Safeguarding

Safeguarding statement

Safeguarding legislation and government guidance says that safeguarding means:

Protecting children from maltreatment, preventing impairment of children’s health or development, ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

Child Protection: is part of safeguarding and promoting student welfare. It involves measures and structures designed to prevent and respond to significant harm, abuse, exploitation and neglect.

Safeguarding includes: Child Protection, Health Care Plans, Health and Safety, Site Security, Safety on school trips and visits, Safer recruitment – School Central Record & DBS checks, online safety and associated issues, anti-bullying work, children’s & learner’s health, mental health and emotional well-being and so much more.

Keeping Children Safe

‍Making sure that our students are safe is one of our key objectives as a school. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding this information please don’t hesitate to contact us.

The following information is based on advice issued by the government in ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (September 2025). All our staff have read this document and have been trained according to this and our Safeguarding Policy.

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families and carers has a role to play in safeguarding children. No single professional can have a full picture of a child’s needs and circumstances. If children and families are to receive the right help at the right time, everyone who comes into contact with them has a role to play in identifying concerns, sharing information and taking prompt action. School and college staff are particularly important as they are in a position to identify concerns early, provide help for children, and prevent concerns from escalating. All school and college staff have a responsibility to provide a safe environment in which children can learn.

Our safeguarding and child protection policy can be viewed here.

Prevent Duty

‍Schools can help to protect children from extremist and violent views in the same ways that they help to safeguard children from drugs, gang violence or alcohol and schools' work on Prevent needs to be seen in this context.

The purpose must be to protect children from harm and to ensure that they are taught in a way that is consistent with the law and our values.

Prevent should be seen as part of the existing school safeguarding framework; a local approach to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people. All staff are trained to recognise the signs of possible radicalisation in our students and follow the academy safeguarding procedures if they have concerns regarding a student in this regard.

Sexual and criminal exploitation of children – will you spot the signs?

‍The exploitation of children is, sadly, a growing problem and has a devastating impact on those directly affected and their families. It happens, and it happens here, in Essex. This is not just involving older children, even primary age children are being drawn into exploitation. It is never too soon for our children to learn how to keep themselves safe. Essex Police is working hard to tackle these awful crimes but we cannot do it alone. As a parent or carer with responsibility for a child I am asking for your help. Please be aware of the warning signs together with the help and advice available to you.

‍Exploitation - what is it?

‍Sexual exploitation involves a child being manipulated, forced or deceived into sexual activity often for financial gain or to build status or control. Criminal exploitation involves a child being coerced to commit criminal activity. This is often associated with gangs and the selling of illegal drugs.

‍The warning signs
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‍Is your child regularly going missing, coming home late or persistently absent from school?
Do they have new or older friends different to their normal social group?
Do they have money, expensive-looking clothes or a new phone you didn’t buy for them?
Are they being secretive when using their phone or the internet or perhaps making / receiving lots of calls and texts?
Has their mood changed or have they become withdrawn or aggressive?
Are they harming themselves or displaying inappropriate sexualised behaviour?
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These are indicators. They do not always mean a child is being exploited, but, please see them as a potential ‘warning sign’.

‍A new hotline number – 01245 452058. If you are worried, please call.

A team of Essex Police officers and staff are on standby to listen, help and offer advice. The line is open Monday to Friday 8.00am-4.00pm with a voicemail facility outside of these hours.

Our policies

We have a suite of policies relevant to safeguarding. Here is a link to our statutory information including safeguarding and online safety policies.

Online Safety at Greensward

Keep an eye on your child’s internet use including email and social media (Facebook, Snapchat, etc)
Check the history folder of your internet browser to check what sites have been accessed
Consider purchasing filter software or see if your ISP (BT, Sky, Talk Talk, etc) provide their own
Protect your computer with firewall/antivirus software and block access to harmful sites and content

Monitoring systems: identify when a user accesses or searches for certain types of harmful content on school and college devices (it doesn’t stop someone accessing it). The school is then alerted to any concerning content so they can intervene and respond.

Whilst students and staff are signed into the shared google platform their devices are constantly monitored. This includes both in and out of school.

Schools and colleges should provide a safe environment to learn and work, including when online. Filtering and monitoring are both important parts of safeguarding pupils and staff from potentially harmful and inappropriate online material Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024 (DFE)
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All staff have been trained on how to report safeguarding and technical concerns, such as if: 

They witness or suspect unsuitable material has been accessed
They are able to access unsuitable material
They are teaching topics that could create unusual activity on the filtering logs
There is a failure in the software or an abuse of the system
There are perceived unreasonable restrictions that affect teaching and learning or administrative tasks
They notice abbreviations or misspellings that allow access to restricted material

eSafety student guidance

Never post your personal information, such as a mobile phone number, home address, or the name of your school
Be aware that information you give out through social networking sites, instant messages, emails and blogs could put you at risk of bullying or harassment
Never meet in person with anyone you first “met” online. Some people may not be who they say they are
Remember that posting information about your friends could put them at risk
Never respond to harassing or rude texts, messages and emails. Delete any unwanted messages or friends who continuously leave inappropriate comments
Never give out your password to anyone other than your parent or carer
If you would not say something to another person’s face, do not post it online!
Only add people as friends to your site if you know them in real life
Think before posting your photos. DO NOT post or send semi-nude or nude pictures of yourself or anyone else. Personal photos should not have revealing information such as school names or location
Use the privacy settings of the social networking sites

Further useful contacts:

NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children): nspcc.org.uk

Childline: childline.org.uk Contact: 0800 1111

Also see our Health and wellbeing page for further contacts