Safeguarding

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
• taking action to enable all children and young people to have the best outcomes.

Child protection is part of the safeguarding process. It focuses on protecting individual children identified as suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. This includes child protection procedures which detail how to respond to concerns about a child.

The RSA Academy is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all its students. We believe that:

• All children/young people have the right to be protected from harm
• Children/young people need to be safe and to feel safe in school
• Children/young people need support which matches their individual needs, including those who may have experienced abuse
• All children/young people have the right to speak freely and voice their values and beliefs
• All children/young people must be encouraged to respect each other’s values and support each other
• All children/young people have the right to be supported to meet their emotional, and social needs as well as their educational needs – a happy healthy sociable child/young person will achieve better educationally
• Schools can and do contribute to the prevention of abuse, victimisation, bullying (including homophobic, bi-phobic, trans-phobic and cyberbullying), exploitation, extreme behaviours, discriminatory views and risk taking behaviours
• All staff and visitors have an important role to play in safeguarding children and protecting them from abuse

The RSA Academy will fulfill their local and national responsibilities as laid out in the following documents:

• The most recent version of Working Together to Safeguard Children (DfE)
• The most recent version of Keeping Children Safe in Education: Statutory guidance for schools and colleges (DfE)
• The West Midlands and Sandwell Safeguarding Children Procedures
• The Education Act 2002 s175 / s157
• Mental Health and Behaviour in Schools: Departmental Advice (DfE 2014)

The RSA Academy seeks to protect children and young people against the messages of all violent extremism including, but not restricted to, those linked to Islamist ideology, or to Far Right/Neo Nazi/White Supremacist ideology, Irish Nationalist and Loyalist paramilitary groups, and extremist Animal Rights movements.

The Academy Trust, Local  Governing Board, the Principal and the Designated Safeguarding Lead will assess the level of risk within the school and put actions in place to reduce that risk. This risk assessment will be reviewed annually.

A copy of the school Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy is available on the school website

Are you worried about a child?

If you have reason to believe that a child or young person is at immediate risk from harm contact the Police on 999.

To discuss a safeguarding concern with a member of staff at the Academy, please contact one of the named Designated Safeguarding Leads above.

Useful links:

Sandwell Safeguarding Children Board

Healthy Sandwell

Your life – your choice

ParentInfo.org