Safeguarding

Definition of Safeguarding

“Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined for the purposes of this guidance as: protecting children from maltreatment; 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 and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.“

Sunshine Academy's Commitment to Safeguarding and Child Protection

 At Sunshine Academy the safeguarding and welfare of our children is paramount. We are committed to safeguarding children and young people, and we expect everyone who works in our school to share this commitment. 

The Lighthouse Multi Academy Trust, Trustees, the Governors, Head Teacher and staff work tirelessly to ensure we provide a safe and secure learning environment.  

We are aware that our children and their families may require additional support from time to time, and this will always be carried out sensitively with a child-centred approach. 

All the staff at Sunshine Academy are aware of their roles and responsibilities with regard to keeping all our children safe. All staff attend annual training and are provided with a wealth of updates, training and support throughout the year.  

Sunshine Academy's Safeguarding Team

Miss Sarah Corkindale- Designated Safeguarding Lead

Mrs Nanette Broadway- Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

Mrs Mel Hindley- Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

 

Key Documents for Safeguarding

Keeping children safe in education - GOV.UK

Working together to safeguard children - GOV.UK

Working Together to Safeguard Children: An illustrated Guide for Children and Families

 

Reporting a Concern of Abuse or Neglect

Communication with Parents/Carers

Sunshine Academy will always discuss concerns with parents/carers and seek consent for any referrals unless to do so would: 

• Place the child at risk of significant harm or further risk of significant harm.
• Place a vulnerable adult at risk of harm.
• Compromise any inquiries that need to be undertaken by children’s social care or the police.

Sunshine Academy will endeavour to ensure that parents have an understanding of the responsibilities placed on the school and staff for safeguarding children.

In the best interests of safeguarding children, there may be occasions when the school must consult with other agencies without a parent or carer’s prior knowledge. Our first concern and responsibility is the child’s welfare, and we have a duty to protect children first and always. Such consultation may result in a formal referral, which could prompt visits from social care and/or the police. We fully understand that this can be a very distressing set of circumstances. Sunshine Academy will follow the procedures required by Walsall Safeguarding Partnership.

The Curriculum 

Child safety issues and child protection will be addressed through the curriculum where appropriate, especially through PSHE, Computing and Online Safety, Citizenship, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and British values. 

We use a variety of resources and approaches to teach the children how to keep themselves safe, build their resilience and manage risks.

The curriculum, and particularly the personal, social and health education development strand of the curriculum, includes an emphasis on relationships (relationships and sex education), building confidence and resilience in pupils and in developing preventative strategies to ensure their own protection and that of others.

Opportunities are provided for pupils to develop the skills and strategies they need to stay safe from abuse, including age-appropriate discussions about healthy relationships, their bodies, and being able to say no to requests that they do not want to carry out. Clear advice and guidance is built into the curriculum to ensure that pupils understand that there is a range of contacts they can turn to for advice and support and that they know where and how to report abuse.

 

Child Sexual Exploitation

Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) is a form of sexual abuse which sees children/young people being manipulated or coerced into sexual activity for receiving ‘something’ such as; gifts, money, food, attention, somewhere to stay etc. Technology is very often used to groom victims.  This may occur through social networking sites and mobile phones with internet access. CSE has gained a large amount of media attention over the last year as lots of services involved with children and young people have noticed a big rise in cases involving CSE.

Charities such as NSPCC and Barnardo's have been campaigning to raise the profile of this form of child abuse.

Safeguarding support and advice	Safeguarding support and advice

 

Domestic Abuse

Domestic Abuse is any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. The abuse can encompass, but is not limited to: psychological; physical; sexual; financial; and emotional.

All children can witness and be adversely affected by domestic abuse in the context of their home life where domestic abuse occurs between family members. Exposure to domestic abuse and/or violence can have a serious, long lasting emotional and psychological impact on children.

Domestic Abuse Advice

https://www.operationencompass.org/https://blackcountrywomensaid.co.uk/https://www.internetmatters.org/https://www.ceop.police.uk/Safety-Centre/

 

Operation Encompass

 At Sunshine Academy we are working in partnership with West Midlands Police and Walsall Children's Services to identify and provide appropriate support to pupils who have experienced domestic abuse in their household; this scheme is called Operation Encompass.

On receipt of any information, the Designated Safeguarding Lead, will decide on the appropriate support the child requires. All information sharing and resulting actions will be undertaken in accordance with 'Operation Encompass Joint Agency Protocol for Domestic Abuse'. We will record this information and store this information in accordance with the record keeping procedures around ‘Safeguarding the wellbeing of children and young people’.

Police and Education early information safeguarding partnership	Domestic Abuse Advice

 

Online Safety

Children and young people spend lots of time on the internet.  They may go online to research information for homework or to play games, chat with friends and make new ones. The internet holds a massive amount of useful information and can also be a really good way of learning about new things and keeping in contact with friends and family.  It can also be a very dangerous place, so it is important that children are protected and monitored when they are online.
 
CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection) has lots of information about how to keep your children safe online and parental controls.  More information can be found by clicking the CEOP icon below.

Online Safety Advice	Support for online abuse

 

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

In April 2014 every school in England received new safeguarding guidelines and detailed information on identifying and responding to Female Genital Mutilation. FGM is a procedure carried out on young girls between the ages of infancy and 15 years of age.

Female Genital Mutilation is classified as a form of Child Abuse in the UK.  It therefore makes the procedure of it a serious Child Protection issue. It is illegal for anyone to perform FGM in the UK or to arrange for a child to be transported to another country for the procedure. The maximum sentence for carrying out FGM or helping it to take place is 14 years in prison.

There is lots of information and support available online for parents/carers concerned about this subject or if you know someone who is at risk:

• Contact the Police if you think that a girl or young woman is in danger of FGM and is still in the UK.
• Contact the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (020 7008 1500) if she’s already been taken abroad.

The NSPCC has detailed advice on how to spot the signs, symptoms and effects of FGM and provides support for people who are concerned about a child or who have been affected themselves.

The link to the website is below:https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/child-abuse-and-neglect/female-genital-mutilation-fgm/signs-symptoms-and-effects/

FGM Support and Advice