Safeguarding

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Safeguarding

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children are priorities at Cardinal Heenan. This includes:

  1. protecting children from maltreatment;
  2. preventing impairment of children’s health or development;
  3. ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care;
  4. and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

 

Types of Abuse

Categories of abuse are shown below:

This is a form of abuse which may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a child.

Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child.

This is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and adverse effects on the child’s emotional development.

Emotional abuse may involve conveying to a child that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person.

It may include not giving the child opportunities to express their views, deliberately silencing them or ‘making fun’ of what they say or how they communicate.

It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. These may include interactions that are beyond a child’s developmental capability as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction.

It may involve seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another.

It may involve serious bullying (including cyberbullying), causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children.

Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, although it may occur alone.

This involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening.

The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example rape or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside of clothing.

They may also include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse (including via the internet).

Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children.

This is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development.

Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse.

Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to undertake one or more of the following:

  • provide adequate food, clothing and shelter (including exclusion from home or abandonment);
  • protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger;
  • ensure adequate supervision (including the use of inadequate care-givers);
  • ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment.

It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs.

Maintaining a safe environment

  • Policies and practices covering:- safeguarding and child protection, including self-harm, radicalisation, e-safety, health and safety, anti-bullying, racism and discrimination and whistle-blowing
  • Comprehensive behaviour policy and systematic and graduating sanctions and rewards systems
  • Supervised pupil arrival and departure at the end of each day. Students are supervised by a team of staff as they alight from and board our fleet of special school bus services.  The local area is monitored by senior staff at various times
  • Close monitoring of pupil attendance with prompt calls to parents or carers if students are absent or late without prior notice
  • Safer recruitment practice followed. Security checks are made on all staff employed and volunteers working in the school
  • All staff receive regular safeguarding training
  • Close working relationship with the schools’ designated Safer Schools Police Officer
  • The school building and grounds form a gated, fenced, secure site. A security pass is needed to gain entry to the school building.  All visitors are met in a secured reception area
  • Security cameras in grounds and the building
  • Filtered internet access
  • Risk assessments carried out for offsite activities and for students with particular health needs or specific difficulties
  • Trained first aiders on call in the school
  • Staff and visitors wear identification badges and lanyards
  • Lessons in Personal, Social, Health, Citizenship and Economic Education (PSHCE) covering safeguarding issues e.g. anti-bullying, assertive behaviour, e-safety, healthy relationships, etc.
  • A variety of safety messages delivered to students via assemblies and in the daily notices
  • Posters displayed around school encourage students to report any bullying that they have seen or experienced by texting to the school Tell! Tell! Tell! number: 07860 030 489. The text is sent as an email to the school’s Bully Action Team who investigate promptly. The identity of the sender remains confidential.

Safer Schools, Kooth and Catholic Care

Safeguarding children and young people is one of the most important issues facing parents, carers and those responsible for educating and empowering children and young people.

Safeguarding across the school community has become even more complex in the context of children’s access to technology and use of social media. We request that all parents pay particular attention to the information provided on the app relating to the issues surrounding the safety of social media platforms.

In order to tackle this issue we have signed up for the “Safer Schools App”. It helps support and protect children by educating and empowering them and their parents/carers at school and at home.

Step 1: Download the app

Step 2: Search for Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School

Step 3: Type in the appropriate login code:

Year 7 and 8 students 3447

Year 9, 10 and 11 students 4898

Parent/Carer 7675

kooth.com is an online counselling and support service commissioned by Leeds CCG. The service has been running very successfully in Leeds for the past year, for 11-18 year olds, and is now accessible for 10 year olds across the city, as well as care leavers up to 25 years old.

It is a safe, confidential and anonymous way for young people to access emotional wellbeing and early intervention mental health support. In 2018-19 kooth.com was accessed by over 130,000 young people and is now commissioned by over 100 CCG areas. Fully trained and qualified counsellors and emotional wellbeing practitioners are available until 10pm each night, 365 days per year, providing a much-needed service for emotional support in an accessible way.

In response to the impact of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Catholic Care will be launching its Community Response Service to support those in our Catholic communities who are sick, self-isolating, have been adversely financially impacted or are finding it difficult to cope.

The service will be available Monday – Friday 8-6pm

A team of Catholic Care workers (we may expand later to incorporate volunteers) will be available to support parishioners and families in a number of ways:

  • A telephone support service. This service will provide a listening ear and a friendly voice for those experiencing isolation in their community.
  • A pick up and drop off groceries and pharmacy service.
  • A dog walking service.
  • A hamper delivery service for those experiencing financial hardship.

 

Please contact us on 07739975001 or 07739975008 or 07739975009 or email janet.kent@catholic-care.org.uk or Jessica.price@catholic-care.org.uk if you would like to access this service or you would like to refer a person in your Parish or school community.

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