Safeguarding

Our school recognises our moral and statutory responsibilities to safeguard and promote the welfare of our students. We endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming culture environment where all young people and staff are respected and valued. We will be alert to the signs of abuse and neglect and will follow our procedures to ensure that young people receive effective support protection and justice.

We believe that all those who come into contact with children and families in their everyday work, including practitioners who do not have a specific role in relation to child protection, have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

  • Prior to employment, all staff (paid or voluntary) are DBS checked for their suitability to work with children and young people.
  • Once the member of staff joins our school, they are given school Safeguarding Training by one of our Child Protection Team. This training includes an overview of our responsibilities, signs and symptoms as well as advice and guidance about what to do in the event of a concern.
  • Annually, staff are also required to complete an online-targeted safeguarding course
  • Other visitors to the school are expected to sign in at reception and to read our Safeguarding Leaflet (see below) which is given to them on arrival. They are then supervised whilst on site.

 The Safeguarding Team 

  • Designated Safeguarding Lead -  Mrs Louise Rea-Palmer,  Assistant Headteacher
  • Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead - Mrs Elizabeth McClatchie, Senior Pastoral Leader
  • Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead - Mr Matt Whiddett, Pupil Premium Co-ordinator
  • Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead - Mrs Alyson Martin, Student Support Manager
  • Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead - Mrs Louise Butler - Safeguarding Officer
  • Member of the Governing Body responsible for Safeguarding - Mrs Sarah Pemberton Who to talk to poster Sept23 24
Also supporting the Safeguarding Team are:

If you have a concern about a Safeguarding issue please contact Mrs Rea-Palmer in the first instance on 01344 772658.

Out-of-School Hours and School Holidays:
All urgent concerns relating to children should be reported to the Local Authority:

  • Bracknell Forest Council  01344 352005
    Wokingham Borough Council  0118 908 8002

We want to ensure that our value of SAFE is shown through all areas of our school life. Safeguarding is not just about protecting young people from deliberate harm but includes educating them with a curriculum to allow them to understand, discuss and

Ready Respect Safe Positive logo transparent background

 reflect in a safe environment about many issues that could affect them, including: 

Pupil Health & Safety Drug and substance misuse
Bullying and racist abuse Vaping
Cyber safety / Internet safety School security
Harassment and discrimination Promoting attendance
Children’s criminal and sexual exploitation Minimising exclusions
Forced marriage and FGM Issues specific to the local area
Mental Health, wellbeing and self-harm Hearing the child’s voice – school council, mentoring, peer counselling, student surveys
Meeting the needs of pupils with medical conditions PREVENT and extremism

Child Protection refers to measures that are undertaken to protect specific children who are at risk of suffering significant harm, which could be physical, sexual, emotional abuse or neglect. Knowing the signs of abuse and how to report them is a vital part of safeguarding students.

Should you have any questions or wish to discuss anything further regarding safeguarding and child protection at Edgbarrow, please do not hesitate to contact us. We have lots of people who are here to listen and for you to report to:Imabi poster

We also have non-contact ways to report:

All Students in Key Stage 4 and Keys Stage 5 are invited to use the Help@Edgbarrow Teenage Drop-in Centre.

The Centre is a proactive response to the different needs of teenagers today. The facility is for students in the upper years of the school and runs every Friday in the scout hut during the lunch break.

It is an inter-agency approach to addressing aspects of young people’s physical, emotional, mental and sexual health needs. A team of local professionals, including a school nurse, youth worker and family planning nurse will staff the centre.

Desired Outcomes:

  • Provision of a service relevant to the needs of young people.

  • Provision of accurate information on a range of health issues in an accessible, supportive and confidential environment.

  • Increased awareness by young people of other relevant local services and how to access them.

  • Sustained collaboration between partnership agencies (Education, Youth Service, General Practice, Sexual Health).

Benefits it would deliver:

  • Young people will be able to easily access information, advice and support on a range of health issues including drugs, alcohol, bullying, skin care, weight, and stress management.

  • Where appropriate young people will be able to access the provision of contraceptives, pregnancy testing and sexual health information. Select link to view further details of this service.

  • A safe and confidential environment in which young people feel comfortable and able to discuss their needs.

Confidentiality
Young people who visit the “Drop-In” will be dealt with in complete confidentiality, as in any doctor’s surgery. However, the professions will encourage young people to talk to their parents/carers in order to open lines of communication. Any students who appear to be “in danger” or “at risk” will be referred to the appropriate agency as with any child protection/safeguarding concern.

For more information please follow the link https://www.safesexberkshire.com/

 

Information for Parents/Carers 

ONLINE SAFETY
Edgbarrow wants to ensure online learning is safe, fun and engaging
for the students in our community.

Information for Students 

CLT P1 - Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy

Safeguarding in School

Guide to PREVENT

Educate Against Hate

Fundamental British Values

OK Rehab

Safe4me - Anti-social behaviour

Private Fostering - Bracknell Forest Council

We use an industry-standard firewall to ensure our web filtering is appropriate and this is annually checked using Friendly Wifi. If you have any concerns, please contact the school.

Bracknell Forest has asked us to raise awareness of the Omegle App.
Omegle is one of the many “talk to stranger” websites scattered around the web. It’s also one of the biggest. It has been making a resurgence since the pandemic hit. Teenagers are rediscovering the platform which simply advertises itself as “Talk to a stranger”
Here’s how Omegle works:
You enter a virtual queue, where you wait for the site to connect you to a random user. It will then create a chatroom just for you and the stranger, where you can text chat, video chat, or both. It doesn’t always have to be random, though. You can list topics that interest you — like video games, music, or cars — and it will connect you to users with similar interests
The mere fact that Omegle connects users with strangers raises safeguarding concerns Omegle’s terms of service explicitly state that one must be over 18 years old to use the service. However, Omegle doesn’t collect and verify personal information and therefore doesn’t actually know how old its users are. Please have these conversations with your young people and if you need any further support please speak to us.
https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/news-blogs/what-is-omegle-what-parents-need-to-know/

Safeguarding Policy

Anti-bullying Policy

imabi Inspire App          

Online Safety

Staying Safe