At Great Sankey High School, the safeguarding of all our students is the highest priority. We are committed to providing a secure environment for pupils where children feel safe and are kept safe. As a school we recognise that safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility, irrespective of the role they undertake, and expect all staff, volunteers and visitors to share this commitment. We are fully committed to ensuring that consistent and effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support children, families and staff at school.
We work together with a wide range of agencies to ensure effective arrangements are in place to identify, assess and support children and young people who may be at risk of, or may be suffering, from harm.
Safeguarding our school community is of paramount importance. We ensure that all our staff are aware of, and have the skills to deal with, any child protection or safeguarding concerns. We have robust recruitment procedures and professional development programmes which ensure that all our staff uphold our strong ethos and values. All of our staff receive yearly updates as part of their child protection training.
Our safeguarding policy applies to all staff, governors and volunteers working in the school.
All adults who regularly work on our site are required to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check to prevent unsuitable people from working with students. All visitors are closely supervised when on site.
We ensure staff have the skills, knowledge and understanding necessary to keep children safe through provision of regular training on child protection issues. A qualified Designated Safeguarding Lead (Child Protection Officer) within the school provides support to staff members to carry out their safeguarding duties and liaises closely with other services such as children’s social care. We also have a designated lead Governor for safeguarding/child protection on the Governing Body.
Our staff are trained to be vigilant for all kinds of safeguarding concerns, including bullying, online safety, emotional or other abuse or extremist behaviour. We have clear procedures in place where any potential safeguarding concerns are identified. We share information with other public bodies – within agreed protocols.
As part of the school’s safeguarding measures, we also ensure our students are not exposed to inappropriate political or controversial messages. Through our pursuit to develop exemplary citizens, we promote fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. In line with this, we ensure all expressed views and actions contrary to these values are challenged.
The members of The Safeguarding Team at Great Sankey High School are:
Designated Safeguarding Lead - Mrs R Wardle
Senior Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead - Mrs S Kent
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads - Mr I McNulty (Assistant Head: Alternative Curriculum); Mrs H Stones (Assistant Head: Director of KS5); Mr A McCann (Assistant Head: Director of KS4); Mrs K Masher (Assistant Head: Director of KS3) and Miss J Edwards (SENDCo)
Link Safeguarding Governor: Mr D McClelland
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Great Sankey High School continually seeks to strengthen communications with parents, careers and pupils so concerns relating to any part of school life can be raised at any time with a child’s Pastoral Year team or Form Tutor.
Safeguarding at Great Sankey High School is a collective responsibility for the governing body.
David McClelland is the Designated Safeguarding Governor.
If you are worried about a child’s safety and welfare, please do not hesitate to contact one of the named DSL’s or contact Warrington Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH ) on 01925 443322.
Operation Encompass is the reporting to schools, prior to the start of the next school day, when a child or young person has been exposed to, or involved in, any domestic incident. Operation Encompass will ensure that a member of school staff, known as a key adult, is trained to allow them to liaise with the police and to use the information that has been shared, in confidence, while ensuring that the school is able to make provision for possible difficulties experienced by children, or their families, who have been involved in, or exposed to, a domestic abuse incident. We are keen to offer the best support possible to all our pupils and we believe this will be extremely beneficial for all those involved.
Further information can be found at :
Hestia deliver services to provide adults and children a life beyond crisis, as well as campaign and advocate nationally on the issues that affect the people they work with.
If you are concerned about domestic abuse, we know it can be hard to find support. Bright Sky is a safe, easy to use app and website that provides practical support and information on how to respond to domestic abuse. It is for anyone experiencing domestic abuse, or who is worried about someone else. Bright Sky helps you to spot the signs of abuse, know how to respond, and help someone find a safe route to support.
The recognised and trained Operation Encompass Key Adults at Great Sankey High School are:
Rachael Wardle DSL/Deputy headteacher r.wardle@gshs.omegamat.co.uk and Stephanie Kent DDSL s.kent@gshs.omegamat.co.uk.
Both can be contacted by email or 01925 724118
Or alternatively, contact Children’s Social Care on 01925 443 400.
If you are concerned that a child/young person is in immediate danger of significant harm, please contact the Police immediately.
As part of the school’s safeguarding measures, we also ensure our students are not exposed to inappropriate political or controversial messages. As a school we promote fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, liberty and mutual respect and celebrate diversity. In line with this, we ensure all expressed views and actions contrary to these values are challenged and students are educated and supported through our PSHE programme and assemblies. As part of our commitment to safeguarding and child protection we fully support the government’s Prevent Strategy.
Prevent is one of the four elements of CONTEST, which is the government’s counter-terrorism strategy. It aims to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism, provide practical help to prevent individuals from being drawn into terrorism, or radicalised, and give appropriate advice and support.
Further information about the purpose of Prevent and how this is supported at Great Sankey High School is available in the below document.
Prevent
If you have any concerns about a child/young person you can contact any member of the Safeguarding or pastoral teams on 01925 724118
Prevent contact details:
Stephen Gillham – Warrington single point of contact (SPOC) at the LA for Prevent 01925 442216 sgillham@warrington.gov.uk
Counter Terrorism Case Officer for Prevent in the North West can be contacted on:
Further information can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-guidance
Visit our Online Safety Hub for Parents/Carers page
A copy of the Safeguarding Policy, and all other policies, is available on our Policies and Reports page.
How do you talk to your children about sexual abuse?
Safeguarding and Wellbeing Bulletins