Our Safeguarding Team brings a wealth of experience to the school. Our DSL is supported by a dedicated Team, including a Safeguarding Consultant who is a member of the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB) subgroup for Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE), sits on the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board for County Lines and is a Home Office certified trainer in the PREVENT Strategy. She has also lectured in Child Protection at Bath Spa University and acted as Vice Chair of the Bath Area Panel, which meets monthly to discuss the needs of the Authority’s must vulnerable students.
The Safeguarding Team is trained beyond the statutory guidance found in Keeping Children Safe in Education, 2018 and the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, 2015.
| Name | School Role | Safeguarding Role |
|---|---|---|
| Mr T Taylor | Assistant Headteacher (Pastoral Care) | Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) |
| Mrs H Gulliford | Pastoral Manager Year 12 and 13 | Deputy |
| Mrs L White | Pastoral Manager Year 10 and 11 | Deputy |
| Mrs V Stevens | Pastoral Manager Year 8 and 9 | Deputy |
| Mrs P Venables | Head of Year 7 | Deputy |
| Mrs S Long | Pastoral Administrator | Deputy |
| Mrs L. Beasley | Safeguarding Adviser | Deputy |
Whole school training is given to all staff annually. This may be the statutory training or training in current ‘trends’ in safeguarding. All new staff have induction training in safeguarding and the Single Central Record (SCR) is updated to reflect this.
We believe that the whole school community has a responsibility for ensuring that all members of our community are aware of issues around safeguarding and how to keep themselves safe. We support this ethos through the curriculum in PSHE, Tutorials and by example in all subjects. Our Assembly Programme further supports our ethos.
“Safeguarding at Hayesfield is outstanding”
Ofsted
School Policies are robust and applied by all members of our community and are readily accessible to all members of our community via the school’s website. These include:
- Accessibility Policy
- Attendance and Punctuality Policy
- Behaviour Policy
- Bring Your Own Device Policy
- Child Protection Policy and Procedures (including Staff Code of Conduct)
- Curriculum Policy
- Drugs and Health Education Policy
- E-Safety Policy (including Acceptable Use for Staff and Students)
- Health and Safety Policy
- Recruitment Policy
- Safeguarding Policy
- Screening and Searching Policy
- Special Educational Needs (SEND) Policy
- Sex and Relationship Policy
- Staff Use of Social Media Policy
- Trips Policy
- Whistleblowing Policy
Our approach to safeguarding is pro-active. We have introduced a Wellbeing Programme, which offers all of our students access to information on positive wellbeing as well as a tiered offer of support throughout the school. We encourage resilience through the use of Growth Mindset techniques and we were part of Oxford University’s training programme on Mindfulness, which is now delivered to our students.
We support National Campaigns against Bullying and for E-Safety. We have a team of police trained student E-Safety Gurus, another team of Student Mentors trained by Mentoring Plus and we have a third team of Anti-Bullying Ambassadors trained by the Diana Award. We have been part of a joint project between the University of Bath and The Motivation Project Dance Company, led by Dr Emma Rich of the University’s Department for Health, aimed at promoting body confidence with students. This was followed by a second research project on Digital Health Technologies also headed by Doctor Rich.
Our staff have undergone a period of training from Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) professionals on issues including coping with bereavement, self-harm, suicidal thoughts and wellbeing.
We work closely with a range of agencies including Social Care, CAMHS, the Willow Project (for those in danger of CSE), Project 28 (to help combat drug and alcohol abuse), Bath Area Play Project, the School Nursing Service and Mentoring Plus.
Our students are further supported ‘in-house’ by a Youth Worker working with students referred to her in Year 7 to 9 and by a Relate counsellor for students referred to her in Year 10, 11, 12 and 13. We have a certified THRIVE Practitioner on our Pastoral Team and are also able to offer Solution Focussed Practise.
Thus the safeguarding and wellbeing of our students, and the rest of our school community, is embedded in our ethos. Our “students feel safe, happy and enjoy coming to school.” (Ofsted)
For more information about safeguarding please visit the Bath and North East Somerset safeguarding website.
Please also peruse our guide to wellbeing: A Guide to Wellbeing and Mental Health
