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Safeguarding
Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families has an important role to play in safeguarding children.
School staff are particularly important as they are in a position to identify concerns early and provide help for children, to prevent concerns from escalating. Schools and their staff form part of a wider safeguarding system for children. Keevil CofE Academy we are committed to the well-being and safety of all our children and we will always adopt a sensitive and caring approach to support them and their families.
What is Safeguarding?
Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm.
Safeguarding means:
- protecting children from abuse and maltreatment
- preventing harm to children’s health or development ensuring children grow up with the provision of safe and effective care
- taking action to enable all children and young people to have the best outcomes
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.
What is Child Protection?
Child protection is part of the safeguarding process. It focusses on protecting individual children identified as suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. This includes child protection procedures which detail how to respond to concerns about a child.
Safeguarding at Keevil CofE Academy
At Keevil CofE Academy we work to our values to ensure that every child, regardless of their age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation, has a right to equal protection from harm.
Ben Gunstone is the Keevil CofE Academy Safeguarding link Academy Councillor and works with the school safeguarding team to support and sustain a safe and child-centred culture across all our school. To make contact please initially email the school at admin@keevil.wilts.sch.uk
We operate Safer Recruitment procedures and checks when appointing staff and volunteers, so that all adults within the school are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.
The school’s Single Central Record holds the details of all members of staff and the rigorous vetting checks (particularly Disclosure and Barring Service checks) that are carried out by the school. This is monitored weekly within school and audited regularly by the Acorn Education Trust.
All staff are trained to at least Level 1 in Safeguarding, with members of the school’s Safeguarding Team trained to Level 3. Staff receive regular training on different Safeguarding themes and issues, and complete knowledge check quizzes so that the school can identify where there are gaps in people’s knowledge. 'Safeguarding' is a recurrent agenda item in all school Academy Council meetings.
We also teach our children how to keep themselves safe through our PSHE and Computing curriculum and additional opportunities woven through the school curriculum and timetable. For more information about this, you can find details of the Safeguarding curriculum that we deliver to all our children on our Safeguarding Curriculum page.
School Safeguarding Teams Contact Information and Policy
Designated Safeguarding Lead: Lindsey Hermon
Email: lh@keevil.wilts.sch.uk
Telephone number: 01380 870376
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead: Aaron McCaldon
Email: am@keevil.wilts.sch.uk
Telephone number: 01380 870376
Out of school hours and holiday time contact: lh@keevil.wilts.sch.uk
Out of hours Children/Students can seek support via Childline on 0800 1111. The phone call is free and it is a confidential helpline.
You can find our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy on our policies page
Click here to visit our safeguarding and child protection policy page
At Keevil, we are aware of our Prevent Duty and staff are trained frequently with annual updates. Our Prevent risk assessment can be found below:
Keevil Prevent Risk Assessment
When responding to any claim of sexual violence, sexual harassment and harmful sexual behaviour, we use the following system and procedure:
Our school receives information from Wiltshire Police in the event of any of our pupils experiencing or witnessing domestic violence or abuse through Operation Encompass. For further information see:
Keevil Early Help Offer
We appreciate the importance of early help in our safeguarding duty, and we aim to recognise families and children who may benefit from early intervention and put this in place in a timely manner. We ensure that our children get the support they need, at the time they need it. This keeps them safe and, ultimately, enables them to learn and flourish.
Keevil CofE Academy Early Help Offer
If a child is in immediate danger, call 999. The Police will assess the situation and take the appropriate action to protect the child.
If you are a parent or another adult who has concerns about the safety of one of our children/students, please contact Lindsey Hermon, our Designated Safeguarding Lead (see above).
If the child is not at immediate risk, contact your local child protection services. Their contact details can be found on the website for the local authority the child lives in. Wiltshire Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub can be contacted on: 0300 456 0108 8.45am- 5pm, out of hours 0300 456 0100.
Many people worry, “What if I am wrong?” but if we take a child-centred approach to safeguarding, we should all be asking, “What if I am right?” By raising a concern, you could be protecting not just one child, but future children. Whenever you are worried, whether it’s a big or little worry, always tell someone who can help.
In England, the Department for Education is the government sector responsible for all child protection policy. On a local level, local safeguarding partners such as the police, the local authority and designated safeguarding groups are in charge of managing any complaints or issues and ensuring that the principles of the Children Act are upheld.
