We recognise that in schools we use many acronyms and terms that may not be familiar to parents. Safeguarding is our responsibility to our community to keep people safe from harm using appropriate measures. Every school designates specific adults to be the safeguarding leads and these are the people who deal with issues when somebody is at risk of harm or damage either from themselves or others. These adults then follow guidelines to help those involved get the support they need. At Nexus these people are called designated safeguarding leads and they are at present

Judy Cooper

Fiona Lewis

Heather Millington

At Nexus, we follow the guidelines from the Ministry of Social and Family Development and have a duty to report specific concerns to the Child Protective Services.

All Nexus staff have had extensive background checks before being allowed to work with learners and we have clear expectations around acceptable behaviour of adults working with learners. We also try to make sure we know about our new learners and always ask the schools of new learners if there have been any safeguarding concerns. This not only helps us support the child but helps us keep our community safe. If families leave Nexus it is common for the new schools to ask us if there have been any safeguarding concerns as they ask for references.

Sometimes we will need to share information with families and guardians that is difficult to hear. Children are very good at presenting the image they want us to see and sometimes this can be masking very low self-esteem and negative thoughts. Children and young people can be impulsive which is why we take any concerns about self-harm and suicide ideation very seriously. When thoughts turn to actions that harm the individual or others we have to intervene. In some limited cases this may lead to needing external medical experts to show that a child is safe to be in school.

At Nexus we are fortunate to have caring parents and learners who will often share their concerns either about their own child or another learner. We want all our learners to feel safe and it is important to us that they share anything that makes them feel uncomfortable or unsafe. Nobody can learn effectively if they feel uncomfortable or unsafe. We introduced Speak Up for secondary learners as a way for them to share concerns about their own or somebody else's safety or wellbeing. It is an online platform for learners to share any concerns they have in a private and confidential way and only goes to the safeguarding leads. Mental health issues are increasing globally and it is important we allow children to discuss their feelings and thoughts.

Through education and a culture of openness our aim is to be proactive and to support learners in our community before they reach a crisis. By working together with families and guardians we can provide learners with the assurance that it is okay not to be okay and that when this is the case there are people there who can help.

If you have any concerns about a child's safety or wellbeing please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Please look out for an email invitation to start booking appointments with your child's teachers. Appointments will be available between 4pm and 8pm on Thursday 3rd and between 8am and 4.30 pm on Friday 4th.

Please note school will be closed on Friday 4th March to enable teachers and families to meet online. The learning conferences are your opportunity to discuss your child's learning and progress. Your child should lead the conversations and should be with you at each of the meetings. This is a great opportunity to support your child to identify targets to reach their goals.

Our IGCSEs and IB Diploma and courses programmes are two year long programmes that are assessed at the end of the two years by external examinations. In order to help prepare learners we will run trial exams in Year 10 and Year 12 to provide learners with the opportunity to bring their learning together under timed conditions and learn more about exam technique. These exams will be held between April 4th and 13th.

The IB Examinations run from 29 April to 20 May. Please note that the schedule was updated in November 2021.

IGCSE exam boards publish the examination timetable in December. IGCSE examinations run between Monday the 25th of April to Friday the 17th of June 2022.

IGCSE exam entries will be confirmed with entry letters going home on the 14th of February, entry letter must be signed and returned on the 16th of February.

Please note examinations may fall on public holidays, during school holidays and in the evenings.