“Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm. Safeguarding means: protecting children from abuse and maltreatment. preventing harm to children’s health or development. ensuring children grow up with the provision of safe and effective care.” – NSPCC
Brotherton and Byram Community Primary Academy is committed to ensuring the welfare and safety of all our children in school. We believe that pupils have a right to learn in a supportive, caring and safe environment which includes the right to protection from all types of abuse; where staff are vigilant for signs of any pupil in distress and are confident about applying the/our safeguarding processes to avert and alleviate any such problems.
Safeguarding is about ensuring that everyone is safe from harm – safe from bullying, safe from people who could abuse, safe from discrimination or harassment – and that we all feel safe in our environment. We also adopt a policy of ‘It could happen here.’ Our whole school approach to safeguarding is ‘Recognise, respond, report and reflect.’
At Brotherton and Byram Community Primary Academy safeguarding permeates all aspects of school life and is everyone’s responsibility; the school forms part of a wider safeguarding system. In order to fulfil our responsibilities we adopt a child-centred approach through a culture of Restorative Practice which builds on relationships, honesty, trust and mutual respect. This means that:
Our school provides a positive, stimulating, caring and safe environment which promotes the social, physical, emotional and moral development of each child. We work hard to maintain a safeguarding ethos and culture whereby children feel safe and are safe whilst at school and on their way to and from school.
It is critical as parents that you understand from the outset the school’s legal and moral obligations to safeguard all of our children. As a school, we will always act within the guidelines and procedures that are set out to schools. We won’t hesitate to take the steps that you as parents would expect us to take to ensure that the school is a safe and emotionally healthy place to be. Equally, if a child was ever to indicate that they were at risk of harm or in any kind of danger we would always work with the relevant outside agencies and yourselves to take any appropriate next steps. Every school is governed first and foremostly by their ability to protect children and here at Brotherton and Byram Primary Academy we are no different in taking our statutory duties very seriously. By making a choice to send your child to our school you are doing that with a full understanding of the priority that we place on taking care of all aspects of our children’s development and well-being.
Like any member of the public, we all have a responsibility to act in the best interests of child safety and to report any concerns around maltreatment or abuse if you feel concerned about a child’s welfare or safety please do go through the correct channels to get that advice and guidance. The NSPCC has a helpline that anybody can use confidentially which is 0808 800 5000.
Our aim is for everyone within the Ebor Academy Trust to be safe to Work, Learn and Grow together.
We believe that there are three key aspects to safeguarding and that there should be clear policies, guidance, lines of accountability and monitoring of each aspect.
These form the basis of the Academy policy and the structure of the safeguarding team in each school. The name, role and photograph of each member of staff in the safeguarding team are displayed in our school.
The three aspects are:
We strive to ensure that all of our children are safe, happy and enjoy their childhood.
If you ever have any concerns about a child in our school please speak to our:
Additionally, you can also make a referral to social care directly on 01609 780780 if you are worried about the immediate safety of a child or call the Early Help team on 01609 534829 for family support. More information can be found at https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/early-help.
For information on North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Partnership and local authority arrangements for safeguarding, please see the following website links:
If you require any more information regarding our Safeguarding policy and procedures please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Fletcher.
Brotherton and Byram Community Primary Academy are proud to say that we put pupil safety at the top of our agenda and will never fail to take action in the best interests of securing a child’s safety.
Protecting children from the risks of radicalisation and extremism
Schools now have a duty of care to protect children from the risks of radicalisation and extremism. This is called ‘Prevent’.
The Prevent duty is “the duty in the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 on specified authorities, in the exercise of their functions, to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.” (The Prevent duty – Departmental advice for schools and childcare providers, June 2015)
As a school we need to ensure we protect children from the risks of radicalisation and extremism through our safeguarding procedures. We also need to provide a safe environment in which controversial issues can be discussed and build our pupils’ resilience and self-esteem to enable them to challenge extremist views.
At Brotherton and Byram CP Academy we have made all staff aware of our responsibilities under the Prevent duty. We are amending all our relevant policies to comply with the Prevent duty. Through our RE and PHSCE curriculum and our work on Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development, including fundamental British values, we will enable children to explore a wide range of issues safely.
All staff have had PREVENT training in school.
Our school curriculum includes opportunities to explicitly teach the children about safeguarding. We tailor our safeguarding curriculum to the needs of our children and community. Relevant issues are also addressed when they become apparent for particular children or groups of children and the delivery of our PSHE and RSE curriculum is adapted accordingly to address current needs of the children. We ensure there are strong opportunities for children to develop the skills they need to recognise and stay safe from abuse, particularly through our PSHE, Relationships and Sex Education and the Computing curriculum. Through our PSHE curriculum, we teach children about consent in order for them to understand how to protect themselves from harm.
We recognise that a one size fits all approach may not be appropriate for all children, and a more personalised or contextualised approach for more vulnerable children, victims of abuse and some SEND children may be needed.
Every half term we send out a safeguarding newsletter to parents via our website and through ParentHub. Each week we also share a ‘Safeguarding Thought For The Week’ with parents, children and staff linked to current safeguarding issues or updated safeguarding information.
