Safeguarding

Child Protection & Safeguarding

The Westwood Academy recognises the responsibility it has under Section 175 of the Education Act 2002 to have arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Through our day-to-day contact with pupils and direct work with families, staff at the school have a crucial role to play in noticing indicators of possible abuse or neglect and referring them to the appropriate agency.

The Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy sets out how the school’s Interim Advisory Board discharges its statutory responsibilities relating to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children who are pupils at the school. The Policy applies to all staff and volunteers working in the school.

"Under the Education Act 2002 (Section 175), schools must make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children". Parents and carers should know that the law (Children Act 1989) requires all school staff to pass on information which gives rise to a concern about a child’s welfare, including risk from neglect, physical, emotional or sexual abuse. The staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with the parent or carer and, where possible, seek their consent to a referral to Coventry’s Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH). This will only be done where such discussion will not place the child at increased risk of significant harm. Schools will seek advice from MASH when they have reasonable cause to suspect a child may be suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. 

Occasionally concerns are passed on which are later shown to be unfounded. Parents and carers will appreciate that the designated person for child protection was carrying out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acting in the best interests of all children.

WHAT IS THE PREVENT STRATEGY?

Prevent is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorist or extremist causes. The Prevent strategy covers all types of terrorism and extremism, including the extreme right wing, violent groups and other causes.

HOW DOES THE PREVENT STRATEGY APPLY TO SCHOOLS?

From July 2015 all schools (as well as other organisations) have a duty to safeguard young people from radicalisation and extremism. This means we have a responsibility to protect young people from extremist and violent views the same way we protect them from drugs or gang violence.

Importantly, we can provide a safe place for pupils to discuss these issues so they better understand how to protect themselves.

KEY TERMS

Extremism – vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values such as democracy, the rule of law and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs

Ideology – a set of beliefs

Terrorism – a violent action against people or property, designed to create fear and advance a political, religious or ideological cause

Radicalisation – the process by which a person comes to support extremism and terrorism

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN IN PRACTICE?

Many of the things we already do in school to help young people become positive, happy members of society also contribute to the Prevent strategy.

These include:

• Exploring other cultures and religions and promoting diversity
• Challenging prejudices and racist comments
• Developing critical thinking skills and a strong, positive self-identity
• Promoting the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils, as well as British values such as democracy

We will also protect young people from the risk of radicalisation, for example by using filters on the internet to make sure they can’t access extremist and terrorist material, or by vetting visitors who come into school to work with pupils.

HOW DOES PREVENT RELATE TO BRITISH VALUES?

Schools have been required to promote British values since 2014, and this will continue to be part of our response to the Prevent strategy. 

British values include:

• Democracy
• The rule of law
• Individual liberty
• Mutual respect
• Tolerance of different faiths and beliefs

Please see our Online Safety Page

Child sexual exploitation is a form of child sexual abuse. It occurs where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, manipulate or deceive a child or young person under the age of 18 into sexual activity in exchange for something the victim needs or wants, and/or for the financial advantage or increased status of the perpetrator or facilitator. The victim may have been sexually exploited even if the sexual activity appears consensual. Child sexual exploitation does not always involve physical contact; it can also occur through the use of technology. Like all forms of child sex abuse, child sexual exploitation:

• can affect any child or young person (male or female) under the age of 18 years, including 16 and 17 year olds who can legally consent to have sex;
• can still be abuse even if the sexual activity appears consensual;
• can include both contact (penetrative and non-penetrative acts) and noncontact sexual activity;
• can take place in person or via technology, or a combination of both;
• can involve force and/or enticement-based methods of compliance and may, or may not, be accompanied by violence or threats of violence;
• may occur without the child or young person’s immediate knowledge (e.g. through others copying videos or images they have created and posted on
• social media);
• can be perpetrated by individuals or groups, males or females, and children or adults. The abuse can be a one-off occurrence or a series of incidents over time, and range from opportunistic to complex organised abuse; an
• is typified by some form of power imbalance in favour of those perpetrating the abuse. Whilst age may be the most obvious, this power imbalance can also be due to a range of other factors including gender, sexual identity, cognitive ability, physical strength, status, and access to economic or other resources.

Indicators of Risk;

Some of the following signs may be indicators of child sexual exploitation:

• children who appear with unexplained gifts or new possessions;
• children who associate with other young people involved in exploitation;
• children who have older boyfriends or girlfriends;
• children who suffer from sexually transmitted infections or become pregnant;
• children who suffer from changes in emotional well-being;
• children who misuse drugs and alcohol;
• children who go missing for periods of time or regularly come home late; and
• children who regularly miss school or education or do not take part in education.

Child criminal exploitation: county lines

Criminal exploitation of children is a geographically widespread form of harm that is a typical feature of county lines criminal activity, drug networks or gangs groom and exploit children and young people to carry drugs and money from urban areas to suburban and rural areas, market and seaside towns.

Key to identifying potential involvement in county lines are; missing episodes, when the victim may have been trafficked for the purpose of transporting drugs

Like other forms of abuse and exploitation, county lines exploitation:

• can affect any child or young person (male or female) under the age of 18 years;
• can affect any vulnerable adult over the age of 18 years;
• can still be exploitation even if the activity appears consensual;
• can involve force and/or enticement-based methods of compliance and is often accompanied by violence or threats of violence;
• can be perpetrated by individuals or groups, males or females, and young people or adults; and is typified by some form of power imbalance in favour of those perpetrating the exploitation. Whilst age may be the most obvious, this power imbalance can also be due to a range of other factors including gender, cognitive ability, physical strength, status, and access to economic or other resources.

childline

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