At Addington School, we recognise and take extremely seriously our moral and statutory responsibility to safeguard and promote the wellbeing of all our students.

It is essential that a culture of safeguarding is embedded across the school where all young people feel safe and members of our community are able to report concerns that they have. Pupils are taught through our curriculum who to speak to and all members of staff are trained to listen and act on any concerns that are either shared with them or they observe. This includes reporting verbally and ensuring that everything is recorded using the online system, My Concern. 

The training and skill of our staff is key in a school with children and young people who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).  Many of them are pre-verbal or very limited verbally.  Staff are trained to recognise the additional vulnerabilities and heightened risk of our pupils with SEND due to their communication barriers. We strive to contextualise safeguarding to our setting where we have a population of vulnerable learners.

Message from Lydia Colios, Designated Safeguarding Lead

As the Designated Safeguarding Lead, my key responsibilities are:

• To be available for all members of our community to discuss any safeguarding issues or concerns
• To ensure that cases of suspected or actual child protection or safeguarding concerns are referred to the appropriate agencies
• To ensure that all staff are fully trained in safeguarding and know how to spot and raise concerns
• To undergo regular refresher training to ensure my safeguarding knowledge is as up to date as possible and in line with new guidance
• To ensuring that adequate reporting and recording systems are in place for safeguarding procedures, and that there are appropriate transferal procedures for records if students move school
• To ensure that the school’s safeguarding policies and procedures are up to date with the most recent statutory guidance, and that everyone who has safeguarding duties are familiar with any updates
• To communicate with our community on the school’s policies and procedures, as well as any concerns or referrals where appropriate.
• To ensure we comply with requirements laid out by the Berkshire West Safeguarding Children’s Partnership (BWSCP)
• To ensure Addington School has robust safer recruitment procedures.
• To be aware of any children who may require specific safeguarding needs and have specific vulnerabilities.
• To work closely with social care e.g. referrals to Early help, attendance at multi-professional meetings.
• To seek advice and refer to the Local Area Designated Officer (LADO) any allegations or concerns about adults working with pupils on our site

Should you have any questions or wish to discuss anything further regarding safeguarding and child protection at  Addington School, please do not hesitate to contact me  -  lynda.wood@addington.wokingham.sch.uk or phone 01189 669073

There are a number of Deputy Safeguarding Leads who are available for students to speak to also and this is publicised across the school.

SAFEGUARDING AND CHILD PROTECTION

Safeguarding is a wide definition, it is not just about protecting children from deliberate harm it includes issues for schools such as:

• Pupil Health & Safety
• Bullying and racist abuse
• Cyber safety / Internet safety
• Harassment and discrimination
• Meeting needs of pupils with medical conditions
• Providing first aid
• Drug and substance misuse
• School security
• Promoting attendance
• Minimising exclusions
• Issues specific to the local area
• Safe people – safer recruitment compliance and staff conduct
• Hearing the child’s voice – school council, mentoring, peer counselling
• Behaviour management and the use of physical intervention

Child Protection refers to measures that are undertaken to protect specific children who are at risk of suffering significant harm, which could be physical, sexual, emotional abuse or neglect.

Knowing the signs of abuse and how to report them is a vital part of safeguarding students.

Abuse is defined as “a form of maltreatment of a child.  Somebody may abuse a child by inflicting harm, or by failing to act to prevent harm.  Children may be abused in a family or in an institutional or community setting, by those known to them or, more rarely, by others (eg. via the internet).  They may be abused by an adult or adults, or another child or children”.  (Working Together to Safeguard Children (HM Government 2018)

Should you have any questions or wish to discuss anything further regarding safeguarding and child protection at Addington School, please do not hesitate to the DSL on contact emails above or ring the school.

Should you wish to speak to Children’s Services directly, please see https://www.wokingham.gov.uk/children-and-families/child-protection-and-family-support/report-a-concern-about-a-child/

What we will do if we have a concern about your child

Concerns about bruising in children

Online Safety