Last Updated: 24/11/2025
Safeguarding Information
Areas of Safeguarding
The welfare of the child remains paramount. All children whatever their age, culture, disability, gender, language, racial origin, religious beliefs and/ or sexual identity will be protected from harm. All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately. All staff and volunteers working at our school will meet their responsibility and report any concerns to the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL).
All staff are responsible for ensuring that each child remains safe.
We have a duty to ensure that we safeguard children across wide and varied aspects of need. These are set out in the government publication, Keeping Children Safe in Education, and are detailed as:
– Physical abuse
– Emotional abuse
– Sexual abuse
– Neglect
Specific Safeguarding Information
We have a statutory duty to safeguard pupils across a wide and varied range of needs, as outlined in the latest government guidance: Keeping Children Safe in Education (September 2025). These include, but are not limited to:
- Child missing education, home, or care (including persistent or unexplained absences linked to attendance concerns)
- Child criminal exploitation (CCE), including county lines and drug-related activities
- Child sexual exploitation (CSE)
- Bullying, including cyberbullying and prejudice-based forms
- Domestic abuse (including exposure to or experience of psychological, physical, sexual, or emotional harm)
- Fabricated or induced illness
- Abuse linked to faith or belief
- Female genital mutilation (FGM)
- Forced marriage
- Gangs and youth violence (including serious violence)
- Gender-based violence/violence against women and girls (VAWG)
- Mental health (as both a vulnerability and potential indicator of abuse or exploitation)
- Private fostering (including risks in homestay or short-term care arrangements)
- Preventing radicalisation
- Sexting and sharing of youth-produced sexual imagery (including non-consensual sharing)
- Teenage relationship abuse (as a form of domestic abuse or child-on-child harm)
- Trafficking (including for exploitation)
- Child-on-child sexual violence and harassment (including upskirting and harmful sexual behaviour)
- Online harms, including risks from misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories, antisemitism, and AI-generated content
Our staff remain vigilant in identifying these risks early, responding with empathy and multi-agency collaboration to ensure every pupil’s safety and wellbeing.
Safer Recruitment
Training
Child Protection with Safeguarding Policy
We follow strict procedures to ensure that everyone who works with our students is vetted, keeping our children as safe as possible. At least one senior member of staff is qualified in Safer Recruitment Procedures and oversees all recruitment processes.
Staff training about child protection is continual throughout the year so that all staff are aware of the policies and procedures. Training is delivered via a variety of means: face to face, in and out of school (including the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board specialist courses), online refreshers and information giving, document sharing and on-going professional dialogues during staff meetings. Staff are encouraged to be vigilant to maintain the safety of our children and their concerns are discussed and handled appropriately.
We expect all staff to have an up-to-date understanding of safeguarding and be able to implement the child protection policy and procedure appropriately. Policies are in line with current guidance and procedures. A copy of the policy is available on our policies web page. Staff are expected to respond appropriately to:
- significant changes in child’s behaviour
- deterioration a child’s general well-being
- unexplained bruising, marks or signs of possible abuse
- signs of neglect
- comments children make which give cause for concern
Information Sharing
Links with External Agencies
We have an obligation to obtain necessary information from parents/carers in advance of a child being admitted to school, including:
- emergency contact numbers
- the child’s special dietary requirements, preferences or food allergies the child may have
- the child’s special health requirements
- information about who has legal contact with the child; and who has parental responsibility for the child.
Parents and carers must tell us of any changes to their details.
We take confidentiality very seriously. Any information we hold is treated as confidential and shared on a ‘need-to-know’ basis.
Since our first concern must be the well-being of your child, there may be occasions when we have to consult other agencies before we contact you. The procedures we follow have been laid down in accordance with the local authority child protection procedures, which are included as part of our policy.
We are fortunate to be supported by a range of external agencies, which can be called upon to support the work we do in school. These include School Nurse, Health Practitioners, Educational Psychology, Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services, Behaviour Support, Social Services and Specialists in supporting Special Educational Needs.
Reporting Concerns or Complaints
Review of Policy and Practice
Further to the above procedures, we have in place a concerns and complaints policy. A copy is detailed on the JCSC Policies page. This enables children, staff and carers to report anything they feel is of concern.
Concerns should be raised in the following order:
To a member of the senior leadership team. Then if there is no resolution;
To the Headteacher. Then if there is no resolution;
To the Chair of Governors. Then if there is no resolution;
To the Local Authority.
Contact details are available from the school office.
If you have a safeguarding concern, then this should be brought to the attention of Mr Robinson in the first instance.
In order to ensure that best practice is maintained, our policies are reviewed regularly to incorporate the latest statutory guidance. If you would like more information on safeguarding, please contact Mr Robinson, who will be happy to discuss matters further with you.
Emergency: If a child is in immediate danger or left alone, you should contact the police or call an ambulance on 999.
You can report abuse and neglect directly to Children Services on: 01670 536 400 / Non-emergency Onecall: 01670 536400
JCSC works with Northumbria police on Operation Encompass.
Click the button above for more details.
CEOP – Are you worried about online abuse of the way someone has been communicating with children online?
Contact CEOP’s (Child Exploitation and online protection agency) on the link above.