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 health or development;
- Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and
- Taking action to enable all children to have the best life chances.
Safeguarding includes child protection, 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 Clare Berry (Deputy DSL, Deputy Headteacher) and Mr Nick Heppel (Deputy DSL, Assistant Headteacher)
We will fulfil our local and national responsibilities as laid out in the following
- Working Together to Safeguard Children (DfE 2015)
- Keeping Children Safe in Education: Statutory guidance for schools and colleges (DfE March 2015)
- The Procedures of Birmingham Safeguarding Children Board
- The Education Act 2002 s175 / s157
- Mental Health and Behaviour in Schools: Departmental Advice (DfE 2014)
- Birmingham Local Safeguarding Board Model Safeguarding Policy version 2016/17 issue 2.
- ‘Promoting Fundamental British Values as Part of SMSC in Schools’ (DfE Nov 2014)
- Children’s Social Care in Birmingham: Right Service, Right Time (March 2015)
- Birmingham Safeguarding Children Board: Information Sharing Protocol (April 2015)
- The Prevent Duty (DfE June 2015)
The Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy is available to parents and students on the school website here. All staff receive annual Safeguarding and Child Protection 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 Board. As a result we may also have to provide your daughter’s data to statutory bodies where it is considered necessary and within the Data Protection act. If you want to know more about these procedures, please speak to the Designated Senior Lead, Miss Glendenning.
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.