Keeping children safe
Safeguarding means:
- protecting children from abuse and maltreatment
- preventing harm to children’s health (mental and physical) 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.
Safeguarding is the responsibility of all staff that come in contact with children. We have a number of policies and procedures in place that contribute to our safeguarding commitment, including our Safeguarding Policy. This policy is regularly reviewed and updated to give guidance and direction, based on the current Keeping Children Safe In Education (KCSIE 2023). Our curriculum covers aspects of safeguarding including; healthy relationships, My Body My Rules, Bullying, FGM, Online Safety and the NSPCC PANTs Rule. Safeguarding is our priority within all subjects and extra-curricular activities; any concerns about a child are raised with a member of our Safeguarding Team.
In our school, our Safeguarding Team is led by Ms Moxom (Assistant Headteacher) who is our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL). She is supported by Ms Hasker (Headteacher) and Ms Sherborne (EYFS lead). We keep up to date with Safeguarding news and communicate relevant content with parents in our ‘Safeguarding Spotlight’ section in our fortnightly Woodlands Bulletin. You can access the Woodlands Bulletins here.
We also have a Safeguarding Group who meet once a term to discuss ways to keep everyone safe. Our Safeguarding Group consists of the Ms Moxom, Ms Hasker, Mrs Hamid (Medical Lead), Mrs Kenworthy Wright (our Chair of Governors) and two pupil representatives.
In school, children are aware of who they can speak to if something is worrying them. The safeguarding poster below is displayed across the school. In each classroom there is a ‘Worry Box’, which children can use to write down a concern or they can talk to their teacher. The online version of this is the ‘Worry Button’ which is accessible through Google Classroom.
To ensure that all visitors to our school understand our safeguarding and expectations they are provided with a Key Information booklet on arrival to read. This is in line with our Visitors Policy.
Online Safety
At Woodlands we are committed to keeping children safe online and ensuring everything is done to support our pupils online. You can find more information in our Online Safety Policy.
We encourage parents and children to visit the CEOP (Child Exploitation & Online Protection) website or the NSPCC website to find out how to stay safe online and to keep up to date with information about games, social media and apps. Please take a look at the Online Safety information and resources in the foyer area in the school office. Further information is available on our Online Safety site for parents.
The NSPCC Pants rule is a great tool to help children keep themselves safe. Visit the NSPCC Website below to get more resources and information:
nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/underwear-rule/
What should you do if you are worried about a child?
If you are concerned about the safety or welfare of a child who attends this school you can:
- speak to a member of the Safeguarding Team via the school office on 0208 998 2479.
- call Ealing Children’s Integrated Response Service 020 8825 8000 to report any concern you may have about any child and to receive advice and support.
Note: If a child is in immediate danger you can ring the police on 999 or if you wish to take advice from the police you can phone 101.
If you would like to talk to someone about your concerns, find out more about safeguarding or get further guidance you can visit NSPCC: www.nspcc.org.uk
Complaint or concerns about a member of staff
For information on making a formal complaint, please follow our Complaints Policy.