Safeguarding
Expecting the highest standards of Safeguarding from adults and children
Safeguarding is of paramount importance at Copperfield Academy and underpins all that we do. We are committed to providing a safe and secure environment for children, staff and visitors and promoting a climate where children and adults feel confident about sharing any concerns which they may have about their own safety or the wellbeing of others.
We endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued.
Should you have any concerns about any child please contact your child’s class teacher or ask to speak to one of the people below:
Our Designated Safeguarding Officers are:
Designated Safeguarding Leads
Mr Ben Clark – Headteacher
Mrs Lindsey Harris – Head of School
Deputy Designated Leads
Mrs Lorraine Slack– Pastoral Team Manager
Mrs Joy Vickery – Family Support Manager
Mrs Karen Parker – Attendance Officer
All other staff are trained to identify and report any concerns they have to the designated safeguarding officers. This training is updated annually.
The Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) can be contacted by phone: 03000 41 08 88 or email: kentchildrenslado@kent.gov.uk
If you are worried about a child:
Call 03000 41 11 11 (text relay 18001 03000 41 11 11) or email social.services@kent.gov.uk
Keeping Children Safe in School
More details of how we keep children safe in school can be found in our Safeguarding Policy. This includes information about:
- Types of abuse, including peer on peer abuse, domestic abuse, honour based violence and exploitation
- Contextual Safeguarding
- Roles and responsibilities of school staff, parents and pupils
Making Referrals
Anyone who has concerns about a child’s welfare can make a referral to a local authority children’s social care service. Referrals can come from the child themselves, professionals such as teachers, the police, GPs and health visitors as well as family members and members of the public. Local authority children’s social care has the responsibility to clarify with the referrer the nature of the concerns and how and why they have arisen.
Curriculum
Through all areas of the curriculum we encourage children to think about how to stay safe and understanding risks, this includes: at home, at school, in different types of relationships, out on their own, or on the internet. Our curriculum provides good opportunities for children to discuss these issues.
Attendance
In addition to the statutory responsibility to record the attendance of children it is important that school staff follow up the processes for absence including children missing education. An important risk factor in abuse and neglect is poor school attendance and tackling that is a key aspect of managing children’s safety.
More information can be found in our Attendance and Missing Pupil Policy.
Safer Recruitment and Guest Vetting
A key aspect of safeguarding is the vetting of staff, governors, volunteers, contractors and visitors who will come into contact with children while they are on site. We work hard to ensure that adults in school are safe to be there. Visitors to site will be asked to sign a code of conduct.
More information can be found in our Safer Recruitment Policy and Volunteer/Student Policy.
Prevent
Prevent is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorist or extremist causes.
The Prevent strategy covers all types of terrorism and extremism, including the extreme right wing groups, violent religious groups and other causes.
From July 2015 all schools (as well as other organisations) have a duty to safeguard children from radicalisation and extremism.
This means we have a responsibility to protect children from extremist and violent views the same way we protect them from drugs or gang violence.
Importantly, we can provide a safe place for pupils to discuss these issues so they better understand how to protect themselves.
More information can be found in the Safeguarding Policy and the Prevent Risk Assessment as well as the Parental leaflet.
Copperfield Prevent Strategy – Parent Information Pamphlet
Copperfield Prevent Risk Assessment – August 2018
Early Help
The school work hard to identify families who would benefit from early help support. The purpose is to try to intervene and support families before issues escalate. This would involve talking to you about what help would benefit you and your family and discussing the support available. It may be the case that a referral to Kent Early Help is needed so an external service can work closely with you. If you feel that you would benefit from support, please get in touch.
Kent Early Help – https://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/early-help-support-for-families
Kent Early Help Leaflet for families: https://www.kent.gov.uk/EHPS-Leaflet-for-Families.pdf
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