The safeguarding and welfare of our pupils is our priority, and we recognise that all staff, including temporary staff, volunteers and Governors, have a full and active part to play in protecting our pupils from harm. We ensure that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities in respect of safeguarding and is provided with the appropriate training to recognise, identify and respond to signs of abuse, neglect and other safeguarding concerns that we may have about pupils. Necessary steps are taken to prevent the employment of unsuitable individuals.

Appropriate action is always taken where there is an incident, or there are concerns of abuse. Support will always be provided to the individual(s) who raise or disclose a concern. Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies when there are concerns about a pupil. We will ensure that concerns about our pupils are discussed with their parents or carers first unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the pupil’s welfare. Confidential, detailed and accurate records of all safeguarding concerns are maintained and securely stored.

We also support the welfare and safety of all pupils by ensuring that Child Protection is included in the curriculum to help children stay safe, recognise when they do not feel safe and identify to whom they can talk if they have concerns.  

We understand the crucial role that a school can play in identifying a safeguarding problem for a child and their family as it emerges and that, by putting in place Early Help at this stage, we can often prevent problems from escalating into something more serious. We have invested heavily in our Early Help provision as a school and we can offer dedicated one-to-one support from a member of our experienced and trained Pastoral Leaders as well as with our fully qualified Nurses, School Counsellor, or Relaxation Therapist. In addition, we can support families by organising for other Early Help specialists to come into school to work with a pupil during the school day. Such external specialists may already be working with a family, for example, a Bereavement Counsellor, or can be a result of an Early Help referral that the school can make for a family through Worcestershire Children First.

We ensure safeguarding practice at RGS Dodderhill reflects our statutory responsibilities, Government guidance and complies with best practices. For more details, please refer to our Safeguarding Children Policy, which can be found in our Policies section and click here to read the Department of Education’s Keeping Children Safe In Education.