Safeguarding

The Safeguarding Team is led By Chris Connor – Deputy Headteacher and Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) C.Connor@meadowparkschool.com

The School has two Senior Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads (DDSLs)– Paul Rule (Child Protection Officer – P.Rule@meadowparkschool.com) and Catherine Harding (Inclusion Manager- C.Harding@meadowparkschool.com) as well as the Deputy Heads of House who lead on safeguarding across the school Day-to-Day.

The Heads of House, Senior Leadership Team, and Physical and Mental Health Lead for the School have also received enhanced Safeguarding training.

This is to ensure our students have access to staff who have the ability and knowledge to respond effectively and appropriately to any concerns that they may share across the school.

The Safeguarding Leads will:

• Available during term time for staff to discuss safeguarding concerns;
• Manage referrals
  • Where there are suspected cases of abuse and neglect to the Local Authority children’s social care;
  • To the Channel program where there is a radicalisation concern;
  • To the Disclosure and Barring Service where a staff member is dismissed for abusing children;
  • To the police where a crime may have been committed.
• Be a source of support, advice, and expertise to all staff and the Headteacher;
• Ensure safeguarding records are clear and comprehensive and stored securely;
• Raise awareness of contextual safeguarding concerns and updates to safeguarding procedures;
• Understand the views of the children and encourage a culture of listening and understanding of children amongst all staff.
• Work with colleagues within the Finham Park MAT to ensure best practice is shared to improve outcomes for our students.

Safeguarding is proactive and applies to ALL children.

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is EVERYONE’S responsibility.

Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families has a role to play. In order to fulfill this responsibility effectively, all practitioners should make sure their approach is child-centered. This means that they should consider, at all times, what is in the best interests of the child.

Safeguarding covers all aspects of keeping children safe and we promote the welfare of children by:

• Protecting children from maltreatment;
• Preventing impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development;
• Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care;
• Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

As a school, there are set government guidelines that we have to adhere to regarding the safeguarding of our children. Some of these are listed below:

• Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCIE 2024)
• Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023)
• Keeping Children Safe, Helping Families Thrive (2024)

The school will ensure that concerns and direct disclosures regarding Abuse are taken seriously and are reported to partner agencies as appropriate:

Abuse is a form of maltreatment of a child. Somebody may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting harm, or by failing to act to prevent harm. Children may be abused in a family or in an institutional or community setting by those known to them or, more rarely, by others (e.g. via the Internet). They may be abused by an adult or adults, or another child or children. All children are at risk of being abused. However, some children (those with SEN, disabilities and LGBTQ+) are more vulnerable. We must take extra care to ensure those children are safe.

Child Protection is reactive and refers to the procedures and support given to those children and young people who have experienced abuse in their lives.

All staff at Meadow Park School undertake regular safeguarding training, led by the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) Chris Connor and (DDSL) Paul Rule.

Lanyards – As part of our safeguarding procedures, all staff are required to wear their staff lanyards at all times.

Visitors with an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check will wear a YELLOW Lanyard at all times.

Visitors without an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check will wear a RED Lanyard at all times and MUST be escorted by a member of staff at all times.

All visitors are required to sign in and out at the main school reception and wear their visitor lanyards at all times.

What to do if you have concerns?

If you have any concerns or are worried about your child’s or anybody else’s safety or well-being you can contact any of the members of staff listed below:

If you have a safeguarding concern about a member of staff, then this must be reported to the Headteacher:  Mrs Bernadette Pettman B.Pettman@meadowparkschool.com

If you have a safeguarding concern about the Headteacher, then this must be reported to the Chair of Governors: David Kershaw D.Kershaw@meadowparkschool.com

Safeguarding Concerns beyond this can be shared with:

Rebecca Diaz, FPMAT Safeguarding & Inclusion Lead: r.diaz@finhamparkmat.co.uk

Pauline Parkes, Trustee for Safeguarding: parkespe@gmail.com

Coventry LADOs (Rebecca Habberley & Nina Farrimond): LADO@Coventry.gov.uk

Operation Encompass is a Police initiative that has been set up to help schools provide support to children who have been present at incidents of domestic abuse.

Meadow Park School takes part in this operation with the West Midlands Police.

One of the principles of Operation Encompass is that all incidents of Domestic abuse are shared with schools, that the DSL/ DDSL will be informed of an incident having taken place to allow for support to be provided for that child(s) by their key adult/ pastoral staff/ Deputy Head of House.

For more information on Operation Encompass please click here

The Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) brings key professionals together to facilitate early, better-quality information sharing, analysis, and decision-making, to safeguard vulnerable Children and young people more effectively.

Staff from across Children’s Services; Health, Police, Education, and Probation are based within the MASH team at any one time and based within Broadgate House in Coventry City Centre.

The MASH provides timely access to a range of partner agency information which builds a picture and enables us to understand the level of risk.

Information from different agencies is collated within the MASH and used to decide what action to take. As a result, agencies are able to act quickly in coordinated and consistent ways to ensure children are kept safe from harm.

For those concerns that meet the threshold for Children’s Services Involvement, Representatives from the different agencies in the MASH and outside collate information from their respective sources to build a picture of the circumstances of the case and the associated risks to the child.

As a result, better decisions are made about what action to take and support will be targeted in the most urgent cases. Feedback is also given to professionals reporting concerns.

How do I contact someone if I am concerned about a child or young person?

If you wish to report a matter to the police, call 101 and state your concerns.
If you wish to report an emergency matter always dial 999.
Social worker (out of office hours): 024 7683 2222.

If there is no immediate danger or you need advice or information, you should call the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) on 024 7678 8555.

