Safeguarding
Under the Education Act 2002 (section 175/157), schools must “make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children”.
At Beacon Primary Academy, we will provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued. We are committed to Safeguarding and actively encourage a strong culture of vigilance in this area.
The academy is alert to signs of abuse and neglect and will follow the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) procedures to ensure that children receive appropriate and effective support and protection.
Parents/carers should know that the law requires all school staff to pass on information which gives rise to a concern about a child’s welfare, including risk from neglect, physical, emotional or sexual abuse. The staff will seek, in general, to discuss concerns with the parent/carer, and where possible inform them of the referral to Social Care. This will only be done where such discussion will not place the child at increased risk of significant harm.
In accordance with local Information Sharing protocols, we will ensure that information is shared securely and sensitively. Information will only be shared with other services where it is deemed necessary and proportionate to ensure that children and young people are safe and receive the right service.
The site specific document attached below sets out the arrangements for Safeguarding and Child Protection at Beacon Primary Academy and should be read alongside the GAT Safeguarding Policy.
Definition
It is important to see safeguarding as the “umbrella” term for everything that is done to support children and young people, to keep them safe and promote their welfare. ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015’ defines safeguarding as:
- protecting children from maltreatment;
- preventing impairment of a child’s health and 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 life chances.
The welfare of the child is paramount (Children Act 1989/2004)
- All children irrespective of their age, cultural background, disability, gender, language, racial origins, religious beliefs, sexual orientation have the right to be protected from abuse
Teaching our pupils about safeguarding
Beacon Primary Academy promotes a culture where children feel confident to speak out if they have a concern about their own or another child’s safety. All children are either provided with a named- key-worker (e.g in EYFS) or are able to choose Listening Ears, trusted adults that work in school who they feel they are able to talk to. Children can ask to speak with their Listening Ears, or sometimes Listening Ears will arrange a regular meeting time for such conversations to take place.
Beacon Primary Academy has designed a curriculum which uses a contextualised safeguarding review as its starting point. Staff plan specific teaching and learning opportunities that support the children and the contextual needs that may impact on such children living and growing up on the East Coast of Lincolnshire through a Values-based approach. Provision is mapped using curriculum progression routes from 1Decision, a Kitemarked assured programme for primary schools which supports statutory PSHE, and RSE for KS1 and KS2.
Provision is enhanced by accessing external agency support such as Childline or the NSPCC Learning Talk PANTS resources, LCC’s Max Respect workshops and Bikeability training. Staff are also provided with CPD in order to deliver age-appropriate sessions regarding sun, sea and water safety; online safety and consent.
Click here to access the NSPCC website
Click here to access Childline
If your child has additional needs, and you are interested in how you can access support for your child and your family, Lincolnshire County Council gathers support for families, from various agencies. Information can be found on this website: www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/SENDlocaloffer
Also, Lincolnshire has a parent carer forum which is an independent charity working alongside the local authority and health service in support of parents and carers of children who have SEND. Follow this link to find out more and become a member: www.lincspcf.org.uk
The Academy is sponsored by the Greenwood Academies Trust (GAT) who currently has 37 open academies educating over 18,000 pupils across seven local authority areas including Nottingham City, Nottinghamshire, Leicester City, West Northamptonshire, North Northamptonshire, Peterborough, and Lincolnshire.
To find out more about the Trust click here.
​Prevent Radicalisation
It can be hard to know what to do if you’re worried someone close is expressing extreme views or hatred, which could lead to them harming themselves or others. Working with other organisations, the police protect vulnerable people from being exploited by extremists through a Home Office programme called Prevent.
Young people can be at a greater risk of being targeted by extremists and the Internet has made it much easier for radicalises to find and identify people who might be easily influenced.
In Lincolnshire, last year most of the cases referred to Prevent related to young people and one of the biggest concerns was online activity including the sharing of extremist information.
Friends and family are often the first to spot worrying changes taking place. These can be big or small changes that take place very quickly or over a longer period. Trust your instincts and if you’re concerned seek advice.
ACT Early provides advice on the risks of radicalisation, spotting the signs and what to do if concerned.
ACT Early | Prevent radicalisation
Prevent duty guidance: England and Wales (2023) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Sexual Abuse within Schools: Child on Child Abuse, Sexual Violence and Harassment and Harmful Sexual Behaviour
Our position as a trust and within all our academies is clear: sexual violence and sexual harassment are never acceptable, will never be tolerated and are not an inevitable part of growing up. Such behaviour will never go unchallenged or become accepted and we remain committed to working openly and transparently to promote mutual respect. We will always act on concerns raised. Our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy has guidance within it around the indicators of child-on-child abuse and harmful sexual behaviour along with our response procedures. All relevant Safeguarding Policies are available on individual academy websites. All pupils are taught the Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) curriculum.
Our Local Safeguarding Children Partnership
The Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Partnership is a statutory multi-agency partnership board. Their resources can be found using the link below.
https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/safeguarding/lscp
Children missing education
Statutory guidance for local authorities and advice for other groups on helping children who are missing education get back into it.
Children missing education - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Keeping children safe in education
Keeping children safe in education - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
We are aware that a new version of Working Together to Safeguard Children was published in December 2023. Although our policies refer to the older version which was current at the start of the academic year we do of course comply with all the requirements of the new document.