SafeguardingBack to Key Information
‘Safeguarding is everybody’s responsibility’
Staff and Governors believe that our school should be a calm, safe and nurturing environment that enables students to learn to the best of their ability; to feel safe and a sense of belonging.
The school plays a crucial role in preventative education. This is in the context of a whole school approach to preparing pupils for life in modern Britain, and a culture of zero tolerance of sexism, misogyny/misandry, homophobia, biphobia and sexual violence/harassment. This is underpinned by our:
Positive Behaviour policy
Pastoral support system
Planned programme of relationships, sex and health education (RSHE), which is inclusive and delivered regularly,
What is Safeguarding?
Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm.
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as:
• protecting children from maltreatment
• preventing the impairment of children’s mental and physical 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 children and child protection guidance and legislation applies to all children up to the age of 18.
What is Child Protection?
Child Protection is part of safeguarding and promoting welfare. It refers to the activity that is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering, or are likely to suffer, significant harm.
MLT Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy
You can find out more in our MLT Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy and in the statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education September 2024
Students are very safe and well cared for in school and regularly tell us so! They say that staff treat them with respect and listen carefully to their worries.
As a school we have a legal and moral duty to ensure that the students get the highest level of care and are protected from any form of harm. The Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL) at The Compton School are Louise Ismail (Associate Headteacher) Jonathan McDonnell (Deputy Headteacher) and Hannah Mann (Assistant Headteacher).
Part of their role is to take responsibility for child protection and wider protection in the school. You can contact them directly at the school if you need to discuss a safeguarding concern-please see protocols below
Our Key Stage Leaders and Year Managers and Pastoral Leaders are also highly experienced in safeguarding matters
Educating Students through the PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) and RSHE (Relationships, Sex and Health) curricula
(PSHE) education is a school subject which helps students develop the knowledge, skills and attributes to stay healthy and safe now and prepare for their futures. Our PSHE curriculum is taught to all students from Key Stage 3 to Key Stage 5 by highly experienced form tutors and through it we teach students about:
Healthy and respectful relationships
The importance of both physical and mental health, understanding emotions and feelings and strategies to help them become resilient and confident.
Boundaries and consent
Stereotyping, prejudice and equality
Body confidence and self-esteem
How to recognise an abusive relationship (including coercive and controlling behaviour)
The concepts of, and laws relating to, sexual consent, sexual exploitation, abuse, grooming, coercion, harassment, rape, domestic abuse, so-called honour-based violence such as forced marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM) and how to access support
What constitutes sexual harassment and sexual violence and why they’re always unacceptable
Personal safety (online and off-line) and where and how to get help if needed.
PASTORAL CURRICULUM OVERVIEW
Child-on-child abuse
We recognise that children are capable of abusing their peers. Abuse will never be tolerated or passed off as “banter”, “just having a laugh” or “part of growing up”, as this can lead to a culture of unacceptable behaviours and an unsafe environment for students. We also recognise the gendered nature of child-on-child abuse. However, all child-on-child abuse is unacceptable and will be taken seriously. Most cases of children hurting other children will be dealt with under our school’s behaviour policy, but our MLT Child Protection and Safeguarding policy will apply to any allegations that raise safeguarding concerns.
The NSPCC (National Society for the Protection of Children) has a dedicated helpline for children and young people who have experienced abuse at school, and for worried adults and professionals that need support and guidance, including for non-recent abuse. You can their NSPCC helpine, Report Abuse in Education on 0800 136 663 or email help@nspcc.org.uk.
Online Safety
We recognise the benefits and opportunities which new technologies offer to teaching and learning and we encourage the use of technology in order to enhance skills and promote achievement! However, the accessible and global nature of the internet and variety of technologies available mean that we are also aware of potential risks and challenges associated with such use. We recognise the importance of safeguarding children from potentially harmful and inappropriate online material, and we understand that technology is a significant component in many safeguarding and wellbeing issues. To address this, we have robust processes in place to ensure the online safety of students, staff, volunteers and governors; protect and educate the whole school community in its safe and responsible use of technology and do not allow mobile phones in school. Please see our MLT E-Safety Policy for further detail.
Training for Staff
All staff have received safeguarding training and are clear of the steps they must take if they have any concerns regarding a student and can identify signs of possible abuse or neglect. This training is regularly updated.
Additionally, there is a rolling programme of professional development for pastoral staff to address safeguarding themes throughout the academic year.
Parents and Carers
The school’s staff have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children as a shared responsibility with parents and carers. To support this statement, the school may signpost to services that are specialised to promote opportunity, prevent problems, act early and act effectively if and when concerns arise. Therefore, whilst we do not want to worry you, we will report to Children’s Social Care if we have any reason to believe that a child may be at risk of suffering abuse or neglect.
Parents/carers are normally our first point of contact, and if a suspicion of abuse is recorded, parents/carers will be informed at the same time that the record is made; we will support parents/carers and ensure we work in collaboration with them to protect children. Working with parents/carers to prevent abuse is our primary aim and only when that has failed or in emergency situations will a referral be made to social care. When a referral is made to social care parents will be notified beforehand, except when guidance from social care or the police does not allow this.
We cannot safeguard children alone. All children’s services agencies work in partnership with each other. There are duties and rules about information sharing but if staff, parents or carers have any concerns about a child, other parent, provider, agency or any person, they have a responsibility to report those concerns and we must record and act on them as per the MLT Policy.
What you can do as a parent
Parents and carers play a role in safeguarding children in their community. If you have any concerns, no matter how small, you should report them to someone who you trust will listen. Parents and children should speak to one of the DSLs if they have any concerns about a child or staff member.
If you think a child or young person may be in immediate danger, call 999.
If you have urgent welfare concerns about a child -phone the Barnet Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) on 020 8359 4066 (9am-5pm). Outside these hours, contact Barnet emergency duty team on 020 8359 2000.
There is a great deal of guidance available. As a school we recommend the government guidance Advice to parents and carers on keeping children safe from abuse and harm -which contains a menu of support organisations.
We also recommend the NSPCC website for advice and support with any safeguarding concerns https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-is-child-abuse/types-of-abuse/
Relevant policies:
MLT Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy
Positive Behaviour Policy
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2022
Local Authority LADO/ MASH and Safeguarding advice
