Safeguarding
Child Protection Policy Statement
Redhill School believes that children must be protected from harm at all times.
We believe every child should be valued, safe and happy. We want to make sure that children we have contact with know this and are empowered to tell us if they are suffering harm.
We want children who use or have contact with us to enjoy what we have to offer in safety.
We want parents and carers who use or attend our school to be supported to care for their children in a way that promotes their child’s health and well-being and keeps them safe.
We will achieve this by having an effective child protection procedure. If we discover or suspect a child is suffering harm we will notify social services or the police in order that they can be protected if necessary. See Appendix 2 in our full policy for the categories of abuse.
This child protection policy and our child protection procedure apply to all staff, volunteers and users of Redhill School and anyone carrying out any work for us or using our premises.
We review our child protection annually.
As a school we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and young people both within the school environment and outside. Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility.
Redhill School is committed in ensuring that all staff who come into contact with children and their families and carers has a role to play in safeguarding children. In order to fulfil the responsibility effectively, the school will ensure their approach is child centred. This means that they will consider, at all times, what is in the best interests of the child.
Because of our day-to-day contact with children and young people, education staff are particularly well placed to observe outward signs of abuse, changes in children’s behaviour or their failure to develop. We need, therefore to be alert to the possibility of abuse occurring, aware of the procedures to be followed if the school have suspicions and have the confidence to follow those procedures
Redhill School is a member of Operation Encompass with the Designated Safeguarding Lead, Mr Clayton, and Designated Safeguarding Officer, Mrs O’Neill, leading on collaboration with West Midlands Police. Operation Encompass is a partnership between police and schools. The principle of Operation Encompass is that ALL incidents of domestic abuse are shared with schools, not just those where an offence can be identified.
Operation Encompass is the reporting to schools before 9am on a school day when a child or young person may have been involved in or exposed to a domestic abuse incident the previous evening.
The information is given to a school’s Key Adult (the school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead and Designated Safeguarding Officer at Redhill) to enable support to be given dependent on the needs and wishes of the child. Operation Encompass does not replace statutory safeguarding procedures. Where appropriate, the police and/or schools will make a referral to local authority children’s social care if they are concerned about a child’s welfare.
Please follow the links below to access parental information posters in a variety of languages:
Safeguarding Leads
Designated Safeguarding Lead – Mr J Clayton (Headteacher) – jclayton@redhill.dudley.sch.uk
Designated Safeguarding Officer & Alternative Provision Manager- Mrs M O’Neill- MONeill1@redhill.dudley.sch.uk
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads – Mrs C Mather – CMather@Redhill.dudley.sch.uk
SENCO – Mrs A Lesniewski – ALesniewski@redhill.dudley.sch.uk
For Pastoral Contacts see Who to Contact
Contextual Safeguarding Support posters
Radicalisation, extremism and the prevent duty
Support Resources and Websites
Childline for free and confidential advice.
UK Safer Internet Centre to report and remove harmful online content.
CEOP for advice about making a report about online abuse.
Childnet offers a toolkit to support parents and carers of children of any age to start discussions about their online life, to set boundaries around online behaviour and technology use, and to find out where to get more help and support.
Common Sense Media provide independent reviews, age ratings, & other information about all types of media for children and their parents.
Government Advice about protecting children from specific online harms such as child sexual abuse, sexting, and cyberbullying.
Government Advice about security and privacy settings, blocking unsuitable content, and parental controls.
Internet Matters provide age-specific online safety checklists, guides on how to set parental controls on a range of devices, and a host of practical tips to help children get the most out of their digital world.
Let’s talk about it provides advice for parents and carers to keep children safe from online radicalisation.
Lucy Faithful Foundation (StopItNow) resource can be used by parents and carers who are concerned about someone’s behaviour, including children who may be displaying concerning sexual behaviour (not just about online).
National Crime Agency / CEOP Think U Know provides support for parents and carers to keep their children safe online.
Net-aware provides support for parents and carers from the NSPCC and O2, including a guide to social networks, apps and games.
ParentZone provides help for parents and carers on how to keep their children safe online.
Parent Info from Parentzone and the National Crime Agency provides support and guidance for parents from leading experts and organisations.
UK Safer Internet Centre provide tips, advice, guides and other resources to help keep children safe online.