Safeguarding
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined 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.
Safeguarding is a priority in the school
You can find our Child Protection policy here.
What we do to safeguard students at Oaks Park High School
Pastoral support:
- Students assigned a tutor to take an especial interest in them
- Strong pastoral system to support students’ welfare
- Close liaison with parents/carers
- An established ethos of encouraging students to speak to staff about problems either their own or their friends’
- Staff trained to support students with emotional needs
- Programmes to support identified students’ emotional well-being e.g. managing emotions, building positive relationships, managing pressure
- Referrals made to outside agencies if support is needed beyond the expertise available in school
Clear expectations and action to maintain a safe environment:
- Policies and practices covering:- safeguarding and child protection including appendices on self-harm and radicalisation, e-safety, health and safety, anti-bullying, racism and discrimination and whistle-blowing
- Comprehensive behaviour policy and systematic and graduating sanction and reward systems
- Supervised student dismissal at the end of the day and the local area is monitored by senior staff
- Close monitoring of student attendance with calls to parents/carers if student are absent or late without prior notice
- Safer recruitment practice followed and security checks made on all staff employed and volunteers working in the school
- Staff receive regular safeguarding training; also members of staff trained as Designated Safeguarding Leads
- Close working relationship with the schools’ police
Educating students
- PSHE lessons covering safeguarding issues e.g. anti-bullying, assertive behaviour, e-safety, healthy relationships, etc
- A variety of safety messages delivered to students via assemblies and through tutors
Safety and Security on site:
- Secure site needing security pass entry during the school day
- Filtered internet access
- Monitoring and checking anything accessed or written on school computer/iCT devices, following up on any concerns
- Risk assessments carried out for offsite activities and for students with specific difficulties
- First aiders in the school office and in other key areas
- Staff wear identification badges