Safeguarding for students

Your safety and well-being are the top priority of the staff at Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy. It is very important that you speak to an adult, either at home or outside of school, or to a staff member if you feel unsafe or need support in any way.

Safeguarding means that the staff at Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy aim to ensure that all students are safe and supported when needed. This means the risks are managed to prevent harm, students are protected from harm, and that there is effective care for all students. Action will be taken if there is a concern for any student, whether it be mentally and/or physically. Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy will take steps in order to ensure the students are not at risk, either from themselves or from others.

At Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy the Pastoral Team are all trained Designated Safeguarding Leads but we also want you to know you can approach any member of staff to let them know you feel unsafe or need some additional support. If the member of staff is not a Designated Safeguarding Lead and they think you require more support, they must seek advice from a Designated Safeguarding Lead. The Designated Safeguarding Lead may have to share the information with an external agency, should they also feel that you need additional support to make you feel, or be, safe. It is important for you to know that while staff cannot promise confidentiality when we feel you may be at risk in any way, information you share will with us will only be passed on to the people who need to know and we will never share your personal information with your peers or with the academy staff in general.

The steps a Designated Safeguard Lead might take are:

• Meeting/speaking with you to explore the issues
• Meeting/speaking with your parents or carers to explore the issues
• liaising and meeting with other agencies or professionals
• making a referral to Children’s Social Services and liaising with them.

Social Care are first, and foremost, a protective and supportive agency – they seek to support families to ensure that young people are kept safe. It is with this in mind that a Designated Safeguard Lead might refer to social Care.

If you are a student at Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy and feel that you, or a peer need support you should:

• Tell a Designated Safeguarding Lead these can all be seen on posters throughout school but the Heads of Year, Head of Inclusion, and Associate Vice Principal and Head of Student behaviour and Attendance are all Designated Safeguarding Leads.
• Tell any member of staff you feel comfortable to talk to
• Tell your parent/s carer/s or an adult that you trust at home.
• Contact Childline free by phone (0800 1111) 1-2-1 chat, email or Sign Video. Call The Samaritans (116 123).
• Contact Hackney Social Care, who can be contacted directly in working hours (020 8356 5500) or out of hours (020 8356 2170) (if you live in another borough) find the contact details for your home local authority’s social care details which are always displayed on their website.
• National Sexual Health helpline (0300 123 7123)
• CHYPSplus (www.chypsplus.nhs.uk) is a health service for anyone between the ages of eleven to nineteen.

www.Kooth.com for online mental wellbeing community

Safeguarding for Parent/s or Carer/s

If you have concerns about your child, or your child’s peer, please do contact your child’s Head of Year or another Designated Safeguarding Lead to inform them. If you have any information which you consider relevant, please do inform your child’s Head of Year and let us know. Mossbourne Victoria Park academy can then endeavour to make sure the appropriate support is in place for all children.