Skilts School

Safeguarding Policy Statement

The Governors and staff of Skilts School recognise their responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all the children who belong to the school community.

The Birmingham Safeguarding Children Board says about safeguarding:
“Safeguarding is essentially about keeping children and young people safe from abuse or neglect”.
“All those who come into contact with children and families in their everyday work, including people who do not have a specific role in relation to child protection, have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.”
At Skilts School we understand that promoting the welfare of all the children who live and learn within our community means ensuring that we create every opportunity for our children to grow, develop and achieve to their own potential whilst being protected from harmful influences and actions either on the part of others or themselves.  By doing this we will enable children to maximise their own life chances.
The Governing Body will act in accordance with the 1989 Children Act,  Section 175 of the Education Act 2002 and the supporting statutory guidance ‘Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education’ (2006) to protect, safeguard and promote the welfare of children in this school.

As a school community we operate within an understanding and recognition of the need to uphold and promote the principles of the ‘Every Child Matters’ agenda in order to ensure the best possible outcomes for our pupils.  This policy statement bears particular reference to the aspects of children ‘Being healthy’ and ‘Staying safe’.

The safeguarding and protection of children from harm is a right for each individual child, which we as a school community uphold regardless of a child’s:

• race, religion, language or ethnicity
• gender or sexuality
• age
• health or disability
• political or immigration status

Governors and staff at Skilts School understand the importance of working in partnership with children, their parents/carers and other agencies in order to promote individual children’s welfare.

The purpose of this policy statement is to:

• afford protection for the pupils at Skilts School
• enable all adults within the school community to safeguard and promote the welfare of all our children
• promote a culture which makes this school a safer place to learn in both a formal and social context

This policy applies to all staff regardless of their role, position or designation and also to anyone working at, or on behalf of Skilts School.

It is our mission to promote the welfare of, and effectively safeguard the children in our care by:

• valuing all our pupils as individuals
• listening to our pupils and their views and allowing them the space to express themselves
• respecting our pupils as individuals and promoting their individuality within our community
• involving pupils and consulting with them in decisions about things which affect them
• Ensuring adherence to school policies on confidentiality and protection of personal information
• making sure all Governors, staff, visitors and anyone else who is involved in the day to day life of Skilts School are aware of and committed to the safeguarding policy and child protection procedures (Please refer to Skilts Child Protection Policy)
• sharing information about concerns and pupil welfare issues with external agencies on a need to know basis, and involving children and their parents/carers appropriately in such processes.
• recruiting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made (Please refer to Skilts Recruitment Policy)
• adopting a code of conduct for all staff and visitors to school (Please refer to Skilts Visitors Policy and Staff guide)
• providing effective management of staff through induction, support and training
• ensuring staff and other adults understand about ‘whistle blowing’ (Please refer to Skilts Whistle Blowing Policy)
• dealing appropriately with allegations or concerns about staff or other adults, in accordance with our LA child protection procedures
In addition to the above, the governing body and Senior Management Team will ensure that sufficient resources are available to enable efficient and effective adherence to this Safeguarding Policy.  This will include staff induction and training, provision of time to attend meetings, time to gather information and create reports as necessary and support inter-agency working.

The Governing body will also ensure that its own members have an understanding of safeguarding issues and ensure that procedures and policies are in place in school to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children who are a part of the Skilts School community.

The nominated Governor for Safeguarding at Skilts School is:

Mrs Adrienne Hall (Vice-Chair of Governors)

The Designated Senior Person for Child Protection at Skilts School is:

Tony Pridding (Head of Care)

In the absence of the Designated Senior Person, you may also speak to:

Charles Herriotts (Head Teacher)
Ann Hewitt ( Senior Team Leader)