What is safeguarding?

Schools have a statutory responsibility to keep children safe from harm. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) defines safeguarding as:

• 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

What are schools expected to do?

Schools are required to comply with the current safeguarding guidance from the Department for Education, called Keeping Children Safe in Education. This means, for example:

• Having a designated safeguarding lead (DSL), who is trained to support staff, contribute to assessing children and liaise with other agencies
• Having a child protection policy, and procedures covering specific safeguarding issues
• Ensuring that adults working in the school are safe to work with children, by carrying out background checks (through the Disclosure and Barring Service) and having someone on interview panels who is trained in ‘safer recruitment’
• Ensuring that all staff receive safeguarding and child protection training, and that this is regularly updated

What does safeguarding look like in our school?

• We protect information about your child and only share it appropriately
• We respond appropriately to an unplanned absence, or to a pattern of poor attendance
• We track concerns about children confidentially
• We teach pupils about safeguarding issues, including how to respond to concerns, in lessons on personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education
• We work closely with a variety of agencies to support young people
• We work in partnership with the Police through Operation Encompass to support children and young people exposed to domestic abuse.
• At St Hild’s Church of Endland School School all staff have been trained to follow procedures and understand policies which have been outlined through the Keeping Children Safe in Education (2022) publication and local guidance issued from Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees Safeguarding Children’s Partnership. This includes when to make recommendations for children who will benefit from Early Help. 

Types of Harm 

We all have a responsibility to keep children (under the age of 18) safe, both at home and in school. Harm is identified in four ways: 

Physical – when a child is deliberately hurt or injured. 

Sexual – when a child is influenced or forced to take part in a sexual activity. This can be a physical activity of no-physical, e.g. being made to look at an inappropriate image. 

Emotional – when a child is made to feel frightened, worthless or unloved. It can be by shouting, using threats or making fun of someone. It can also be when children see their parents, or visitors to the home, fighting or using violence. 

Neglect – when a child is not being taken care of by their parents/ guardians. It can be poor hygiene, poor diet, not keeping appointments for additional support, not coming to school are being left home alone.

Bullying 

St Hild’s School takes bullying extremely seriously and does not tolerate bullying behaviour of any kind.  We know that for all our pupils to achieve they need to learn and work in a safe, supportive and caring environment.

We want all pupils to feel safe at school and be able to report instances of bullying behaviour. Whether they feel they are the victim or have witnessed it happening. Reporting bullying is important to us, and we want to support your child at school should this happen.  

Bullying includes repetitive behaviour of intimidation, emotional, verbal, or sexual harassment, being teased about race, religion, culture, gender, sexuality, social class, disability, academic performance, or any other matter that causes distress to the victim.

Pupils in first instance are encouraged to speak to their Form Tutor, one of our trained Anti-bullying ambassadors or Head of year.  

Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature which: violates your dignity, makes you feel intimidated, degraded or humiliated or creates a hostile or offensive environment. 

As a team of staff, we are all trained to safeguard your child. We work hard to ensure that St Hilds School is a safe, tolerant and inclusive place for all. Sexual harassment, including any misogynistic language or behaviour, will not be tolerated at St Hilds School. As part of our PSHE curriculum we work hard to educate all our pupils about acceptable behaviours and challenge those we feel are not correct. 

Sexual Harassment includes:

• Sexualised comments / ‘jokes’
• Misogynistic language or behaviour i.e., Sexist language or behaviour that reflects or shows hatred, dislike, or mistrust of women
• Staring
• Inappropriate physical contact
• Receiving / being pressured into sending unwanted sexualised images through social media

FAQs

• Who should I speak to for more information, or if I have a safeguarding concern?

You can speak to any member of staff, but we recommend that your first point of contact is your child’s Year Leader (DDSL) or our DSL. 

Email: sth-safeguarding@neatat.org.uk

Telephone: 01429 273041 

• Who should my child speak to if he/she has a concern?

Your child can speak to any trusted adult in school. The adult will refer to the DSL if there is a concern about the safety of the child.

• How can I access more relevant information or policies?

For our full range of policies, including our Child Protection Policy, Discipline and Pupil Behaviour Policy, Code of Conduct, Confidential Reporting of Concerns Policy, Anti-Bullying Policy, Attendance Policy, and Online Safety Policy please see our Policies page. 

Information for Parents

Below you can find some relevant information regarding keeping children safe online and staying safe relating to e-scooters.