Safeguarding at Smarden
Meet the team
Our Designated Safeguarding Leads at Smarden are:
Sarah Judge leads Safeguarding on behalf of our Governors. Part of Sarah's role is to challenge our procedures and policies, ensuring that we are effectively safeguarding all of our pupils.
What is Safeguarding?
Safeguarding covers a wide range of activities and actions taken by a number of different people and agencies.
By ‘Safeguarding’ we mean:
- Protecting children from abuse and maltreatment
- Preventing harm to children’s mental and physical health or development
- Ensuring children are provided with safe and effective care
- Taking action to enable all children to have the best possible outcomes
Safeguarding is about keeping children safe at all times. Child protection is part of safeguarding and promoting welfare. It refers to activity undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering, or are likely to suffer, significant harm.
Our full safeguarding policy can be found here.
Our Staff and Safeguarding
We believe that all staff and volunteers should provide a caring, positive, safe and stimulating environment that promotes the social, physical and moral development of every child. We are fully committed to ensuring that consistent, effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support families, children and staff at our school.
No single practitioner can have a full picture of a child’s needs and circumstances and, if children and families are to receive the right help at the right time, everyone who comes into contact with them has a role to play in identifying concerns, sharing information and taking prompt action.
At school, we have a Single Central Record (SCR) to ensure all staff and volunteers have the required checks and certificates. Staff are trained annually to ensure they are updated on all current legislation and are clear on what to do if they have a safeguarding concern.
Visual prompts around the school remind them of this throughout the working day. There is also additional training where necessary on key elements of safeguarding e.g. FGM, CSE, Prevent, Online Safety etc.
All of our governors and staff contribute to:
- Providing a safe environment for children to learn;
- Identifying children who are suffering or likely to suffer significant harm and taking appropriate action with the aim of making sure that they are kept safe both at home and in the education setting.
To achieve this, we:
- Aim to prevent unsuitable people from working with the children;
- Promote safe practice and challenge any poor or unsafe practice ;
- Identify instances where there are grounds for concern about a child’s welfare and initiate or take appropriate action to keep them safe;
- Contribute to effective partnership working between all those involved in providing services for our children.
All staff, Governors, volunteers and contractual staff are required to read the key document for safeguarding:
Children's Mental Health
All staff are aware that mental health problems can be an indicator that a child has suffered or is at risk of suffering abuse, neglect or exploitation. Where children have suffered abuse and neglect, or other potentially traumatic adverse childhood experiences, this can have a lasting impact throughout childhood, adolescence and into adulthood. If a member of staff has a mental health concern that is also a safeguarding concern they will follow our Safeguarding Policy and procedures.
Safeguarding in the curriculum
Our unique curriculum and values give pupils opportunities to experience life in all its diversity, to acquire resilience, knowledge, understanding and skills that significantly impact on personal development, behaviour, welfare and safety and equips every child with the knowledge and skills required for personal safeguarding.
Our PSHE curriculum covers all areas of Safeguarding including Sex and Relationships Education, Drugs And Alcohol Education, anti-bullying, relationships, citizenship and health education. We are sensitive in our teaching and recognise that some more sensitive subjects need to taught at an age appropriate level, or at a small group or 1:1 level where a more urgent need arises.
Further resources
Safeguarding children and young people (GOV.UK)
Advice to Parents and Carers on keeping children safe from abuse and harm (GOV.UK)
Child Sexual Exploitation - A guide for Parents/Carers
Self-Harm Leaflet - A guide for Parents/Carers
When your child is missing leaflet