Chaaya are responsible for all aspects of site health and safety, medical and first aid procedures (ensuring key staff are trained), and E-safety and sites risk assessments. The Headteacher Gail Weir oversees the students’ individual Manual HAndling Risks Assessment and staff are trained by our team of Manual Handlers (when they first join the school and annually). The lead Manual Handlers are Tracey Adnan and Doreen Williams.

Gary Smith is the school’s Educational Visits Coordinator.

The ICT Manager Graham Williams is responsible for advising on and providing updates on E-safety. If you need further guidance or support please ask, particularly for games usage and parental restrictions.

The school has a health and safety committee who meet monthly and report back to the Board of Governors.

The Head Teacher has overall responsibility for all aspects of safeguarding within the school.

The role of the Governors and Safeguarding

The Governing Body has a duty to ensure that the school meets its statutory responsibilities and ensure that the children and young people attending the school are safe.

Please click here for the safeguarding and child protection policy

The Safeguarding and child protection policy policy should be read in conjunction with the following, which all staff will have read:

(i) Keeping Children Safe in Education, Part 1: Safeguarding Information for All Staff, July 2015 (replaced by September 2016 Keeping Children Safe statutory guidance for Schools and Colleges)

(ii) Working Together to Safeguard Children, March 2015

(iii) Waverley School Whistleblowing Policy

(iv) Waverley School Intimate care and Hygiene Policy

(v) Waverley School Physical Intervention and Behaviour Policies

(vi) Waverley School Online Policy

(vii) Children’s Education Act 2004

(viii) Enfield Children Safeguarding Board – Enfield Protocol for FGM of Children and Young People (July 2014)

(ix) FGM Mandatory Reporting Process Map – Enfield Children Safeguarding Board (Nov 2015)

(x) Home office guidance – Mandatory reporting of FGM: Procedural information (October 2015)