Advice and information

If you want to discuss your concerns or need advice e.g. if you are not sure whether your concerns are justified, you would like more information about issues like confidentiality or you would like to know what happens next (after you have reported your concerns), do one of the following:

• CallChildline on 0800 1111
• Call the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000
• CheckCoventry CSCP procedures
• COVENTRY MASH: https://www.coventry.gov.uk/childrens-social-care/coventrys-multi-agency-safeguarding-hub-mash/2

Meadow Park School works within Coventry City’s Early Help Framework – providing the RIGHT HELP at the RIGHT Time for Families within Coventry.

Underpinning this is the idea that families that are able to access support early on may then avoid requiring support from Children’s services under Child in Need or Child Protection Plans.

Everyone needs help sometimes! If you feel that you and your family need some additional support and would like to find out more about an Early Help Assessment – please contact your child’s Deputy Head of House to discuss further:

• Fulmen – L.Webster@Meadowparkschool.com
• Orbis – K.McDougall@meadowparkschool.com
• Lunar – A.Rehman@Meadowparkschool.com
• Sol – K.Burbidge@Meadowparkschool.com

COVENTRY FAMILY HUBS – Are there to HELP!

You can receive further support and guidance out of school hours and assistance with things like Debt Management, Referrals for Foodbanks, Charity Grant Applications, and More at your Local Family Hub: Find your nearest one by visiting: https://www.coventry.gov.uk/family-hubs or calling 0800 887 0545,

RESOURCES FOR FAMILIES:

• Food Bank Information
• List of Coventry Social Supermarkets
• Cost of Living Advice
• List of Contacts for Support Services
• Coventry Family Hubs List

The Prevent Duty relates to concerns surrounding individuals that may be vulnerable or susceptible to radicalisation into violent extremism. Meadow Park School is committed to ensuring any concerns for an individual are shared to enable appropriate safety planning and acquisition of support made for further information on the guidance please see our school’s Safeguarding Policy or  visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-guidance

For Support around Radicalisation – information can be found here:

• Educate Against Hate: https://www.educateagainsthate.com/
• Act Early: https://actearly.uk/
• NSPCC: https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/safeguarding-child-protection/radicalisation
• West Midlands Police: https://www.westmidlands.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/t/prevent/prevent/

For Help and Support in an Emergency – Please contact the Police on 999 or non-immediate concerns can be shared with them via 101 or via the website.

Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)

Coventry operates one central number (MASH) for all issues relating to Children’s Services –   Social Care and Early Help.  – 02476 788 555

You can call MASH to make a referral or to ask for advice in relation to a safeguarding concern.  Where you are calling for advice only, please be aware that this would then, not be logged.

In all circumstances, the provider is responsible for keeping records in relation to their concerns.

If there is no immediate danger, a referral to Children’s Service (Social Care) should be made using the  Online Multi-agency Referral Form (MARF)

Social Worker – Out of hours:  Your contact details will be taken & a Social Worker will call you back. 024 7683 2222

Support for Students:

• Free counseling support: https://Kooth.com
• NHS Mental Health Crisis service: call 0300 200 0011 free 24/7 service
• Young Minds: 24/7 Crisis Support: Free Text 85258 or https://youngminds.org.uk
• RISE: Crisis support for children and young people: Call 08081 966798 (select option 2)
• Papyrus: Confidential support and advice for young people struggling with thoughts of suicide: Call 0800 068 4141 or text 07860 039967
• Childline: Free telephone counseling support for young people for any issue: Call free on 0800 1111or visit https://www.childline.org.uk/
• Samaritans: 24-hour confidential emotional support and guidance: Call free on 116 123
• Coventry Young Person’s service: https://cid.coventry.gov.uk/kb5/coventry/directory/service.page?id=z1vrsmpNRsU
• Drug and Alcohol Advice: https://www.talktofrank.com/

For Parents & Carers:

• • Change Grow Live: Advice and support for Drugs/ Alcohol, Children’s Rights, housing, Mental Health, and Domestic Abuse: https://www.changegrowlive.org/
  • Domestic Abuse: https://www.coventryhaven.co.uk/
  • Safe to Talk: https://www.safetotalk.org.uk/
  • Citizen’s Advice: https://www.coventrycitizensadvice.org.uk/
  • Housing: https://www.coventry.gov.uk/homefinder
  • https://parents.actionforchildren.org.uk/

Online Safety Advice & Resources:

• https://www.ceopeducation.co.uk/parents/
• https://saferinternet.org.uk/
• childline.org.uk
• https://www.childnet.com/
• https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/online-safety

Reporting a concern: if you would like to report an issue regarding sexual harassment, harmful sexual behaviour, Sexual exploitation or Criminal Exploitation please use the email safeguarding@meadowparkschool.com

Someone within the safeguarding team will get in touch with you to discuss your concerns in more detail.

We want our students to understand the importance of CONSENT and respecting a person’s body:

Disrespect Nobody
There’s a person attached to everybody, respect both.
Healthy relationships are all about respecting each other. You should feel loved, safe, and free to be yourself. Relationships can be confusing, and it can be difficult to understand what is and isn’t normal behaviour.

However disrespectful and unacceptable behaviour can come in many forms. It isn’t limited to just physical behaviour; it can also go way beyond that. For example, it’s not OK for someone to try and pressure you into sending a nude pic, or to expect the same things to happen that they’ve seen in a porn film. If someone makes you do something you don’t want to, makes you feel scared, or intimidated, or tries controlling you, it’s not acceptable and is never OK.

Please visit the website https://www.disrespectnobody.co.uk for more information, speak to someone in school or alternatively contact one of the following agencies for support and advice – Obviously if you are in immediate danger you should call 999.

Respect phone line
Phone: 0808 802 4040 (Freephone)
Opening Times: 09:00 – 17:00 Monday – Friday
Online: www.respectphoneline.org.uk (webchat available), or email info@respectphoneline.org.uk