Safeguarding at William Harding

At William Harding, the health, safety and well-being of every child is paramount. We believe that every child has the right to learn in a safe and caring environment. Staff at the school are committed to ensuring each and every child feels listened to and safe. All staff at William Harding School recognise that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility irrespective of the role they undertake or whether their role has direct contact or responsibility for children or not.

We identify children who are suffering or likely to suffer significant harm and take appropriate action with the aim of making sure they are kept safe both at home and in the education setting.

We do this by:

  • Preventing unsuitable people working with pupils through rigorous safer recruitment

  • Ensuring that every stakeholder and all personnel working in or around the school at any time, are fully conversant with safeguarding procedures

  • Promoting safe practice and challenging poor and unsafe practice

  • Identifying instances in which there are grounds for concern about a pupil’s welfare, and initiate or take appropriate action to keep them safe

  • Contribute to effective partnership working between all those involved with providing services for our pupils.

We listen to our pupils and take seriously what they tell us.  All school staff are trained in Child Protection, and pupils are made aware of the adults they can talk to if they have any concerns.  Staff are trained to look out for signs of physical/emotional/sexual harm or neglect and are required to report these to the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL).

All policies are reviewed on an annual basis by the Governing Board, which has responsibility for oversight of school safeguarding and child protection systems.  The Headteacher will report regularly on safeguarding activity and systems in school to them.  The Governing Board will not receive details of individual pupil situations or identifying features of families as part of their oversight responsibility.

Staff, governors and visitors contribute to William Harding School delivery of the safeguarding outcomes to all children, as set out in the most recently released DfE Guidance “Keeping Children Safe in Education”.

Reporting concerns and providing support

At William Harding, we follow and adhere to the Buckinghamshire Safeguarding Children’s Partnership procedures https://www.buckssafeguarding.org.uk/ Sometimes it is necessary for staff to contact the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub to seek advice and to establish the right level of support needed for a family, unless it is deemed that the child is at significant risk of harm this will be done in partnership with families.

On very rare occasions Social Care, whilst undertaking an investigation under S47 of the Children Act 1989, may want to speak to a child without parents’ knowledge.  This would be a decision made in collaboration with partner agencies and would only be done in situations where a child might be at immediate risk.  To gain consent at this point may increase the level of risk to the child or cause evidence of a crime to be lost.

The procedures, which we follow, have been laid down by the Local Safeguarding Children’s Partnership, and the school has adopted a Child Protection Policy in line with this for the safety of all.

Safer recruitment

To promote a safe environment for our pupils, our selection and recruitment policy includes all checks on staff and regular volunteer’s suitability, including Disclosure and Barring Service checks (formerly CRB checks), as recommended by Buckinghamshire Council and in accordance with current legislation. When staff commence their employment, they will complete a Safeguarding Induction which is completed by a member of the Safeguarding Team.

Site safety

William Harding is a secure site, during the day all gates are locked and access to the school is via the main office only. Anyone visiting the school must sign in and out of the premises and then will be issued a lanyard. Staff will challenge anybody on site who does is not wearing a lanyard.  Morning and after school gates are manned by a member of staff for pupils safety and staff are easily identifiable as they wear hi-visability jackets. 

Extremism

There is no place for extremist views of any kind in our school, whether from internal sources – pupils, staff or governors, or external sources – school community, external agencies or individuals. Our pupils see our school as a safe place where they can explore controversial issues safely and where our teachers encourage and facilitate this – we have a duty to ensure this happens. As a school we recognise that extremism and exposure to extremist materials and influences is a safeguarding concern and safeguarding procedures are to be followed.

We encourage the use of external agencies or speakers to enrich the experiences of our pupils, however we ensure that those external agencies, individuals or speakers do not share or promote extremist views. We also ensure organisations who use our premises do not use them for extremist purposes. We do not want groups or individuals to use / let our site where their messages/views are in complete opposition to the school’s values and ethos.

Child on Child abuse

The staff and governors at William Harding School are committed to the prevention, early identification, and appropriate management of child-on-child abuse, both within and beyond the School.

