This Policy Is Divided in to Two Sections

This policy follows DfE guidelines in ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (September,2016), ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children (March, 2015) and the requirements of the Children Act 2004.

This Policy is divided in to two sections:

Section A- Safeguarding and Child Protection

Section B- Prevent

Commitment

ACT Schools are committed to ensuring the safety and welfare of children who access the schools provision. Their needs, interests and wellbeing are our primary concern, above the interests and needs of others. All staff have a duty to recognise, react, respond and report disclosures or concerns and work collaboratively in a multi-agency approach. This policy and these procedures will have priority over all other policies and procedures. The key principles which underpin this document are contained in the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Children Act 2004.Other documents used for guidance are ‘Safeguarding Children: Working Together Under The Children Act 2004’ and the ‘UN Convention On The Rights Of The Child’

Aims

·  To provide a safe environment for our pupils to learn

·  To identify children at risk who are suffering or are likely to suffer significant harm and to take appropriate action with the aim of making sure that they are kept safe both at home and at school.

·  To identify children in need and to take appropriate action.

Scope

Information detailed within this policy applies to all staff directly and/or indirectly involved with the teaching and learning and support for learners attending ACT Schools Provision. This includes all Senior Management, delivery staff, support and visitors.

Responsibilities

ACT Ltd has a Lead Safeguarding Officer and a Safeguarding Board (Appendix 1) who are responsible for reviewing all policies and procedures and have overall responsibility for safeguarding.

The schools provision has a number of Designated Safeguarding Persons. They are responsible for the day to day implementation if the Safeguarding Policy within the Schools. All items relating to safeguarding within ACT Schools Provision will be monitored by ACT Ltd’s Lead Safeguarding Officer and the Safeguarding Board.

All staff have responsibility for ensuring this policy is followed.

The owner of this document is Katy Wolar, Lead Safeguarding Officer.

Communication and Storage

This policy and procedure will be discussed at Schools Meetings.

It will be e-mailed out to all staff via the Octopus System, with a read and accept notification.

It will be stored on ACT Intranet / Tree / Operations/ Policies and Procedures/Welfare (and on the Octopus system)

Document / Policy Change Request

Changes to this policy or associated documents must be agreed with the Lead safeguarding officer.

Document / Policy Reviewing and Approving

This policy will be reviewed annually by the Safeguarding Board.

References

Human Rights Act 1988

Children Act 2004

Safeguarding Children: Working Together Under The Children Act 2004

PREVENT Strategy 2011

Related ACT Documents:

Code of Safe Conduct

Photography Policy

Social Media Policy

ICT Policy

Behaviour Policy

Counselling Policy

Guest Speaker Risk Assessment

PREVENT Risk Assessment

Recruitment and Selection

Disclosure and Barring Service

Raising Concerns Policy and Procedure

Overview

‘Child Protection’ is the broad term used to describe the philosophies, standards, guidance and procedures to protect children from both intentional and unintentional harm. Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families and carers has a role to play in safeguarding children. In order to fulfil this responsibility effectively, all staff should make sure that their approach is child-centred. This means that they should consider at all times what is in the best interests of the child.

ACT Schools promote an environment in which staff feel able to raise concerns and feel supported in their safeguarding roles. Although there are clear procedures to follow within this policy, any member of staff may make a referral to external agencies. The term ‘children’ refers to everyone under the age of 18.

Safeguarding children covers:

· Protecting children from maltreatment

· Preventing impairment of health or development

· Ensuring children are safe and cared for in school

· Taking action to enable all children to have the best life chances and to enter adulthood successfully

Systems are required to:

·  prevent unsuitable people working with our pupils

·  promote safe practice and challenge poor and unsafe practice and take all reasonable measures to ensure that risks of harm to pupils’ welfare are minimised

·  identify circumstances in which there are grounds for concern about a child’s welfare, and initiate/take appropriate action to keep them safe (working to agreed local policies and procedures in full partnership with local agencies)

·  Contribute to effective partnership working between all those involved in providing services for pupils (e.g. health, social services, police)

Independent schools under Section 157 of the Education Act 2002 are required to have arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of pupils. The South East Wales Safeguarding Children’s Board (SEWSCB) provides advice and training and as a link with other local children’s services. This policy is available to parents on request.

