What is Safeguarding?

Our school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all of our children.  Safeguarding is a priority and ‘the golden thread’ that runs through our school and our Academy Trust.

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined, in Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), as:

• 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;
• Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

School staff are particularly important, as they are in a position to identify concerns early, provide help for children, promote children’s welfare and prevent concerns from escalating.

All staff have a responsibility to provide a safe environment in which children can learn.  All staff should be prepared to identify children who may benefit from Early Help. Early Help means providing support as soon as a problem emerges at any point in a child’s life.

Our school believes that all Staff and Volunteers should provide a caring, positive, safe and stimulating environment that promotes the social, physical and moral development of every child.   We are fully committed to ensuring that consistent, effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support families, children and staff at our school.

At our school, the safety and well-being of our pupils are our highest priorities. We operate a culture of vigilance where all staff are trained to identify and act upon safeguarding concerns. Child Protection and Safeguarding are taken very seriously at Royal Park Primary Academy. All procedures and expectations are outlined in our child protection policy which you can find in our policy section under Our School. 

Key Safeguarding Definitions

To ensure our community remains safe, we educate our stakeholders on these critical terms:

• Prevent Duty: We have a statutory duty to prevent children from being drawn into radicalisation and terrorism. We build pupils' resilience to extremist narratives by promoting fundamental British values.

• FGM (Female Genital Mutilation): We maintain a zero-tolerance policy toward FGM. It is a violent form of abuse and a criminal offense. Staff are trained to recognise high-risk periods (such as long school holidays) and follow mandatory reporting duties.

• CCE (Criminal Exploitation): This involves gangs and individuals exploiting children to facilitate crime, such as "County Lines" drug trafficking. We work to identify children who may be targeted due to vulnerability or social isolation.

• Abuse: We recognise that abuse takes many forms—physical, emotional, sexual, and neglect. We are committed to early identification and intervention.

Advanced Safeguarding Concepts

Our staff training covers complex safeguarding themes to ensure no child falls through the gaps.

What is Digital Safety & Whistleblowing?

In the modern age, safeguarding extends beyond the school gates:

• Digital Safeguarding: We actively monitor and educate our students on the risks of cyberbullying, grooming, and inappropriate content online.

• Whistleblowing: We foster an environment where staff and students feel safe to report "malpractice" or concerns about the conduct of adults within the school.

Staff, Visitors and Volunteers

All of our volunteers have taken part in a risk assessment interview with a member of the DSL team and are asked to provide ID and references. Volunteers undertake a DBS check as part of our safeguarding procedures.