SAFEGUARDING

King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all its students.

We believe that:

All young people have the right to be protected from harm;
Young people need to be safe and to feel safe in school;
Young people need support which matches their individual needs, including those who may have experienced abuse;
All young people have the right to speak freely and voice their values and beliefs;
All young people must be encouraged to respect each other’s values and support each other;
All young people have the right to be supported to meet their emotional, and social needs as well as their educational needs – a happy healthy sociable young person will achieve better educationally;
Schools can and do contribute to the prevention of abuse, victimisation, bullying, exploitation, extreme behaviours, discriminatory views and risk-taking behaviours; and
All staff and visitors have an important role to play in safeguarding children and protecting them from abuse.

Staff are vigilant and are confident in applying our Safeguarding and Child Protection procedures to avert and alleviate any such problems.

Safeguarding is defined as:

Protecting children from maltreatment
Preventing impairment of children’s mental health, physical health or development
Ensuring 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 includes child protection, mental health, health care plans, health and safety, site security, safety on school trips, anti-bullying work and so much more.

The school’s key members of staff are: Miss Jane Glendenning (Designated Lead for Safeguarding, Assistant Headteacher), Miss C Berry (Deputy DSL, Deputy Headteacher), Mrs N Daniel (Deputy DSL, Assistant Headteacher) and Mr Nick Heppel (Deputy DSL, Assistant Headteacher)

We will fulfil our local and national responsibilities as laid out in the following documents:-

Working Together to Safeguard Children (DfE July 2018)
Keeping Children Safe in Education: Statutory guidance for schools and colleges (DfE September 2022)
The Education Act 2002 s175 / s157
Mental Health and Behaviour in Schools (DfE November 2018)
Birmingham Local Safeguarding Partnership Model Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy version 2021.
‘Promoting Fundamental British Values as Part of SMSC in Schools’ (DfE Nov 2014)
Children’s Social Care in Birmingham: Right Help, Right Time (February 2020)
The Prevent Duty (DfE March 2016)

The Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy is available to parents and students here (link to stat information and policies page please). All staff receive annual Safeguarding and Child Protection and Prevent update training and are aware of the procedures for passing on concerns within school.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Our first priority is your daughter’s welfare and therefore there may be occasions when our concerns about your child means that we have to consult other agencies even before we contact you. The procedures we follow have been laid down by Birmingham Safeguarding Children Partnership. As a result, we may also have to provide your daughter’s data to statutory bodies where it is considered necessary and within General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (May 2018).

Whilst it is our responsibility to monitor students’ behaviour in school, inappropriate behaviour towards another student or malicious or abusive online activity towards another person that takes place outside school is a matter for the police: it is your right to seek external advice and support. The quickest and most effective way to do this is by contacting https://west-midlands.police.uk/contact-us/live-chat Alternatively you can rind Childline on 0800 1111.

Anyone can, and must, report concerns that a child:

is being contacted online and spoken to in a sexual way;
has shared, or is being blackmailed to share an indecent image(s) of themselves online;
is arranging to meet someone they have met online;
is being groomed online

Contact the National Crime Agency online Safety Centre with concerns around child sexual exploitation at www.ceop.police.uk Further guidance is also available at www.Thinkuknow.co.uk

Other safeguarding concerns that have specific reporting procedures are:

Forced marriage – contact fco.gov.uk or call 020 7008 0151
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) – contact NSPCC FGM Helpline 0800 028 3550. Call 101 to report.
Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) – report sexual exploitation by calling 999 if the child is at immediate risk or 101 if you think a crime has been committed. Call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

If any members of the school or local community have concerns about the welfare of a child in the school, please pass them on to the School Safeguarding and Child Protection Team: Miss Glendenning (Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)), Miss Claire Toy (Deputy DSL & Family Liaison Officer), Miss Berry (Deputy DSL and Co- Head), Mr Heppel (Director of Post-16 and Deputy DSL).