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) was created in December 2012 to provide a new combined barring and criminal records disclosure service. The aim is to help prevent unsuitable people from working with children and vulnerable adults.

Duties include:

·  ensuring that procedures are in place that are in line with procedures outlined in the DfE guidelines in ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (2016);

·  operating safe recruitment procedures and carrying out DBS checks on new staff and regular volunteers;·

·  ensuring that there are procedures in place for dealing with allegations of abuse against members of staff/volunteers (including Senior Management and the Lead Safeguarding Officer) that comply with procedures;

·  providing a designated person for child protection; ·

·  providing training for all staff and training for the designated person in inter agency work (all staff every three years and designated person training every two years);

·  remedying any weaknesses in child protection arrangements without delay;

·  undertaking an annual review of safeguarding policies and procedures; ·

·  ensuring that all staff and volunteers feel able to raise concerns about poor or unsafe practice in regard to children, and that such concerns are addressed sensitively and effectively in a timely manner, in accordance with the school Raising Concerns policy;

Safeguarding Roles

Lead Safeguarding Officer

The role of ACT Ltds Lead Safeguarding Officer can be found in Appendix 2.

Designated Safeguarding Person

The Designated Safeguarding Person may be required to liaise between external agencies, participate in child protection case conferences, support children in need and keep accurate records. With the staff, the Designated Safeguarding Person should keep all staff aware of child protection procedures and promote a culture of listening to children. There are many aspects to the role of the Designated Safeguarding Person, which include:

Managing Referrals

·  To inform ACT’s Lead Safeguarding Officer of all referrals made

·  To refer all cases of suspected abuse to the local authority children’s social care and:

·  the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) for child protection concerns (all cases that concern a staff member);

·  Disclosure and Barring Service (cases where a person is dismissed or left due to risk/harm to a child); and/or Police (cases where a crime may have been committed).

·  To liaise with the Senior Schools Manager to inform them of any issues, especially ongoing enquiries under section 47 of the Children Act 1989 and police investigations

·  To act as a source of support, advice and expertise to staff on matters of safety and safeguarding and when deciding whether to make a referral by liaising with relevant agencies.

Two-yearly Training

The Designated Safeguarding Person should receive appropriate training carried out every two years (NSPCC Designated Safeguarding Person 2 day training) in order to:

·  Have a working knowledge of how local authorities conduct a child protection case conference and a child protection review conference and be able to attend and contribute to these effectively when required to do so.

·  Ensure each member of staff has access to and understands the school’s child protection policy and procedures, especially new and part time staff

·  Be alert to the specific needs of children in need, those with special educational needs and young carers

·  Be able to keep detailed, accurate, secure written records of concerns and referrals

·  Obtain access to resources and attend any relevant or refresher training courses, liaising with SEWSCB to identify the most appropriate training.

·  Encourage a culture of listening to children and taking account of their wishes and feelings, among all staff, in any measures the school may put in place to protect them

Raising Awareness

The Designated Safeguarding Person should ensure the school’s policies are known and used appropriately:

·  Support the Lead Safeguarding officer in ensuring that the school’s child protection policy is reviewed annually and the procedures and implementation are updated and reviewed regularly, and work with governing bodies or proprietors regarding this

·  Ensure the child protection policy is available publicly and parents are aware of the fact that referrals about suspected abuse or neglect maybe made and the role of the school in this

·  Link with the Local Safeguarding Children Board to make sure staff are aware of training opportunities and the latest local policies on safeguarding

·  Where children leave the school ensure their child protection file is copied for any new school as soon as possible but transferred separately from the main pupil file.

