Safeguarding

To contact our DSL team, please email DSL@beacon-academy.org. If you have any concerns at all about the safety or welfare of a child please make immediate contact to the Academy direct on 01892 603000 and clearly state that your call relates to a potential safeguarding issue. If your concerns are outside of Academy hours or during the school holidays, please contact the police or the Single Point of Advice team directly.

Beacon Academy is an Operation Encompass school. Operation Encompass is a police and education early information safeguarding partnership enabling schools to offer immediate support to children experiencing domestic abuse. Please contact our Operation Encompass Lead Mrs H Bodman, Deputy Headteacher to find out more.

If a child is in imminent danger then please dial 999 for the Police.

You can access the Child Exploitation & Online Protection Centre directly by clicking on the CEOP website.

Beacon Academy is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare, both physical and emotional, of every student both inside and outside the school premises, and we aim to provide a caring, positive, safe and stimulating environment which promotes the social, physical and moral development of that individual child and strive to make sure that every student in the Academy feels secure, well cared for, and able to reach their full potential.

Beacon Academy understands and is committed to the vital contribution that all trustees, staff, parents and students can make to safeguarding children and every member of staff at Beacon Academy has a collective recognition of the importance of providing an environment that helps children feel safe and respected and a culture that encourages children to talk openly and have the confidence they will be listened to. Safeguarding is the proactive stance which aims to protect children from abuse or harm and Child Protection is the reactive stance taken to support students whom the school suspects may be in need of protection.

Beacon Academy follows Safer Recruitment procedures as outlined in our Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy and Procedure to ensure all staff are suitable to work with children, including carrying out checks with the Disclosure Barring Service. All visitors to the school sign in at Reception on both sites and receive a Visitors badge for the duration of their stay. All staff are expected to challenge individuals who are not wearing a badge and are not known to them.

All staff undergo annual safeguarding training and regular updates. All staff and students receive e-safety training to raise awareness of the new challenges relating to the internet with the aim to reduce its misuse, including social media sites and to minimise the incidents of cyberbullying and its effects. Staff receive training to raise awareness of the Prevent strategy with the aim of reducing the risk of radicalisation and the ideological challenge of terrorism. Staff are aware of their duty to be alert to female students who may at risk of Female Genital Mutilation and the key indicators to recognise children at risk of Child Sex Exploitation.

Our curriculum is designed to create awareness in students of safeguarding issues and how to deal with them. Issues are covered in the PSHE (Personal Social and Health Education) programme, our assembly programme and during tutor times and more generally throughout the curriculum. Training of all staff in identifying, reporting procedures and dealing with such issues is regular and thorough. We will continue to ensure that all our staff, other professionals, parents/carers and students work together to know the rules about keeping children safe. They will understand the importance of following procedures and listening to each other, especially when there are concerns about safety.

There are a number of related Policies and Procedures linked to Safeguarding, some of which are a statutory requirement and some are considered to be best practice in order to support us with our collective responsibility of Keeping Children Safe in Education. The non-statutory policies and procedures that are in place which support and have a relevance to safeguarding are not all listed here but are available from the Academy on request.

MARK Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy

This comprehensive policy sets out a clear and consistent framework for safeguarding and promoting the welfare, both physical and emotional, of every pupil, in line with relevant safeguarding legislation and the DfE’s ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance document. It meets the statutory requirement for schools to have in place Child Protection Policy and Procedures and defines the process and procedures that Beacon Academy has in place to ensure all children are kept safe and protected from harm and that all the adults in our Academy are clear of their role and responsibilities. It also complies with the statutory duty under Section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 that states that all schools and educational establishments must have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism. This is called the Prevent Duty. For further practical advice on how to protect children from the dangers of extremism, which includes information on the warning signs, how parents should talk to children about extremism and the steps concerned parents should take please visit http://educateagainsthate.com/

The DfE defines radicalisation as: “the process by which a person comes to support terrorism and forms of extremism leading to terrorism”.
The DfE defines extremism as : “the vocal opposition to fundamental British Values, including democracy, the rule of the law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs.

Online Safety

Online safety and security is an ever changing area of information technology. Beacon Academy believes it is important to provide parents and carers access to resources they might find useful so they can help keep their children safe online. Please take the time to view the following resources or contact the Academy if further advice is required.

Reporting an issue

If you have an e-safety issue to report to the academy, please contact our Designated Safeguarding Lead, Mrs J Prowse.

Our AUP (Acceptable Use Policy) for students

All students sign an AUP when they start at Beacon, setting out our expectation for their behaviour when using information systems at the academy, of which staying safe online is a major constituent.

MARK Student Acceptable Use Policy