01 Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy

Purpose

This policy makes sure the school protects children from harm and keeps pupils safe in live lessons, in recorded learning, and in every part of school life online.

It applies to all staff, trustees, volunteers and contractors, whether they are paid or unpaid, and whether they work with pupils directly or behind the scenes.

Safeguarding leads

• Designated Safeguarding Lead: Prof. Rushna Sulyman.
• Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead: a senior member of staff named in the school's Safeguarding Register, which the school office keeps up to date.
• The named leads are shown to families at enrolment and on the school's policies page, and are available during teaching hours.

Safeguarding principles

• The school practises a culture of vigilance: safeguarding is everyone's responsibility, not only the designated lead's.
• Every pupil must be able to report a worry safely, in a way that suits them, and must be listened to without being judged.
• Risks that belong to online learning are treated as safeguarding risks and are written into planning, not left to chance.
• The child's welfare comes first in every decision the school takes.

What counts as a concern

• Suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation of any kind.
• Bullying, including cyberbullying between pupils.
• Harmful online conduct involving pupils or adults, including contact from outside the school.
• A disclosure made during or after a live lesson, or connected to recorded learning or platform messages.
• Any adult behaviour towards a pupil that feels inappropriate, however small, including a low level concern.

How to report a concern

Anyone with a concern must report it immediately to the Designated Safeguarding Lead or the Deputy. A concern is never held back to gather more proof, and never kept to be polite.

• Internal reporting channel: the school office at growingroots1928@outlook.com, or any member of staff who will pass it straight on.
• Urgent out of hours: your local authority children's services duty team, whose details the school office can give you at any time.
• If a pupil is in immediate danger, call 999.
• Where there is a risk of significant harm, the school refers to local children's services in line with current guidance, and tells the family unless doing so would put the child at greater risk.

Escalation stages leading to the Designated Safeguarding Lead

A safeguarding concern moves through four stages. Each stage has a named owner and a clear handover, so a concern never stops with one person. A concern may be taken straight to any later stage where the risk is obvious or the child needs help at once.

These four stages are the school's normal route. They never delay help: 999 is called at once where a child is in immediate danger, and a referral is made the same day where a child is at risk of significant harm.

Record-keeping

The Designated Safeguarding Lead keeps a written record of every concern, held securely and separately from ordinary school files. Each record sets out:

• the concern, in the words used, with the date and time it was raised;
• the actions taken, and by whom;
• the decision reached and the reason for it;
• any referral made and its outcome, where the school is told.

Safeguarding in online learning

• Staff supervise group sessions in line with the school's online safety expectations, and remain present for the whole session.
• Staff do not communicate privately with pupils outside the approved group systems. There are no direct messages, no personal email, no personal phone contact.
• Pupils are taught how to report worries and misuse during online learning, and are reminded how often the school expects them to do it.
• Recording, camera and chat rules follow the school's Online Safety Policy and its Use of Images and Recordings Policy.

Managing disclosures

A member of staff who receives a disclosure will:

• listen without interrupting, and let the pupil speak in their own words;
• reassure the pupil that they are not to blame and that telling was the right thing to do;
• record the facts accurately as soon as the conversation ends, keeping the pupil's own words;
• tell the Designated Safeguarding Lead immediately, and never promise confidentiality.

Allegations about adults

Any allegation or serious concern about a member of staff, trustee, volunteer or contractor is handled at once under the school's Safeguarding Allegations Against Staff and Volunteers Policy, without delay and without informal resolution.

Review

This policy is reviewed at least once a year and updated whenever guidance or the school's systems change.