Our Commitment to Safeguarding

At Scientia Academy we take our safeguarding responsibilities very seriously. We have an open door policy and we are happy to speak to any member of the school community who may have concerns about the welfare or safety of any child, whether the concerns are at school or in the wider community.

As you would expect, we have staff members who are specifically trained to deal with safeguarding issues. These are our Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs). There is always a trained member of staff on the school premises to deal with any safeguarding concerns that may arise. These staff are:

Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL): Laura Hands (Deputy Headteacher)

Deputy DSL: Stacey Harrison (Assistant Headteacher)

Deputy DSL: Penny Mears (Assistant Headteacher)

Deputy DSL: Dawn Marshall (Class teacher)

The Lead Governor for Safeguarding is Jisha Jose

The Chair of Governors is Abbas Ali

What is Safeguarding?

Safeguarding is a term which is broader than ‘child protection’ and relates to the action taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. It includes action against bullying, including cyberbullying and online safety, treating all children equally regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality or beliefs, preventing impairment of health and development, ensuring that all children are effectively cared for, and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

Child protection relates to system-wide procedures for keeping children safe. This includes staff training and awareness, liaison with other agencies (e.g. Multi-Agency Team, Social Care, the police), safer recruitment (including rigorous vetting and background checks on appointed staff), and protecting children from issues such as domestic violence, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, children missing from education, child sexual exploitation, racism, extremism etc

Safeguarding at Scientia Academy

The staff and governors at Scientia Academy recognise that they have a duty to ensure arrangements are in place for Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. All members of the school community (including volunteers and governors) will at all times establish and maintain a safe and stimulating environment; an environment where children feel secure, where children are encouraged to talk to adults they can trust and where children are listened to.

Keeping children safe and protecting them from harm is the most important thing we do as a school. If children are not safe, they cannot flourish, form effective relationships with adults or their peers, or achieve their full potential in life. We therefore take our responsibilities in this area with the utmost seriousness.

Parents should be aware that the school is required to take any reasonable action to ensure the safety of its pupils. In cases where the school has reason to be concerned that a child may be subject to ill treatment, neglect or other forms of abuse, the Headteacher and DSL are obliged to follow the Child Protection Procedures established by the Staffordshire Safeguarding Children Board (SSCB) and inform Children’s Social Care of the concern.

All staff and governors are trained in Child Protection and Safeguarding, and this is updated annually.