Safeguarding

Safeguarding at WSE

Wyvern St Edmund's Academy is a safe place for students where our responsibilities for safeguarding children are taken seriously. Every member of staff is responsible for the safeguarding of our students and all receive regular, relevant training and information updates.  

We have a culture of vigilance and protection which supports every member of our school community and take swift action if an issue is identified.  It is of the utmost importance to us that all the individuals in our school community feel cared for and supported, so they can achieve their very best potential. We use an online reporting and referral system which ensures any concerns or disclosures are dealt with promptly and effectively. 

Through our academic, enrichment and tutorial curricula, we teach students about personal safety and how to keep themselves safe from harm including online. Students learn about the importance of taking responsibility for their own mental and physical wellbeing and where to find support should they need it. We promote the fundamental British Values which underpin what it is to be a citizen in a modern and diverse Great Britain valuing our community and celebrating diversity of the UK. These values are Democracy, Rule of Law, Respect and Tolerance, Individual Liberty.​

The curriculum includes opportunities to discuss feelings and emotions and helps our students to think about their own personal safety, and their rights as individuals to be kept safe from harm. 

Through our Collective and Daily Worship, students have the opportunity for personal reflection about their behaviour and responsibility in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of others underpinned by our core values of generosity, repsect, aspiration, courage and empathy.

Students, parents and carers receive regular reminders and updates about staying safe when using the internet and social media and how and where to report concerns. In school we have appropriate filters in place, to prevent students from accessing inappropriate materials and to use their phones safely.  During the school day each student locks their phone away in its own pouch so that we do not have the intrusion of social media or messaging impacting on the mental health of our students. Teaching them how to use their phones safely is an important part of our mental health strategy at WSE.

School Policy and Procedures

Our policies and agreed practices for child protection, health and safety, behaviour management, attendance and looked after children, all fully comply with the recommendations of safeguarding children at school.  

We have a trained Designated Safeguarding Lead, a Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead and a designated Safeguarding Governor. In addition we have DDSLs with specific responsibility for Attendance, SEND and Student Voice & Wellbeing.Other members of the Senior Leadership Team and Pastoral Team also receive Advanced Safeguarding Training. 

We have policies to manage potential allegations against staff, whistleblowing and the use of physical intervention.​

Our staff recruitment policies and practices are rigorous and comply with safer recruitment and selection requirements.  We always pursue identity, qualification and social media checks and we take up and scrutinise written references, before confirming employment.

We require clearance from the Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) before employing any staff, in addition to check Teacher Qualifications and QTS status via the Department for Education's Teacher Services.​

All voluntary helpers, supply teachers, agency staff and outside club and coaching staff are required to provide evidence of DBS clearance.​

The Academy Governance Committee is regularly updated about child protection, bullying and safeguarding policies and practices.​

It is the responsibility of every adult in this school to ensure that we maintain the highest level of awareness about possible unsafe practices and deal with any issues immediately and appropriately.

WSE-Safeguarding-and-CP-Policy-2023-.pdf

Online Safety 

Being online is part of our everyday lives. Our young people will be online and for the most of them for most of the time this will bring benefits to them from staying connected to supporting their education. However, we know that our young people can access content that is unregulated and can cause harm to their mental wellbeing. 

If you or your child (over aged 13) find anything that you deem to be harmful you can report it using the button below. Report Harmful Content is provided by the UK Safer Internet Centre and operated by SWGfL. 

What is considered harmful content?

In simple terms, harmful content is anything online which causes a person distress or harm. This encompasses a huge amount of content and can be very subjective depending on who is doing the viewing; what may be harmful to one person might not be considered an issue by someone else.

UK Safer Internet Centre have concluded that the following areas of content are likely to violate terms of community guidelines on different platforms:

• Online Abuse
• Bullying or Harassment
• Threats
• Impersonation
• Unwanted Sexual Advances (Not image based)
• Violent Content
• Self-Harm or Suicide Content
• Pornographic Content

WSE-Online-Safety-Policy-2023-24.pdf

Designated Safeguarding Lead: Caroline Smith

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead: Louise Henderson

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead for SEND: Nick Martin

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead for Attendance: Matt Hunt

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead for Student Voice and Wellbeing: Nat Clark

Safeguarding Governor: Sarah Botwright