Safeguarding

Our schools are committed to safeguarding and promoting the physical and mental welfare of every child entrusted to our care. We pride ourselves on delivering a whole-school preventative approach to managing safeguarding concerns and ensuring that the wellbeing of pupils is at the forefront of all actions taken.

Safeguarding policy

All our schools have a Child Safeguarding Policy, which includes extensive information about how we protect children, what signs might indicate that a child is at risk, and our responsibilities if we have any concerns about the safety or welfare of a child. It also outlines our legal responsibilities, both as institutions and as individual members of staff. The policy is posted on every school’s website.

Safeguarding training

At the beginning of every academic year, we will ask you to complete safeguarding training. This will sometimes inform you of updates to our Child Safeguarding Policy, reflecting any changes to the Department for Education’s “Keeping Children Safe in Education” (KCSIE) guidance.

When you first join Outwood, and then at least once every three years, you must complete a longer safeguarding course, usually delivered online.

You can download our guidance on safer working practices:

 Safer working practices

What to do if you have concerns

Our policy contains a lot of information. However, the most important thing is knowing what to do if you’re worried about a child.

If you are concerned a child is being abused or a child tells you something, then you should report this immediately to the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) in your school. Do not delay. You can report your concern on CPOMS, although if it is serious, you should speak to the DSL immediately.

• If you are concerned about the actions of a professional who works with children, either employed by us or a visitor, you must report this to your Principal.
• If you have concerns about the actions of your Principal or an executive leader, you must report these to their line manager.

Safer recruitment

We follow safer recruitment practices to help safeguard the children we are responsible for.

During recruitment, we asked you safeguarding-related questions and explained the checks involved. These include:

• Checking your identity
• Completing Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks
• Taking references
• Undertaking an internet search on your name

This information is stored securely and confidentially on your school’s single central record (SCR).