The following Designated Safeguarding Persons can be found at each site:

Site / Name / Contact
OceanPark- Cardiff / Kelly Rowlands- Senior Schools Manager /
07714749530
Kie Baldwin – Centre Manager /
02920464727
Hadfield Road- Cardiff / Amanda Hodges- Schools Skills Centre Co-ordinator /
02922406050
Tammy Evans- Pastoral and Behaviour Support /
02922406050
Pontygwindy- Caerphilly / Antony Leach- Centre Manager /
07713287954
Josef Wyatt- Pastoral and Behaviour Support /
07814913106

Delivery and Support Staff

All staff working with learners should:

Recognise - treat learner’s welfare with utmost importance and be alert to potential indicators of abuse and abusers

React - Be aware of your reactions, stay calm and don’t immediately dismiss concerns

Respond – Don’t promise to keep secrets, listen carefully and ask questions for clarification only. Reassure and discuss what will happen next. Don’t anticipate what the outcome may be in an attempt to placate the learner

Record - complete a ‘recording concerns’ form and forward to line manager/safeguarding officer. Seek help from first aiders, social services or the emergency services if there is an immediate risk

Report - Ensure concerns are reported to line manager and safeguarding officer the same day the concerns are raised

Reassure - Continue to support and reassure the learner throughout the process, within the guidelines given by the manager/safeguarding officer and in line with any ongoing investigation. Seek counselling support if appropriate

Remember - It is not your responsibility to investigate or make a decision regarding the concerns; that is the task of professional agencies following a referral

All staff members will receive an introduction to safeguarding as part of their induction process. All staff will be expected to undertake safeguarding training at least every three years (DSP’s every two). Staff are encouraged to attend additional training that is organised with the support of the SEWCSB on a frequent basis. Additional training opportunities may also be shared on the Octopus system.

What to look for

Knowing what to look for is vital to the early identification of abuse and neglect. If staff members are unsure they should always speak to a Designated Safeguarding Person.

All staff members should be aware of the signs of abuse and neglect so that they are able to identify cases of children who may be in need of help or protection. Types of abuse and neglect, and examples of safeguarding issues are described in Appendix 3.

Staff members working with children are advised to maintain an attitude of ‘it could happen here’ where safeguarding is concerned. When concerned about the welfare of a child, staff members should always act in the best interests of the child.

All applicants for jobs at the school are scrutinised by verifying their identity and suitability for working with children by a Disclosure and Barring Service ‘enhanced’ check, seeing evidence of any academic or vocational qualifications, obtaining professional and character references, checking previous employment history and that the candidate has the health and physical capacity to do the job. Procedures are in place for dealing with allegations of abuse against staff (and volunteers who work with children). Staff have a duty to inform the Senior Schools Manager if they have concerns that a child is being abused, even if the concern involves another employee at the School.

Reporting Procedures

This is identified in the flowchart (appendix 4). In addition to flow chart 1, all DSP’s are encouraged to seek any further guidance and support from the NSPCC. Additional guidance can be found in Appendix 5 as well as guidance on recording allegations of abuse (appendix 6).

All staff have a responsibility to comply with this procedure. ACT have a Lead Safeguarding Officer in place to oversee and manage this procedure and Designated Safeguarding Persons (NSPCC trained). All Safeguarding Officers are responsible for ensuring:

·  Staff record the correct details on the Recording Concerns Form (appendix 6)

·  the matter is referred to the appropriate agency(s) using the relevant referral forms

·  the matter is recorded on the ACT Safeguarding Log

·  the matter is monitored and recommendations and follow up actions are adhered to

·  concerns and referrals are discussed at ACT’s Safeguarding Board meeting or sooner with the Lead Safeguarding Officer if relevant.

Concerns about another Staff Member

All concerns relating to allegations against staff members will be dealt with in accordance with the Welsh Government Guidance (Circular 009/2014) ‘Safeguarding children in education: handling allegations of abuse against teachers and other staff’.