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Safeguarding
Safeguarding at Brookfields Schools is a priority and something that all staff take seriously.
Below is a graphic (copyright Andrew Hall, Specialist Safeguarding Consultant) which illustrates how Safeguarding is viewed at Brookfields School. To ensure that pupils are kept safe, an ethos of Safeguarding is embedded in what we do across the school. We have adopted West Berkshires Safeguarding Policy, which can be accessed at the bottom of this page. In addition to statutory Safeguarding training, all staff receive ongoing Safeguarding training and support. Safeguarding runs through the school and is regularly monitored and audited by West Berkshire, the Governing Board, our School Improvement Partner as well as the Safeguarding Team at school.
The words ‘Safeguarding’ and ‘Child Protection’ are often used interchangeably, but they have distinct meanings. Safeguarding is what we are doing for all our children; Child Protection refers to the policy and procedures we have for referring and supporting children at risk of serious harm, or who have been seriously harmed. The definition of Safeguarding is given in ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’, paragraph 4.
‘Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined for the purposes of this guidance 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.’
Interestingly, the last bullet point makes the definition into a pro-active one: if you’re concerned about the other three, do something about it.
Brookfields School takes the job of Safeguarding very seriously. All staff are trained in Safeguarding and receive regular updates in line with current Policy and advice. All volunteers and visitors who are in the school for extended periods of time sign up to the schools Code of Conduct and have a DBS check.
Our Designated Safeguarding Leads include:
- Catherine Bernie (Headteacher) is the school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) [email protected]
- Maurice George (Deputy Head Teacher) is a DSL [email protected]
- Ashley Sayer (Family Support Worker) is a DSL [email protected]
All safeguarding issues relating to staff and pupils at Brookfields School are reported to the Head Teacher or one of the other DSL’s.
All staff receive West Berkshire Level 1 Training.
All new staff appointed to the school are also expected to complete an on-line safeguarding course, prior to Level 1 Training being timetabled.
Members of SLT, the Governing Body and the schools HR Officer have been trained in Safer Recruitment.
In addition to this training, all staff receive a Brookfields Code of Conduct to read, keep and sign to confirm they agree with its content, annually. All staff know they need to report any suspicions, however small, of abuse, neglect or concern to one of the Designated Persons.
For detailed information about Safeguarding in West Berkshire, please look at the West Berkshire LSCB website
Polices
