Safeguarding is the term used in relation to keeping children safe. Schools, colleges and their staff are an important part of the wider safeguarding system for children. Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as protecting children from maltreatment; preventing impairment of children’s health or 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 outcomes.
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. In order to ensure that this responsibility is effective all professionals make sure that their approach is child-centred, which means that they will always consider the best interests of the child.
School staff are particularly important as they are in a position to identify concerns early. All staff at Countesthorpe Academy received Safeguarding Training as part of their induction process and then an annual reminder training session is run. E-bulletins and staff briefings are used throughout the academic year to ensure that the issue of safeguarding remains at the forefront of our minds.
Every school and college has a designated safeguarding lead who will provide support to staff members to carry out their safeguarding duties and who will liaise closely with other services such as children’s social care. In the case of Countesthorpe Academy the Senior Designated Safeguarding Lead is Mrs A. Howell.
All staff know what to do if a student makes a disclosure to them. All staff understand the need to maintain a level of confidentiality whilst at the same time liaising with relevant professionals to ensure the young person is safeguarded and all students know who to tell if they need help or are concerned for a friend.
We would also like to make you aware that we are an Operation Encompass school which means that we work together with the police and share information relating to Domestic Violence.
Please continue to work with us to help ensure our young people are safe.
You can find our Safeguarding policies in the Policies section of our website.