Our commitment to Safeguarding & Child Protection

​At The King’s CE School we are committed to safeguarding children and young people and we expect everyone who works in our school to share this commitment.
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Adults in our school take all welfare concerns seriously and encourage children and young people to talk to us about anything that may worry them.
 

Safeguarding contacts in school

​​Designated Safeguarding Leader:
Mr E Parry (Vice Principal)

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Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leaders:

Ms T Bird (Safeguarding Manager)

Attendance and Punctuality Officer:
Mrs K Barratt (Attendance Officer)

Education Welfare Officer (EWO):
Mrs D Cox (Independent Education Welfare Service)
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Communication with parents​

​Our school will always discuss concerns with parents/carers and consent for any referrals should be sought unless to do so would:
 
•    Place the child at risk of significant harm or further risk of significant harm.
•    Place a vulnerable adult at risk of harm.
•    Compromise any enquiries that need to be undertaken by children’s social care or the police.
 
The school will endeavour to ensure that parents have an understanding of the responsibilities placed on the school and staff for safeguarding children.
 
In the best interests of safeguarding children there may be occasions when the school has to consult with other agencies without a parent or carer’s prior knowledge. Our first concern and responsibility is the child’s welfare and we have a duty to 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 fully understand that this can be a very distressing set of circumstances. Our school will follow the procedures required by the Wolverhampton Safeguarding Children Together.​

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Curriculum

Child safety issues and child protection will be addressed through the curriculum where appropriate, especially through PSHE, Computing and E-Safety, Citizenship, Sex and Relations Education (SRE) and British values.
 
We use a variety of resources and approaches to teach the children how to keep themselves safe, build their resilience and manage risks.
During PSHE and Citizenship pupils will be taught about a range of age appropriate issues that may impact on them.  These lessons will aim to improve pupils' own confidence and resilience in increasing their preventative strategies to ensure their protection and that of their peers.
Pupils will also experience guest speakers and assemblies to focus on specific aspects of staying safe.  Pupils identified at greater risk than others will have the opportunity to attend workshops/focus groups working with experts from outside of school.  We will ensure we are aware of the developing needs of our pupils and ensure the provision is adapted to suit the school population
Clear advice and guidance is 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.

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Child Sexual Exploitation

Child sexual exploitation is a form of child sexual abuse. It occurs where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, manipulate or deceive a child or young person under the age of 18 into sexual activity (a) in exchange for something the victim needs or wants, and/or (b) for the financial advantage or increased status of the perpetrator or facilitator. The victim may have been sexually exploited even if the sexual activity appears consensual. Child sexual exploitation does not always involve physical contact: it can also occur through the use of technology.
Charities such as NSPCC and Barnardos have been campaigning to raise the profile of this form of child abuse.

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Child criminal exploitation: county lines

Criminal exploitation of children is a geographically widespread form of harm that is a typical feature of county lines criminal activity: drug networks or gangs groom and exploit children and young people to carry drugs and money from urban areas to suburban and rural areas, market and seaside towns. Key to identifying potential involvement in county lines are missing episodes, when the victim may have been trafficked for the purpose of transporting drugs.

Internet Safety

​Children and young people spend lots of time on the internet.  They may go online to research information for homework or to play games, chat with friends and make new ones. The internet holds a massive amount of useful information and can also be a really good way of learning about new things and keeping in contact with friends and family.  It can also be a very dangerous place so it is important that children are protected and monitored when they are online.
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CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection) has lots of information about how to keep your children safe online and parental controls.  The link to the website is below.