Safeguarding

At Unity City Academy we are committed to developing young people who have a determination to succeed, a love of learning, a sense of pride and a strength of character. We wish for all of our young people to become empowered, global citizens who have a determination to improve the world as active and informed citizens. We are committed to ensuring that our young people are safe and able to make decisions which keep them safe and allow them to thrive. 

The safeguarding team at Unity City Academy supports pupils in line with statutory guidance. The team are committed to ensuring that all young people are safe and able to focus on developing themselves to the best of their ability. Referral meetings, clear reporting procedures and support mentors ensure that young people feel safe in reporting issues. Depending on needs, pupils may be referred into our in school support, or to external agencies. 

The Academies Child Protection policy draws upon the principles of “Every Child Matters”, duties conferred by the Children Act 1989 and 2004, S175/157 of the 2002 Education Act, the Education & Inspections Act 2006 and the guidance contained in “Working Together to Safeguard Children”, “What To Do If You’re Worried A Child Is Being Abused”, the DfE Circular – “Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education” (2007), the DfE guidance – “Dealing with Allegations of Abuse Against Teachers and Other Staff” (2011), Ofsted Guidance issued in 2011 and procedures produced by the London Safeguarding Children Board and the Southwark Safeguarding Children Board. The policy is applicable to all on and off-site activities undertaken by pupils whilst they are the responsibility of the School.

There are thee main elements to our policy:

 PREVENTION through the teaching and pastoral support offered to pupils and the creation and maintenance of a whole academy protective ethos

 PROCEDURES for identifying and reporting cases, or suspected cases, of abuse.  The definitions of the four categories of abuse are attached (see Appendix A)

 SUPPORTING VULNERABLE CHILDREN those who may have been abused or witnessed violence towards others.

To view our policies in relation to safeguarding, please click on the specific link; 

UCA Safeguarding Policies Local Academy Arrangements 

AET's Safeguarding Policies

Keeping Children Safe in Education

Working Together to Safeguard Children

Prevent Duty Guidance Documents - updated 2023

Everyone's Invited - Our Commitment

Like everyone, we've been appalled by the stories that are emerging across the country. It is completely unacceptable that girls are being treated in this way and we have a collective responsibility as education leaders to take a stand. We pride ourselves on being a highly inclusive family of schools, and whilst we have strong systems and controls in place as part of our work on equality, diversity and inclusion focusing on gender, racism, sexuality and disability, we want to make sure we are leaving no stone unturned in eradicating these insidious behaviours. 

 In addition to our existing practices, we are taking steps to ensure that each of our schools has the means to capture testimony from students - either anonymously or in person through safe spaces - so that there is every opportunity to uncover any issues, past or present. We all need to go further and shine a light on these issues so that they are brought out in the open and dealt with swiftly, including involving the police. To do otherwise, makes us part of the problem.

Prevent Strategy

The Prevent Strategy is to assist our young people to become more resilient to the messages of violent extremists through creating an environment where all young people learn to understand others, value and appreciate diversity and develop skills to be able to debate and analyse effectively. Through the balanced curriculum we offer we will help young people learn and explore the values of different faiths and cultures. We are committed to working with the local partnerships working on preventing violent extremism. Staff will be supported should they make any disclosures in this regard and are reminded that they can make a disclosure through the group’s Whistleblowing Policy. Further information in regards to the governments Prevent Strategy can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-strategy-2011

Operation Encompass

Cleveland Police   Launched Operation Encompass in Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland on 1st October...Operation Encompass was created so that by 9.00 a.m. on the next school day, a nominated person (Key Adult) will be informed that the child or young person has been involved in a domestic incident. This knowledge, given to schools through Operation Encompass, allows the provision of immediate early intervention through ‘silent’ or ‘overt’ support, depending upon the needs and wishes of the child. Further information in regards to the governments Operation Encompass Strategy can be found at

https://www.operationencompass.org

Family Information Services Directory

Below is a link to a website which is a great place for parents to obtain accurate, high quality, accessible and impartial information, along with advice and guidance on services and activities in our local area for children, young people and families.   

http://fis.middlesbrough.gov.uk/kb5/middlesbrough/fsd/home.page