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 The Mease 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 The Mease Spencer Academy follows the procedures set out by the Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Board in the Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Procedures (www.derbyshirescb.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 at The Mease
The Mease Spencer Academy is committed to creating and maintaining a happy and safe environment for our children to form relationships, learn and have fun. Our vision is to ‘Learn Together Through Reflection.’ Making sure that everyone in our school community is safe is an essential prerequisite if children are to demonstrate this.
At The Mease Spencer Academy we have a Safeguarding Team, listed below, but also regard seeking to identify and overcome all barriers to learning as an important part of the partnership between academy and families.
To find out the approaches we take to safeguard children and to find information about our approach to pastoral support, e-safety and our policies and procedures, please see below.
Safeguarding Team
- Julia Hart – Designated Safeguarding Lead
- Hayley Ellis – Designated Safeguarding Lead and Attendance Lead
- Amanda Iredale – Designated Safeguarding Lead
- Chantelle Lawer – Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
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 The Mease, we have two members of staff who have received advanced safeguarding training.
The academy has a policy on Safeguarding, which has been agreed by the Spencer Academies Trust. We also refer regularly to the Keeping Children Safe in Education document, which highlights important safeguarding information. As an academy, 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 academy 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 academy has a duty to cooperate with the investigating agencies to the best of their ability to promote the welfare of the child. Whilst the academy 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 Spencer Academies Trust. Our staff and volunteers are CRB 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 raises concern about children’s safety and welfare. For further information, please see our section on Attendance policy.
Should you wish to discuss child protection and the safety of your child, or indeed, any other child at The Mease, 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 the Safer Working Practice guidance.
- Parent/Carer Information Leaflet
- Information Leaflet for Children
- Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy
- Keeping Children Safe in Education (Part 1)
- Guidance for schools & colleges on safer working practices
There are many ways by which we teach children to stay safe. These include:
PSHCE & British Values
At The Mease, we believe that we will prepare children for the future and raise standards across the curriculum by stimulating children’s imaginations, developing empathy and providing opportunities for critical thinking and problem solving. This includes promoting British Values. The values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs are promoted through the delivery of our curriculum, specific sessions and assemblies to develop children’s social and emotional understanding.
We will invite Friendship Buddies from the nearby Hilton Primary School, also part of the Spencer Academies Trust, to come along and play with our young pupils – they will do a great job of encouraging positive friendships and play. We will also establish a School Council, giving all children opportunities to have a voice.
Mrs Hart leads our PSHE curriculum and our School Council work.
E-Safety
At The Mease, we teach the children about e-safety through their computing lessons. This begins with basic skills such as remembering to ask an adult before using the internet in Reception and, by Year 6, the children will be taught the difference between on-line friends and in-person friends and the kind of chat that is safe to have. Mrs Hart is the teacher responsible for e-safety in school.
Information to help keep your child safe online can be found on several websites. The following we have found to be particularly useful:
Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP)
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) website is run by the National Crime Agency. It has links to various websites and information available for all ages of children.
Follow this link: CEOP Website
Think U Know
The internet has changed all of our lives, particularly our children’s. For parents and carers this opens up a whole new world of things to be aware of. For many of us, this can all be a bit too much.
You might be struggling to keep up with the things your child is doing online, you might wonder whether what they are doing is safe, and you might also be thinking how can I be as good a parent online as I am offline?
This site aims to make online parenting simple.
Follow this link: Thinkuknow Website
Anti-Bullying
We take bullying very seriously at The Mease Spencer Academy. We aim to:
- Develop strategies to enable children to feel included in policy making and school life
- Remove barriers to learning and enable children to achieve their potential both academic and socially
- Ensure that all members of the school understand practices and procedures that help minimise and identify bullying behaviour
- Try and eradicate all forms of bullying and anti-social behaviour within the school environment
- Celebrate good practise and show all that this school has a zero tolerance to bullying behaviour
If you are ever concerned that your child is being bullied, please talk to the class teacher or a senior member of staff.