At Shoeburyness High School, we are fully committed to the safeguarding and well being of our students and it is at the forefront of all we do. The health, safety and wellbeing of every student is of the highest importance. We have robust safeguarding processes and procedures which are under continuous development and improvement to ensure we promote a culture of safeguarding amongst our staff. Our aim is to ensure that all students are safe in our school and that measures are in place to support any child who is at risk of harm.

Safeguarding legislation and guidance from government and agencies says that safeguarding means:

• Protecting children from maltreatment
• Preventing impairment of children’s health or development
• Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
• Taking action to enable all children and young people to have the best outcomes.

Safeguarding includes child protection, health care plans, health and safety, site security, safety on school trips, and so much more.

Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies when there are concerns about a student’s welfare. We will ensure that our concerns about our students are discussed with his/her parents or carers first unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be counter to the student’s welfare.

As a result of our established culture of safeguarding, there is close liaison with staff responsible for Looked After Children and the SENDCo to ensure a coordinated approach to safeguarding vulnerable students, and we are curious about the underlying needs and analyse the issues for students with poor behaviour, attendance or engagement.

All staff receive annual Child Protection and Safeguarding update training and are aware of the procedures for passing on concerns within school. If any members of the school or local community have concerns about the welfare of a child in the school, they can contact any member of the Safeguarding Team (see list below), all of whom are Level 3 trained.

We are justifiably proud of our Pastoral Team and the support they give our students, Shoeburyness students can speak in person to a member of our Pastoral and Safeguarding Teams in school if they are ever worried about something. However, we understand that sharing things that may be upsetting is not always an easy thing to do face to face. To encourage students to come forward we have a dedicated safeguarding email where they can raise any issues they have or share concerns they may have about a friend/peer:

safeguarding@shoeburyness.secat.co.uk

The aforementioned email is monitored by the school’s Designated Safeguard Lead, Mr Banks, and the Safeguard Officer, Ms Waite. The aim of the dedicated email is to provide an easy way for students to tell a responsible adult at the school about any issues that they or others might be having. This might include:

• A student or someone else being bullied
• Something happening online that a student does not feel comfortable with and needs some advice
• If a student feels that somebody at the school is at risk
• If a student has witnessed or been subjected to abusive, discriminatory or intimidating behaviour

Additionally, we utilise a dedicated Student Self Help screen in the school where students can get information about a wide range of issues that they may be facing. However, any student requiring immediate support should contact appropriate services directly. If at immediate risk of harm or abuse call the police via 999.

Further support can also be sought and obtained via Childline 0800 1111 and the Samaritans 116 123.

The school adheres to the following DFE safeguarding documents:

• Working together to safeguard children
• Keeping children safe in education
• The Prevent Duty

We also advocate the work of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection team (CEOP). CEOP helps any child or young person under the age of 18 who is being pressured, forced or tricked into taking part in sexual activity of any kind. This can be something that has taken place either online or in ‘the real world’, or both. The CEOP Safety Centre has clear information and advice on what can be reported to CEOP, the reporting process and what will happen if you do decide to make a report. You can visit the CEOP Safety Centre and make a report directly to CEOP by clicking the Click CEOP button.

If you are experiencing online bullying or something else online has worried you please speak to an adult you trust, or you can talk to Childline at any time on 0800 1111 or at www.childline.org.uk.

If, as a parent/carer, you need support, the NSPCC website has lots of useful advice and information - Keeping children safe | NSPCC