Pastoral Care & Safeguarding

“Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as “protecting children from maltreatment; preventing impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development; ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care, and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes”.

Safeguarding is the absolute priority for all staff at King’s Leadership Academy Warrington. It is embedded throughout the school. As a school, we are committed to the 4 Ps of safeguarding:

• Prevention – it is better to act before harm occurs.
• Proportionality – to take the least intrusive response appropriate to the risk presented.
• Protection – support and representation for those in need.
• Partnership – working with external services and with our community.
• Accountability – accountability and transparency in delivering safeguarding.

All of us at King’s Leadership Academy Warrington do our utmost to ensure that children learn in a safe, caring, and enriching environment. All our students are taught how to identify risky, unsafe or problematic situations, how and when to seek help, how to develop positive and healthy relationships and how to avoid situations where they might be at risk of being exploited.  

We have a statutory responsibility to share any concerns we might have about a child in need of protection with other agencies and in particular the police, health, and children’s services. Staff at the school are not able to investigate child protection concerns but we do have a legal duty to refer them to the most appropriate agency.

We will always discuss their concerns with parents/carers. Consent for any referrals will be sought unless to do so would:

• Place your child at risk of significant harm or further risk of significant harm;
• Place a vulnerable adult at risk of harm; and
• Compromise any enquiries that need to be undertaken by children’s social care or the police.

Our first concern and responsibility will always be your child’s welfare. We must protect children first and always. Such consultation may result in a formal referral which could prompt visits from social care and/or the police. We understand that this can be a very distressing experience. Staff at our school will always follow the procedures that have been put into place by the Warrington Safeguarding Children Partnership when making a formal referral.

If needed, our school will seek to employ the services of an interpreter.

Curriculum

Child safety issues and child protection will be addressed where appropriate through the curriculum, especially through enrichment lessons, computing and e-safety, citizenship, relationships and sex education (RSE) and British values.

Our staff use a variety of resources and approaches to teaching children how to keep themselves safe, build their resilience and manage risks.

The curriculum, and in particular, the personal, social and health education strand of the curriculum, includes an emphasis on relationships and sex education and helping pupils to build building confidence and resilience among pupils and developing preventative strategies to ensure their protection and that of others.

Opportunities are provided for pupils to develop the skills and strategies they need to stay safe from abuse, including age-appropriate discussions about healthy relationships, their bodies and being able to say no to requests that they do not want to carry out. Clear advice and guidance are built into the curriculum to ensure that pupils understand that there is a range of contacts they can turn to for advice and support and that they know where and how to report abuse.

The Safeguarding Team

King’s Leadership Academy Warrington is committed to providing Early Help to our students and their families.

What is Early Help?

• Identifying the needs of children, young people, and their families across a continuum of needs (see Warrington Safeguarding Children Partnership's website).
• Understanding and responding quickly to identified needs.
• Listening to children and families so that their views inform what happens next. Supporting and re-focusing resources from crisis to prevention, and helping to avoid concerns repeating over time.
• Supporting families to achieve their full potential and thereby mitigate the impact of issues such as child poverty and health inequalities.
• Providing the context for multi-agency working to help children and families achieve improved outcomes

Click here to view our Safeguarding (and Child Protection) Policy

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