Safeguarding

Safeguarding and Child Protection

Demeter House School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and visitors to share this commitment. We are fully committed to ensuring that consistent, effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support families, children and staff at school.

“Leaders place a high priority on making sure that all staff understand their responsibility to keep pupils safe. Staff receive comprehensive training in the school’s systems before they begin working at the school.”               

Ofsted, 2023

Safeguarding Teams

If you want to know more about our procedures, please read our Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy or speak to one of the following:

Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL)

Claire Spedding: Hera House

David Watson: Hestia School

 

Safeguarding Our Students

Demeter House School will establish an ethos where: 

  1. Children feel secure in a safe environment in which they can learn and develop.
  2. Children know that there are adults in the school whom they can approach if worried or in difficulty.
  3. Importance and prioritisation is given to equipping the children with the skills needed to stay safe; including providing opportunities for Personal, Social and Health Education throughout the curriculum.
  4. Children develop realistic attitudes to their responsibilities in adult life and are equipped with the skills needed to keep themselves safe; including understanding and recognition of healthy/unhealthy relationships and support available.
  5. Children are supported in recognising and managing risks in different situations, including on the internet, being able to judge what kind of physical contact is acceptable and unacceptable, recognising when pressure from others, including people they know, threatens their personal safety and well-being and supporting them in developing effective ways of resisting pressure.
  6. All adults feel comfortable and supported to draw safeguarding issues to the attention of the Head Teacher and/or the Designated Safeguarding Lead and are able to pose safeguarding questions with ‘respectful uncertainty’ as part of their shared responsibility to safeguard children (‘Keeping Children Safe in Education, 2023).
  7. There is a proactive approach to substance misuse. Issues of drugs and substance misuse are recorded and there is a standalone policy, which is robustly delivered throughout the school and curriculum.
  8. Support and planning for young people in custody and their resettlement back into the school community is undertaken, where necessary, as part of our inclusive approach.
  9. It works in accordance with Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015′ and supports the North Lincolnshire Local Safeguarding Children Board to ensure children and young people receive the most appropriate referral and access provision; actively supporting multi agency planning for those children and, in doing so, providing information about the ‘voice of the child’ and the child’s lived experience as evidenced by observations or information provided the multi-agency forum.
  10. All students have a right to be protected, respected, valued and to be heard. This will be achieved by:
  • The identification of students at risk of suffering significant harm, exploitation or extremism
  • Reducing the potential risks pupils face of being exposed to violence, extremism, exploitation, or victimisation
  • Raising awareness of all staff through effective communication and training
  • The referral of all disclosures to the appropriate agencies
  • Addressing concerns at the earliest possible stage using Early Help procedures
  • Working in partnership with the Children’s Multi-Agency Resilience and Safeguarding Board (CMARS).

Causes for Concern

We have a duty of care to our students and are required to take any reasonable action to ensure their safety. If there are any causes for concern about a child’s safety, either in or out of school, these will be immediately recorded and reported to the Designated Safeguarding Officer, who will follow the school’s policy and procedure to determine the level of risk and involve external agencies where necessary.

Demeter House School follows the recommendations set out in the Government document ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’. Read the full document here.

Useful Contact Numbers

North Lincolnshire Children Services – 01724 296500

NSPCC – 0808 8005000

Child line – 08001111

Samaritans- 116123

Information for Students

Coram Voice have produced a short video to help children and young people to understand what happens at a child protection or safeguarding meeting. If you have any other questions about safeguarding, please come and ask your key worker or one of the safeguarding team.