Our Ethos

The child’s welfare is of paramount importance. Our academies will establish and maintain an ethos where pupils feel secure, are encouraged to talk, are listened to and are safe. Children at our academies will be able to talk freely to any member of staff at our academies if they are worried or concerned about something. 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 professionals should make sure their approach is child-centred. This means that they should consider, at all times, what is in the best interests of the child. We recognise that staff at our academies play a particularly important role as they are in a position to identify concerns early and provide help for children to prevent concerns from escalating. All staff are advised to maintain an attitude of ‘it could happen here’ where safeguarding is concerned. No single professional can have a full picture of a child’s needs and circumstances. 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.

All staff and regular visitors will, through training and induction, know how to recognise indicators of concern, how to respond to a disclosure from a child and how to record and report this information. We will not make promises to any child and we will not keep secrets. Every child will know what the adult will have to do with any information they have chosen to disclose. Throughout our curriculum we will provide activities and opportunities for children to develop the skills they need to identify risks and stay safe. This will also be extended to include material that will encourage our children to develop essential life skills.

At all times we will work in partnership and endeavour to establish effective working relationships with parents, carers and colleagues from other agencies as outlined in statutory guidance. All school and college staff should be aware that abuse, neglect and safeguarding issues are rarely standalone events that can be covered by one definition or label. In most cases, multiple issues will overlap with one another The Trust recognises that staff involved in Safeguarding issues may find certain aspects distressing, so each Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) will offer support, advice and expertise to all school staff who raise safeguarding concerns.