Safeguarding and Health and Safety are vital to ensure that we can learn together, in a variety of ways, so that everyone can 'be the best they can be,' It is the responsibility of the whole school community.  Staff and pupils are vigilant in ensuring that procedures and rules are followed, as they all thrive in the safe learning environment we have created in school. 

Safeguarding is a term used to denote measures to protect the health, well-being and human rights of individuals, which allow people — especially children, young people and vulnerable adults — to live free from abuse, harm and neglect.  Our staff are trained to identify behaviours that may indicate a child is at risk and we will report any child we are concerned about to the appropriate safeguarding team. 

Useful information: 

Durham County Council Social Care Team  - Information on what to do if you are concerned about a child. They can be contacted on 03000 267 979

Educate against Hate - protecting children from extremism. An informative website providing guidance and support for anyone who is concerned that someone they know may be at risk of radicalisation or extremism. 

County Lines  - As young people become more independent and spend more time with their peers and away from home, parents might worry about them becoming involved in drug dealing and violence associated with “county lines”. For many young people, becoming involved in county lines happens because they are being exploited by others.

NSPCC - Child abuse takes many forms. There is a wealth of information available on the NSPCC website.

"Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and that records are detailed and of high quality. You have established a strong culture of safeguarding in the school, whereby all staff are well aware of what they should do if they have any concerns. Your procedures for vetting and checking new members of staff are detailed.

The computerised records that you keep are well organised. I could see that when a member of staff registers a concern, it is immediately followed up and referred onto outside agencies if appropriate.

The pupils I spoke to understood how to use the internet safely and told me that bullying is a rarity. This is verified in your records, showing that you have very few instances of bullying. None of the parents I spoke to had any concerns about safeguarding in the school." (Ofsted, 2019)