Keeping Safe
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility
Our team at school
Rebecca Leek, Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and point of contact for PREVENT
Hetty Chance, Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and designated teacher for Children in Care
For further information and our safeguarding policies please see our Policies page
Please contact Rebecca or Hetty (contact us) if you have any concerns regarding a child or adult who attends, works at or visits Bealings School. Please also talk to us about any matters relating to safety.
Safeguarding at Bealings
Keeping ourselves and each other safe is part of our culture here at Bealings. We see ourselves as a community, and this means all of us have a role to play.
We have built an ethos of care, openness and mindful responsibility. We seek to be open with each other and all views are listened to and discussed.
Our morning gatherings are especially important because here we reflect together on how we can be happy, creative and safe in the world.
We look for opportunities where children can learn to self-regulate and make decisions. This means building in an element of risk into the day. This is seen in Year 6 pupils leading clubs for younger children (with an adult present but rarely intervening). It means children taking responsibility for equipment outside and learning to cross the road safely independently (Year 6 only).
Site safety
We have a split site whereby our cafe and school field are across a very minor road. Therefore, we have to have unlocked gates - to allow people to move between these two areas. This means we have to have clear protocols to make sure that everyone is kept safe. Some of these are:
Children are explicitly taught about the road, not crossing without an adult, never opening gates unless with an adult.
Clear signs for visitors to report to the office. All adults are vigilant - for example when the children are playing on the playground - and will immediately direct or escort visitors to the office.
Lanyards and badges: staff wear green staff badges, visitors who have been cleared by us to work in school (such as a regular contractor or a governor) will wear a blue lanyard, visitors who we do not know and have not been checked (such as an adult on a school tour) will wear an orange lanyard.
Locked doors: doors are locked at certain times of the school day - for example when children are at lunch.
We want to keep our community as open as possible - as this is an important aspect about out school culture. For example, we like parents coming into the classrooms in the morning, especially in the younger years. However, this also means that adults and children are especially aware of anyone entering school and we are always looking out for orange and blue lanyards, and checking that visitors have signed in.
Training
All staff receive annual and regular training. This includes training on any updates and changes to KCSIE. Training and awareness for safeguarding is always ongoing. This will mean updates in staff meetings, sharing of new resources via emails, weekly briefings, and cafe staff meetings.
Early Help
Please contact us with any concerns or worries, no matter how small. This can help us to activate our Early Help Offer and prevent more serious issues escalating. This is a really important part of safeguarding. To learn more about our Early Help Offer click here.
E-Safety
As well as being a tool for good, the internet has become an ever-increasing danger in our children’s lives. We want to give our pupils the skills to navigate this space safely and responsibly, allowing them to benefit positively from all that it has to offer. Click here to find out more.
Prevent
A common misconception can be that Prevent concerns do not arise in Suffolk, however they absolutely do. We take our prevent duties extremely seriously. To find out more click here.