The Safeguarding Senior Leadership team for the Federation are Elizabeth Grainger (DSL), Georgina Westhorpe (DDSL/Inclusion Manager), Heather Eggleton (Inclusion Assistant) and Sarah Woodburn (Senior Business Manager).

Mrs Caroline Weeks is the Governor responsible for overseeing Safeguarding.

Across the Federation, all staff are trained to Safeguarding level 2, including Prevent and FGM. Some of our teachers have had LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer) training and Rob Ellis, an e-learning specialist has provided E Safety training for staff and the parents.

The Safeguarding SLT ensure that all staff training, policies and procedures are understood, current and applied when necessary.

It may be helpful to parents to know that it is a statutory requirement for schools to report any obvious or suspected case of child abuse (where a child may be at risk of harm/have been harmed). This procedure is intended to protect children at risk and schools are encouraged to take the attitude that, where there are grounds for suspicion, it is better to be safe than sorry. This does mean that schools, on occasion, risk upsetting some parents by reporting a case, which, on investigation, proves unfounded. In such circumstances, we hope that parents will appreciate how difficult it is for schools to carry out this delicate responsibility, and would understand that the school was acting the child’s best interests.

PREVENT

Prevent is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorist or extremist causes.

The school recognises its duty to protect our students from indoctrination into any form of extreme ideology which may lead to the harm of self or others.  This is particularly important because of the open access to electronic information through the internet.  The school aims to safeguard young people through educating them on the appropriate use of social media and the dangers of downloading and sharing inappropriate material which is illegal under the Counter-Terrorism Act. The school vets all visitors carefully and will take firm action if any individual or group is perceived to be attempting to influence members of our school community, either physically or electronically. Our definition of radical or extreme ideology is ‘a set of ideas which could justify vilification or violence against individuals, groups or self.’  Staff are trained to be vigilant for spotting signs of extremist view and behaviours and to always report anything which may suggest a student is expressing opinions which may cause concern.  Our core mission of diversity permeates all we do. We place a strong emphasis on the common values that all communities share such as self-respect, tolerance and the sanctity of life. We work hard to broaden our students’ experience, to prepare them for life and work in contemporary Britain. We teach them to respect and value the diversity around them as well as understanding how to make safe, well-considered decisions.

All staff are expected to uphold and promote the fundamental principles of British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect, and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. We believe that children should be given the opportunity to explore diversity and understand Britain as a multi-cultural society; everyone should be treated with respect whatever their race, gender, sexuality, religious belief, special need, or disability.