Schools are charged with maintaining a safe, supportive environment which protects the rights and needs of children at all times. School staff have regular contact with children and young people, and a responsibility to help to identify signs of children in need of additional support or protection accordingly.
Together, these responsibilities are called safeguarding.
At Highfields Spencer Academy, the safety and welfare of our children is at the heart of everything we do. We recognise our safeguarding responsibilities to include:
- creating a safe environment for children and young people through robust safeguarding practices;
- ensuring that adults who work in school, including volunteers, are able to work with children safely, and are properly trained and equipped to do so;
- teaching children and young people to stay safe; and
- maintaining an environment in which children feel confident to approach any member of staff if they have a worry or problem.
As part of our safeguarding delivery Highfields Spencer Academy follows the procedures set out by the Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (www.ddscp.org.uk) and take account of guidance issued by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (in particular Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education 2007).
Links to safeguarding resources used in school can be found here.
Safeguarding Contacts in School
- Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL): Brooke McCulloch
- Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead: Sarah Irvine
Alerting School
If you believe that school should be made aware of any safeguarding or child protection issues at any time, please email: safeguarding@highfieldsspencer.org.uk. We will endeavour to get back to you in a timely manner.
Safeguarding Information
Staff in school, by law, have a duty to report any concerns that they may have that any child may be suffering significant harm, particularly as a consequence of possible abuse. It is a Department for Education requirement that each school in the country nominates a senior member of staff who will have special responsibility for Child Protection. At Highfields, we have three members of staff who have received advanced safeguarding training.
The school has a policy on Safeguarding, which has been agreed by the Governing Body. We also refer regularly to the Keeping Children Safe in Education document, which highlights important safeguarding information. As a school, we have close contacts with the School Health Service, Children’s Services and the Police, any or all of who may become involved if abuse is suspected or alleged.
The school has a responsibility to collate basic information such as who has parental responsibility for a child, and to pass this information to the relevant agencies if so requested. In the event of an investigation into possible child abuse, the school has a duty to cooperate with the investigating agencies to the best of their ability to promote the welfare of the child. Whilst the school will always attempt to work in partnership with parents and carers, and try to ensure that they are fully informed of, and participate in, any action concerning their child, if there is a conflict of interest; the welfare of the child must be the paramount consideration.
School takes very seriously the appointing of new staff and follows the ‘Safer Recruitment’ advice from the Local Authority. Our staff and volunteers are DBS checked to ensure all our pupils stay safe.
Regular attendance at school is also vital in ensuring that our children are safe. Not only does absence impact on their potential achievement, it also raises concern about children’s safety and welfare. For further information, please see our section on Attendance.
Should you wish to discuss child protection and the safety of your child, or indeed, any other child in school, please feel free to contact the safeguarding team. Please take time to read the leaflet in the link below. Here you will also find our Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy and the Keeping Children Safe in Education document as well as our Safer Working Practice guidance.
For further support or advice, please visit our Early Help page.
CEOP Reporting
To make a report to CEOP, click the image on the right or follow this link.
Unsure if you should make a report? Get more information here.
Early Help Offer
Early Help means taking action to support a child, young person or their family early in the life of a problem, as soon as it emerges. It can be required at any stage in a child’s life from pre-birth to adulthood, and applies to any problem or need that the family cannot deal with or meet on their own.
Please click here to find out more about our Early Help Offer at Highfields.
Safeguarding Policies
- Click here to view our safeguarding policy.
- Click here to view our child-friendly safeguarding policy.
Prevent Strategy
The PREVENT approach at Highfields Spencer Academy is very much part of our curriculum, culture and processes. We see it as an integral aspect in promoting the safeguarding and well-being of our children.
Prevent is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorist or extremist causes. At Highfields Spencer Academy we also believe that this work extends to supporting children’s thinking skills so that they grow up without developing extreme views.
The Prevent strategy covers all types of terrorism and extremism, including the extreme right wing, violent Islamist groups and other causes.
Click here to find out more.