Safeguarding
Information for parents/carers
At Parkside Middle School we strive to make sure all our students are safe in school, at home, online and in the community. Our staff are here to keep young people safe and secure and to promote their personal safety and wellbeing.
Our commitment to safeguarding encompasses ways in which we ensure children and young people foster security, confidence, and independence. The school has a duty of care and the right to take reasonable action to ensure the welfare and safety of its pupils. If a member of staff has cause to be concerned that a child may be subject to ill treatment, neglect or any other form of abuse, the school will follow child protection procedures and inform Children’s Services of its concern.
A clear policy on Safeguarding is available below and is reviewed by staff and school governors on an annual basis.
This school believes that it is always unacceptable for a child to experience abuse of any kind. We recognise our responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all children.
We will provide staff and volunteers with guidance to follow when they suspect a child may be experiencing abuse or at risk of harm. We will work co-operatively with other agencies to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. We will ensure that our concerns about our pupils are discussed with parents/carers first - unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child’s welfare.
The Designated Safeguarding Lead for child protection is Mrs R Jenkin, Senior Deputy Headteacher.
The Deputy Designated Person for child protection is Mr S Swaffield, Assistant Headteacher and Mrs K Varley, Welfare Manager.
The Governor with responsibility for child protection is Mrs H Townsend.
We review our policy and procedures on an annual basis.
Disclosure & Barring Checks
Parkside Middle School meets statutory requirements in relation to Disclosure & Barring Service, all staff and volunteers who work at Parkside Middle School are required to undergo an enhanced DBS check prior to employment.
Training
All Parkside staff and governors undertake relevant safeguarding training and receive annual updates as appropriate. Our safeguarding training includes a specific focus on Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE), Child Criminal exploitation (CCE), the Prevent Strategy, Online Safety, and Child on Child abuse; including Sexual Harassment.
Prevent Strategy
From July 2015 all schools (as well as other organisations) have a duty to safeguard children from radicalisation and extremism.
Prevent is part of CONTEST, a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorist or extremist causes. 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.
There are many things that we already do in school to help pupils become positive, happy members of society that support the Prevent Strategy.
These include:
- Exploring other cultures and religions promoting diversity
- Challenging prejudices and racist comments
- Developing critical thinking skills and a strong, positive self-identity
- Promoting the spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development of pupils, as well as British values such as democracy
We will also protect children from the risk of radicalisation, for example by using filters on the Internet to make sure they cannot access extremist and terrorist material, or by vetting visitors who come into school to work with pupils.
If you have any questions or concerns about The Prevent Strategy and what it means for your child, please do not hesitate to contact the school.
You will find more information about radicalisation in our safeguarding policy available on our website.
We also have information about the spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development and British values on the school website. British values include:
- Democracy
- The rule of Law
- Individual liberty and mutual respect
- Tolerance of different faiths and beliefs
Do you need to report Cyberbullying?
Has someone acted inappropriately towards you online, or to a child or young person you know?
You can report it by clicking on the link below:
External sources:
The following sources may be useful for further information:
Operation Encompass - Supporting children and young people exposed to domestic abuse
Prevent duty guidance: for England and Wales, HM Government
What is Prevent? Let’s Talk About It
Keep them safe is a free online learning tool from Pace
KD Safeguarding - Guide for parents and teachers - How to talk to children about terrorism…
Help and Support for Families Offer (formerly known as Early Help Offer)
At Parkside Middle School, we recognise the challenges families face in bringing up children. There may be times when you need extra help and support. If this is the case, please come and talk to us. There are many ways in which we can help, as outlined in our offer of Help and Support for Families. We can also help to plan specific support for families in the form of Plans or Help and Support for Families Assessments where we can work together to set and achieve outcomes.
Ready Steady Worcestershire
The Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF) is a Department for Education (DfE) funded programme aimed at enabling children and young people in receipt of benefits-related free school meals (FSM) to attend school holiday activities and experiences during Easter, summer and Christmas.
