Safeguarding

At Overton Grange School the safety and welfare of our students is of the utmost importance. We want to make sure all our students are safe in school, at home, on line and in the community. Our staff play an important role, working together with parents and carers, to ensure that our students are safe and secure and to promote their personal safety and wellbeing.

All adults working in the school must protect children from harm and abuse and be aware that any student may be at risk of harm or abuse. We have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of our students under the Education Act 2002 and Children Act 1989 through identifying any child welfare concerns and taking action to address them in partnership with families and other agencies where appropriate.

We have a clear Child Protection Policy and Procedures which is reviewed annually by the governing body and updated to reflect national and local guidance.

The policy ensures that the school has two Designated Safeguarding Leads (Charlotte Treagus and Glen Baldwin) and two Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads (Pep Nicol and Paddy Bowles). They are responsible for the implementation of our policy and procedures and for liaison with the local authority when significant safeguarding concerns arise.

This policy is also supported by other school policies, including:

If you have a concern that a child is being harmed, is at risk of harm, or you receive a disclosure (intentionally or unintentionally) you must contact one of the designated safeguarding leads as quickly as possible.

There are also two Child Protection governors (Simon Doubell and Sentha Balamurugan)

Recruitment

In our recruitment and selection of staff and volunteers we adhere to the Government guidance contained within ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ (HM Government, July 2018) and ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (DfE, September 2023)

Training

All staff undertake relevant safeguarding training when they start at the school and receive regular updates.

Support and Advice

We recognise the importance of working with parents and carers to support the safety of our students and have a strong Pastoral Team in school. This includes the tutor, Head and Assistant Heads of Year, our Education Welfare Officer, Pastoral Support Officer and Student and Family Support Officer. If you have any concern about your child’s well-being, please contact one of the team.

We have also produced a number of information and advice leaflets for student, parents and carers on some of the key issues which can impact on our students:

 

Useful external links

Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command (CEOP): https://www.ceop.police.uk/ceop-reporting/