Safeguarding at King Edward’s:

Student Version – Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy

Principles of the policy

• One of fundamental elements of kinship at King Edward’s is ‘be safe and safeguard others.’ We believe that being safe, and feeling safe, is integral to your sense of belonging. It is this foundation of safety and belonging that allows you to thrive.
• King Edward VI College is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff, governors and volunteers to share this commitment. We recognise that young people have a fundamental right to be protected from harm and that students cannot learn effectively unless they feel secure. We therefore aim to provide an environment which promotes self-confidence, a feeling of self-worth and the knowledge that students’ concerns will be listened to and acted upon.

We have this policy because we want all students to:

• Be healthy
• Be safe
• Achieve
• Grow in a stimulating and nurturing environment
• Be responsible and respected
• Have a voice and be heard
• Move confidently into adulthood and their next step
• Have confidence, dignity and self-respect

Child Abuse

A child is anyone under 18. Child abuse can take place when someone causes harm or when someone fails to take action to prevent harm. Children can be abused by adults and by other children (child-on-child abuse); abuse can happen in a family or community setting or elsewhere, and it can take place partly or wholly online.

There are four main categories of abuse:

• Physical abuse: includes hitting, shaking, suffocating and otherwise causing physical harm
• Emotional abuse: can involve making a child feel worthless and unloved, can involve bullying/cyberbullying
• Sexual abuse: includes unwanted sexual contact, but can also take place entirely online and involve sharing/sending of sexually explicit material
• Neglect: involves failing to meet a child’s basic needs, including food, shelter, clothing and medical care

 Signs of Abuse

• There are many possible signs of abuse, and all staff at College are trained to spot these
• You might become concerned about a friend or another student because they talk to you about something worrying or because you notice a change in their behaviour
• If you are ever concerned about your own safety, or the safety of another student at College, we are here to help

What to do if you are concerned

The first step is to talk to a trusted adult. This might be a parent or another family member, but you can also talk to any adult in College, including the following people:

• Your Personal Tutor
• Your Lead Tutor
• One of your subject teachers
• The Medical Welfare Officer
• Our Safeguarding Officer or another member of the safeguarding team
• Any member of staff

There will always be the ability for Reception to guide you to a member of staff on duty.

What will happen if you speak to a member of staff?

• You will be taken seriously, regardless of what you are worried about or when it happened (sometimes, it takes a while to feel able to speak about things that worry us)
• The member of staff will listen to what you have to say and may ask you some open questions, such as ‘is there anything else you’d like to tell me?’
• The member of staff will make a record (notes) of the conversation either during your discussion or immediately after
• The member of staff may need to pass on what you have told them to a safeguarding lead, and they will discuss this with you

What would happen next

• If we have reason to be concerned about your safety, we will always act in your best interests and we will always talk to you about the steps we need to take to keep you safe
• Your welfare will be the priority, and you will always remain at the centre of the process; a member of staff will speak to you about anything we need to do to support you

The full policy

• The full policy is available through our website: Safeguarding – Child Protection Policy
• The policy is reviewed every year; if you think there is something missing from the policy, which should be included, please email safeguarding@kedst.ac.uk

Thank you for reading the student version of this policy: keeping you safe is the most important thing we do at College