Introduction
St. Luke's Academy takes seriously its responsibility to protect, safeguard and promote the welfare of the children and young people in its care.
"The welfare of the student is paramount." (Children Act 1989).
Our staff and governors are committed to safeguarding the students at this school and contribute to multi-agency working to keep students safe.
'Working together to safeguard children' defines safeguarding as:
- providing help and support to meet the needs of children as soon as problems emerge;
- protecting children from maltreatment, whether that is within or outside the home, including online;
- preventing impairment of children's mental and physical health or development;
- ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care;
- promoting the upbringing of children with their birth parents, or otherwise their family network through a kinship care arrangement, whenever possible and where this is in the best interests of the children;
- taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes in line with the outcomes set out in the Children's Social Care: National Framework
All adults working in our school maintain an attitude of ' it could happen here'. We recognise that staff, because of their contact with and knowledge of children in their care, are well placed to identify abuse, neglect and exploitation and offer support to children in need.
The school has a whole-school safeguarding policy and associated procedures in place to ensure that safeguarding and child protection issues are dealt with efficiently and appropriately. All staff, including our support staff, visitors, and volunteers, are made aware of our procedures, and parents/carers are welcome to read the policy.
Sometimes, we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies when there are concerns about a child's welfare. We will always ensure that our concerns about our students are discussed with their parents/carers first, unless there is reason to believe that this is not in the student's best interests.
St Luke's Safeguarding Team
Mr T Marks - Designated Safeguarding Lead
[email protected]
Miss E Potter - Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
[email protected]
Miss C Dougan - Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
[email protected]
Designated Safeguarding Leads
The designated safeguarding lead is expected to:
- manage referrals of suspected abuse and neglect, radicalisation, where a person is dismissed due to risk to a child, and where a crime may have been committed
- work with others, including the headteacher/principal, staff, safeguarding partners, the Local Authority Designated Officer(s) (LADO), relevant agencies such as the Local Authority, police
- ensure that child protection files are kept up to date
- raise awareness of child protection policy and procedures
- undergo training to provide up to date knowledge and skills required to carry out the role
- provide support to staff
- understand the views of the children
- record, hold, use and share information effectively
Further information about the role of the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) can be found in Annex C of Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024.
Early Help
Early help is described in 'Working together to safeguard children' as support for children of all ages that improves a family's resilience and outcomes or reduces the chance of a problem getting worse.
Early help is not an individual service, but a system of support delivered by local authorities and their partners working together and taking collective responsibility to provide the right provision in their area.
Some early help is provided through "universal services", such as education and health services. They are universal services because they are available to all families, regardless of their needs. Other early help services are coordinated by a local authority and/or their partners to address specific concerns within a family and can be described as targeted early help. Examples of these include parenting support, mental health support, youth services, youth offending teams and housing and employment services.
Early help may be appropriate for children and families who have several needs, or whose circumstances might make them more vulnerable. It is a voluntary approach, requiring the family's consent to receive support and services offered. These may be provided before and/or after statutory intervention.
If early help is appropriate, the designated safeguarding lead (or a deputy) will generally lead on liaising with other agencies and setting up an inter-agency assessment as appropriate. Staff may be required to support other agencies and professionals in an early help assessment, in some cases acting as the lead practitioner.
Early help cases should be kept under constant review and consideration given to a referral to local authority children's social care for assessment for statutory services if the child's situation does not appear to be improving or is getting worse.
Further guidance on effective assessment of the need for early help can be found in 'Working together to safeguard children'.
Further Information
Good mental health is essential for the wellbeing of all learners.
Swindon Borough Council have the local offer available: https://www.swindon.gov.uk/info/20228/mental_health/1522/getting_help_with_mental_health
You may find the information found on the Young Minds website useful.
CAMHS Resources also contains a wealth of useful materials aimed at young people, carers and professionals that are available to help support mental health and wellbeing.
Anna Freud NCCF provides information about how young people can learn to look after their own mental health. https://www.annafreud.org/on-my-mind/self-care/
Child sexual exploitation can happen anywhere. You may find the information through the Pace UK website of interest, as we seek to protect the young people in our collective care.
Resources on how to support mental health and wellbeing can be found here: Child Mental Health & Wellbeing- 10 Top Tips for Parents
NSPCC support for parents provides advice and support for early parenting, managing family life, friends and relationships, supporting yourself and young people, and staying safe online.
Barnardo's support with being a parent or carer provides useful online guidance and support.
Tips, advice, guides and resources to help keep your child safe online can be found here: Parents and Carers - UK Safer Internet Centre