Safeguarding
Introduction
The Ridgeway School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as:
- Protecting children and young people from maltreatment.
- Preventing the impairment of their health or development.
- Ensuring that they are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care.
- Enabling them to have optimum life chances and enter adulthood successfully.
The school has a whole-school safeguarding policy and associated procedures in place to ensure that safeguarding and child protection issues are dealt with efficiently and appropriately. All staff, including our support staff, visitors, and volunteers, are made aware of our procedures, and parents/carers are welcome to read the policy.
Sometimes, we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies when there are concerns about a child's welfare. We will always ensure that our concerns about our students are discussed with their parents/carers first, unless there is reason to believe that this is not in the student's best interests.
The Ridgeway School and Sixth Form takes seriously its responsibility to protect, safeguard and promote the welfare of the children and young people in its care.
"The welfare of the student is paramount." (Children Act 1989).
Our staff and governors are committed to safeguarding the students at this school and contribute to multi-agency working to keep students safe.
'Working together to safeguard children' defines safeguarding as:
- providing help and support to meet the needs of children as soon as problems emerge;
- protecting children from maltreatment, whether that is within or outside the home, including online;
- preventing impairment of children's mental and physical health or development;
- ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care;
- promoting the upbringing of children with their birth parents, or otherwise their family network through a kinship care arrangement, whenever possible and where this is in the best interests of the children;
- taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes in line with the outcomes set out in the Children's Social Care: National Framework
All adults working in our school maintain an attitude of ' it could happen here'. We recognise that staff, because of their contact with and knowledge of children in their care, are well placed to identify abuse, neglect and exploitation and offer support to children in need.
The school has a whole-school safeguarding policy and associated procedures in place to ensure that safeguarding and child protection issues are dealt with efficiently and appropriately. All staff, including our support staff, visitors, and volunteers, are made aware of our procedures, and parents/carers are welcome to read the policy.
Sometimes, we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies when there are concerns about a child's welfare. We will always ensure that our concerns about our students are discussed with their parents/carers first, unless there is reason to believe that this is not in the student's best interests.
The Ridgeway Safeguarding Team
If you have a concern about a child, particularly if you think they may be suffering harm or are at risk of suffering harm, it is your responsibility to share the information promptly with:
Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)
Mrs G Moody
- 01793 846100
- moodyg@ridgewayschool.com
Safeguarding Deputies
Gemma Sole
- 01793 846100
- Soleg@ridgewayschool.com
Miss P Keep
- 01793 846100
- keepp@ridgewayschool.com
Pastoral Leaders - members of the safeguarding team
Ms J Palfreyman
· 01793 846100
· palfryemanj@ridgewayschool.com
Mrs S Hoyland
· 01793 846100
Miss A Tuck
· 01793 846100
Mr V Columbro
· 01793 846100
· columbrov@ridgewayschool.com
Single Point of Contact for Concerns Regarding Radicalisation and Extremism
Mrs G Moody
- 01793 846100
- moodyg@ridgewayschool.com
Designated Teacher for Looked After Children
Mr C Atkins
- 01793 846100
- atkinsc@ridgewayschool.com
Further Information
Good mental health is essential for the wellbeing of all learners.
Swindon Borough Council have the local offer available: https://www.swindon.gov.uk/info/20228/mental_health/1522/getting_help_with_mental_health
You may find the information found on the Young Minds website useful.
CAMHS Resources also contains a wealth of useful materials aimed at young people, carers and professionals that are available to help support mental health and wellbeing.
Anna Freud NCCF provides information about how young people can learn to look after their own mental health. https://www.annafreud.org/on-my-mind/self-care/
Child sexual exploitation can happen anywhere. You may find the information through the Pace UK website of interest, as we seek to protect the young people in our collective care.
Resources on how to support mental health and wellbeing can be found here: Child Mental Health & Wellbeing- 10 Top Tips for Parents
Whisper
Whisper is an anonymous reporting tool brought to you by the South West Grid for Learning. It can be added to school websites to help anonymously capture issues reported by students either online or by text message. To report an issue, click the button below.
Safeguarding Documents