Safeguarding At Holyhead
OUR SAFEGUARDING TEAM
As always, the safety and wellbeing of our students is the most important aspect of our work as a school. This month's bulletin focusses on keeping your child safe online and is a guide to helping your child stay safe when on their own. There are also some tips on positive parenting. If you have any urgent safeguarding issues or concerns about any child at our school, please contact the school on 0121 523 1960 or via email and ask to speak to one of the Designated Safeguarding Team. If you are a student, you can contact a DSL through the Holyhead Helpline link in the student portal.
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people is broader than ‘child protection’ as it also includes prevention and ensuring the best interests of our students come first.
Holyhead School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all its students. We fully recognise our responsibilities for safeguarding children and young people and work with the Local Authority and other external agencies to ensure the safety of children and young people in our care.
We aim to provide a safe and secure environment in which students can thrive and develop and where all aspects of their welfare will be protected by:
- Providing a safe environment and taking all reasonable measures to minimise risks of harm.
- Providing arrangements to take all appropriate action to address concerns relating to the welfare of a student
We believe that:
- All children/young people have the right to be protected from harm.
- Children/young people need to be safe and to feel safe in school.
- Children/young people need support which matches their individual needs, including those who may have experienced abuse.
- All children/young people have the right to speak freely and voice their values and beliefs.
- All children/young people must be encouraged to respect each other’s values and support each other.
- All children/young people have the right to be supported to meet their emotional and social needs as well as their educational needs – a happy, healthy, sociable child/young person will achieve better education.
- Schools can and do contribute to the prevention of abuse, victimisation, bullying (including homophobic, bi-phobic, transphobic and cyber-bullying), exploitation, extreme behaviours, discriminatory views and risk-taking behaviours.
All staff and visitors within the school have an important role to play in safeguarding our students and are aware that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and that we work in the best interests of the child.
All staff, governors and volunteers are encouraged to foster an attitude that ‘it could happen here’ and they are made aware of, and reminded of, the protocols to follow should they have a concern about a child or young person’s safety or well-being.
Mrs S Allen Safeguarding Link Governor
Mrs D Denny: Vice Principal, Designated Safeguarding Lead and Single Point of Contact (SPOC) for extremism and radicalisation
Mr D Beale: Senior Deputy DSL
Mrs K Robinson: Vice Principal, SENCO and Mental Health Lead, DDSL
Mrs L Williams: Deputy Mental Health Lead, DDSL
Miss B Dore: PSHE Lead, DDSL
Mr F Khan: Vice Principal of 6th form, DDSL
Miss A Jabeen: 6th form Student Engagement Officer, DDSL
Mrs S Parker: Head of Year 7, DDSL
Mrs T Edwards: Head of Year 8, DDSL
Mrs N Malcolm: Head of Year 9, DDSL
Miss M Jeffers: Head of Year 10, DDSL
Mr L Cain: Head of Year 11, DDSL
Mrs S Seniary, Refocus Room Lead, DDSL
Miss A Khatun, RE Lead, DDSL
Within this environment, we work hard to build students’ resilience to radicalisation and extremism by promoting fundamental British values and for everyone to understand the risks associated with terrorism.
We are committed to establishing and maintaining an ethos where students and parents feel secure in being able to talk confidently to school personnel about any concerns or fears they may have, knowing that they will be taken seriously.
If you have a safeguarding concern regarding a student from this school and the school is closed, please refer to the link below where you can receive further guidance.
Early Help
Early Help in Birmingham (Birmingham Safeguarding Children Board)
What do we mean by early help?
Early Help means taking action to support a child, young person or their family early in the life of a problem, as soon as it emerges. It can be required at any stage in a child’s life, and applies to any problem or need that the family cannot deal with or meet on their own.
Early Help requires agencies to work together as soon as a problem emerges, or a need is identified to ensure the child gets the right response, and the right services, from the right people at the right time. It is their aim to meet that need early and avoid a problem escalating or the need increasing.
At Holyhead school, we offer a range of wave 2 and wave 3 Early Help interventions within school, including a school mental health team, one-to-one and small group mentoring. We also work alongside a variety of external agencies to offer Early Help that supports young people and their families, including: School Improvement Police Officer, Children's services, Family Connect, Forward Thinking Birmingham, Compass, Cranstoun, Aquarius, Youth Offending Team, Living Well Consortium, Aston Villa Foundation and many more. If you feel your child or family require Early Help support, then please contact a DSL, and we will be happy to support you.
