Safeguarding

The Safeguarding Team

  Designated Safeguarding Lead                         

  Senior Assistant Principal                                                       

  Mrs Gates

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

Miss Robinson 

     Safeguarding Values & Ethos                                                                                                                                                           

At Thomas Middlecott Academy we aim for every child to feel safe and cared for at all times:

We recognise that:

The welfare of the child is paramount.

All children, regardless of age, gender, disability, religious beliefs, racial heritage, identity, sexual orientation have the right to equal protection for all types of abuse and harm.

Working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people's welfare. 

We work under the Department for Education guidance (Keeping Children Safe in Education-statutory guidance for schools and colleges) and the academy Safeguarding Policy. 

Safeguarding Training

 All staff in the Academy undergo regular safeguarding and child protection training, including online safety.  All staff undergo yearly refresher training in safeguarding, online, Prevent Duty and Child Protection and are provided with regular updates and weekly safeguarding briefing on students and local safeguarding context. 

All staff are trained with how to respond to a disclosure made by a child and how to direct to the designated safeguarding and child protection lead.

Students attend regular safeguarding assemblies in their year group.  To raise awareness with specific safeguarding concerns, the academy welcomes a regular support from Lincolnshire Stay Safe Partnership, PCSO, Fire Service, Horizon and guest speakers to further raise awareness in helping students keep themselves safe. 

Face to face:  If you are a student at our academy, you can report your concern to any member of staff, such as your form tutor, your pastoral year manager or trusted adult.  They will then report this to the safeguarding team on your behalf.  If you would prefer to report it directly to the safeguarding team, you can do so directly at the Safeguarding Office. You can speak to Mrs Gates- Designated Safeguarding Lead or Miss Robinson- Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead. 

If you are a parent, carer or concerned member of the public, you can call our academy reception on 01205722336 and ask to speak to the DSL or Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead.  

By email.  If you are a student at our school, you can report a worry or a concern directly to the safeguarding and pastoral team at worry@thomasmiddlecott.co.uk  Your email will be treated with confidentiality and we will discuss your concern with you either via email or face to face.  

If you are a parent, carer or concerned member of the public, you can report a worry or concern directly to the safeguarding team at confide@thomasmiddlecott.co.uk

Out of hours: In school holidays and weekends, if you have a concern that a child or young person is at risk of neglect, abuse or cruelty, you should call Lincolnshire Children's Services on 01522 782111 or 999 if the child is at risk of immediate harm. 

Operation Encompass

Like many schools in Lincolnshire, we are an Operation Encompass School.  We work with Lincolnshire Police Operation Encompass team to support children with immediate emotional support in the event of witnessing domestic abuse.  Where an incident of domestic abuse is reported to the Police, Operation Encompass will notify secondary and primary schools where the child(ren) attend so that emotional support can be given directly to the child by the Key Adult the following school day after the incident is reported.  

Operation Encompass Key Adult: Mrs Gates

oe parents poster.pdf

Online safety

 Guidance from National Online Safety:

Report any abusive or inappropriate online behaviour to a member of staff. 

Make sure passwords and logins are kept private and secure.  Don't use the same password.  Don't give other people access to your devices or accounts.  

Adhere to the school's monitoring and filtering policy.  Don't search for inappropriate content. 

Respect our computer devices in school.  Any damage will be charged to parents/carers. 

We do not allow mobile phones in school.

Guidance from webwise.com

Sometimes people are mean online and spoil our fun.  It can make us sad, unhappy and anxious to go online.  Here are some tips to help you manage it. 

• Don't respond: Try not to reply, no matter what they say.  It gives them an excuse to carry on if you get involved. 
• Take a screenshot: Save a copy to show someone what is happening and keep it as evidence.  You might have to report it to the police, so keeping a screenshot is a smart idea. 
• Report: Tell the app or the game so they can do something about it.  Most apps like TikTok, Facebook and Snapchat have report abuse function.  Report it to your safeguarding lead at school.  Tell your parents.  They can help you secure your settings and block anyone you don't want to communicate with. 
• Block: Block them so they can't contact you or play with you online.  If they can't reach you, they can't hurt you. 
• Talk: Talk to someone about what is happening online.  If it is making you feel uncomfortable or upset, speak out.  It might be happening to other people, too. Talking to someone will make you feel better and most people have experienced online abuse at some point, and therefore will able to support you. 
• Don't put up with online abuse:  no one should feel uncomfortable online.  Social media is a great way to communicate with your friends after school, but you need to know the dangers to enjoy it safely. 
• Avoid large group chats: group chats with a small number of your close friends can be a great way to keep in touch, but avoid the group chats that have a large number of people that can quickly spiral out of control.  These chats are likely to be negative, toxic and target people.  Sometimes, group chats can spiral quickly in to bullying behaviours and get out of control.  It's important that you don't get involved or get sucked in to negativity.  Remember, online bullying is illegal and the police can be involved.