Safeguarding

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 the following specialist trained members of staff with responsibility for Child Protection/Safeguarding as quickly as possible:

Mr Eaton (Designated Safeguarding Lead)

Miss Dale (Deputy Safeguarding Lead)

Mrs Davis (Early Help / LAC Coordinator)

Mrs Lees (Early Help / LAC Officer)

Safeguarding Statement

Aldridge School recognises its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all its students by protecting them from physical, sexual or emotional harm and from neglect or bullying.

Aldridge School acknowledges that child abuse can be a very emotive and difficult subject. It is important to understand the feelings involved but not to allow them to interfere with judgement about the action to be taken.

All applicants for employment within The Trust will be fully screened in accordance with DfE Guidelines – Keeping Children Safe in Education.

All staff are trained on Child Protection Procedures.

The key principles of our Safeguarding Statement are that:

• The student’s welfare is, and must always be the paramount consideration.
• All students have a right to be protected from abuse regardless of their age, gender, disability, culture, language, racial origin, religious belief, sexuality, or sexual identity.
• All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately by following our Child Protection Policy.

Taking of unauthorised photographs or video footage within the school grounds is strictly prohibited.

The Prevent Duty

From 01st July 2015 educational establishments are subject to a duty under Section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 in the exercise of their functions to have 'due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism'. This duty is known as the Prevent Duty. 

Aldridge School is committed to fulfilling this duty and to carrying out the four main actions responsibly, namely: risk assessment, working in partnership, staff training and IT policies. 

Risk Assessment - The statutory guidance makes it clear that the Academy is expected to assess the risk of children being drawn into terrorism. Aldridge School has a clear policy in place for protecting children who may be vulnerable to radicalisation. This is not a distinct policy for the 'Prevent Duty' but is included within our Safeguarding/Child Protection policy. 

Partnerships - The Trust works with partner agencies to seek advice, support and guidance to draw on multi-agency expertise. 

Training - The Designated Safeguarding Lead has undertaken Prevent awareness training to enable them to offer advice and support to other members of staff. All staff undertake training on how to identify factors that can make students vulnerable to radicalisation. 

IT - The Academy ensures that students are safe from terrorist and extreme material when accessing the internet within the Academy. The Academy uses web and email filtering appliances as well as screen monitoring software to identify any potential risks or safeguarding issues which are checked on a regular basis.

For more information please see the Educate Against Hate website: Educate Against Hate - Prevent Radicalisation & Extremism