William Harding believes that all pupils have a right to attend school and learn in a safe environment free from harm by both adults and other pupils. We will not tolerate any form of child-on-child abuse and will follow our Behaviour Policy, Safeguarding Policy, Child-on-Child Abuse Policy and Anti-bullying Policy to act on all incidences.

child-on-child abuse includes:

Child-on-child abuse is any form of physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and financial abuse, and coercive control exercised between pupils, and within pupils’ relationships, friendships, and wider peer associations.

child-on-child abuse can take various forms, including (but not limited to):

  • Serious bullying (including cyber-bullying)

    Cyber-bullying can take many forms:

    • Abusive or threatening texts, emails or messages

    • Posting abusive comments on social media sites

    • Sharing humiliating videos or photos of someone else

    • Stealing someone’s online identity

    • Spreading rumours online

    • Trolling – sending someone menacing or upsetting messages through social networks, chatrooms or games

    • Developing hate sites about another person

    • Prank calls or messages

    • Group bullying or exclusion online

    • Anonymous messaging

    • Encouraging a young person to self-harm

    • Pressuring children

  • Pupil sexual exploitation

  • Harmful sexual behaviour and/or prejudice-based violence including, but not limited to, gender-based violence

  • Racial abuse

  • Physical abuse, such as hitting, hair-pulling, shaking, biting or other forms of physical harm

  • Sexual abuse, violence and sexual harassment

  • Abuse related to sexual orientation or identity

  • Sexting (moving and still images)

  • Initiation type violence and rituals

  • Emotional abuse

Safeguarding in the Curriculum

Our curriculum provides a comprehensive approach to safeguarding, wellbeing, and healthy relationships within all year groups. Through age-appropriate teaching, pupils develop the knowledge, skills, and confidence to stay safe, build positive relationships, and seek support when needed.

We cover a wide range of safeguarding content and it is threaded through everything we do including risk assessments for trips and the site, bespoke behaviour support, pastoral and wellbeing support, anti-bullying and behaviour expectations, site safety and personal safety, healthy relationships and evaluating information.

The PSHE curriculum also promotes resilience, safeguarding awareness, emotional literacy, respect for others, and the confidence to access help and support both in and outside school.

Below are examples of the ways we have included safeguarding within our curriculum.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

  • PSHE - Pupils learn about body autonomy, personal safety, privacy, appropriate and inappropriate contact, recognising unsafe situations, and reporting concerns or abuse to trusted adults.

Sexual Exploitation

  • PSHE - Teaching includes recognising grooming behaviours, unsafe relationships, coercion, consent, permission-seeking, online and offline risks, and how to seek help and report concerns.

Online Safety

  • PSHE - Pupils learn how to stay safe online, recognise harmful content and contact, manage online relationships respectfully, keep personal information private, understand age restrictions, and report online abuse, bullying, harassment, or exploitation.

  • Computing – Pupils learn about online safety and online risks as well as how to report concerns

  • Assemblies – Online safety assemblies cover keeping safe and are delivered by peers.

Offline Risks

  • PSHE - The curriculum teaches pupils how to respond safely to unfamiliar adults, recognise unsafe situations, manage peer pressure and conflict, understand personal boundaries, and seek support when they feel unsafe.

  • FLDs – Pupils in all year groups take part in keeping yourself safe FLDs

  • Assemblies – Assemblies include how to stay safe, NSPCC assemblies and who to go to if you are concerned. This is also supported by Peer Mentors and Agents of Change supporting pupils.

Wellbeing and Mental Health

  • PSHE - Pupils learn that mental wellbeing is part of everyday life, how to recognise and talk about emotions, self-care strategies, the importance of exercise, sleep, friendships, and where to seek support for mental health concerns.

  • Science - Maintaining physical health e.g. healthy eating and exercise

  • PE – Pupils are taught the importance of a balanced diet, healthy eating and the benefits of exercise on physical and mental health

  • FLDs – We cover mental health and wellbeing within FLDs, coping with transitions and change in MUSU.

  • Assemblies – Assemblies include wellbeing sessions for pupils as a keys stage and within class covering how to support each other and ways to look after their own mental health

Domestic Abuse

  • PSHE - Through learning about healthy relationships, respect, trust, conflict management, and recognising when relationships feel unsafe or harmful, pupils are taught how to seek help and support from trusted adults and services.

Substance Misuse

  • PSHE - Pupils learn the facts about legal and illegal harmful substances, including smoking, alcohol, and drugs, alongside associated risks to physical and mental health and strategies for making safe choices.

  • Science – Substance misuse including smoking, drugs, alcohol is covered within the science curriculum.

Forced Marriage

  • PSHE - Teaching around healthy and respectful relationships, consent, personal choice, safety, and recognising controlling or unsafe relationships supports pupils in understanding their rights and where to seek help.

Healthy Relationships

  • PSHE - Pupils learn about stable, caring relationships, mutual respect, kindness, trust, consent, communication, managing conflict, and the importance of healthy friendships and family relationships.

Sexual Abuse

  • PSHE - Pupils are taught that their body belongs to them, about consent and boundaries, recognising inappropriate or unsafe behaviour, how to report abuse, and the importance of speaking to trusted adults when worried or unsafe.