DESIGNATED SAFEGUARDING LEAD ( DSL) Julie Campion ( Headteacher) 01892 663018
DEPUTY DSL: Oliver Sagar ( Assist. Headteacher) 01892 603095
Clare Lewis (Assist. Headteacher) 01892 663018
SAFEGUARDING GOVERNOR: Patricia Gray 01829 663018 ( contact via school)
We recognise that all staff and Governors have a full and active part to play in protecting our pupils from harm, and that the child’s welfare is our paramount concern.
Our school should provide a safe, caring, positive and stimulating environment that promotes the social, physical and moral development of the individual child, free from discrimination or bullying and where children can learn and develop happily.
The aims of the school's Safeguarding policy are:
• To support the child’s development to foster security, confidence and resilience.
• To raise the awareness of all staff of the need to safeguard children and of their responsibilities in identifying and reporting possible cases of abuse.
• To provide a systematic means of monitoring children known or thought to be at risk of harm, and ensure that we contribute to assessments of need and support plans for those children where appropriate.
• To acknowledge the need for effective and appropriate communication between all members of staff in relation to safeguarding children and young people.
• To develop a structured procedure within the school which will be followed by all members of staff in cases of suspected abuse.
• To develop effective working relationships with all other agencies involved in safeguarding children.
• To ensure that all adults within our school who have access to children have been checked as to their suitability. This includes other community users of our facilities, following correct staff recruitment and selection procedures.
Safeguarding children at Grove Park is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children and families has a role to play.
Appropriate Internet Filtering at Grove Park
Safeguarding of pupils at Grove Park is a priority. The school has seen an increase in pupils interest and access to the internet to access learning and develop their independence skills. For schools, the internet plays a huge role in teaching and learning. With increased usage, comes increased risk and staff and pupils are made aware of this.
The Department for Education published the revised statutory guidance ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education in September 2022. In Appendix C, the guidance states, "The use of technology has become a significant component of many safeguarding issues. Child sexual exploitation; radicalisation; sexual predation: technology often provides the platform that facilitates harm. An effective approach to online safety empowers a school or college to protect and educate the whole school or college community in their use of technology and establishes mechanisms to identify, intervene in and escalate any incident where appropriate.
The breadth of issues classified within online safety is considerable, but can be categorised into three areas of risk:
• content: being exposed to illegal, inappropriate or harmful material;
• contact: being subjected to harmful online interaction with other users; and
• conduct: personal online behaviour that increases the likelihood of, or causes, harm.
Governing bodies and proprietors should be doing all that they reasonably can to limit children’s exposure to the above risks from the school or college’s IT system. As part of this process, governing bodies and proprietors should ensure their school or college has appropriate filters and monitoring systems in place.