Safeguarding Statement

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.

At Preston School, we do our utmost to ensure that all our students are safe on the school site, at home, on line and in the wider community. All of our staff at Preston have a duty of care to keep young people safe and secure and to promote their personal safety.

Staff at our school endeavuor to ensure that our students can develop into confident and independent young people through ensuring that we provide them with the safe and secure learning environment that they need in order to thrive.

It is the school’s responsibility and we have the right to take reasonable action to ensure the welfare and safety of its students and stakeholders. At Preston School, every student has a voice and will be listened to and taken seriously when they speak. If a member of staff has cause to be concerned that a child may be subject to ill treatment, neglect or any other form of abuse, the school will follow child protection procedures and inform Children’s Services of its concern. On rare occasions, we may have a concern about a student and this may mean that we have to consult with external agencies even before we contact you. We follow the Somerset Safeguarding guidance and work within their framework and good practice guidelines. We have a Child Protection and Safer Recruitment Policy to which we strictly adhere. These policies are available if requested.

We work in partnership with parents and external agencies to ensure that the students achieve their full potential and make a positive contribution to both their learning and wider community.
The safeguarding of our students is at the forefront of everything we do and we ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to protect our young people. All members if staff across the site, whether they are teachers, Teaching Assistants or Associate members of staff receive regular training in accordance with the guidelines from Somerset Local Safeguarding Children Board. All staff members are issued with Safeguarding information through our Intranet, which provides them with vital information at their fingertips as to what to do when they have concerns about a child.

In addition, we have a commitment to keeping our students safe whilst on-line. The students at Preston School receive information on keeping safe and safe internet usage through assemblies, ICT lessons and Academic Mentor lessons. Advice and guidance on how to keep children safe on-line can be found in the Safeguarding area of our web site and if you follow us on Twitter, we will post regular advice & up-dates from organisations such as:

CEOP & ThinkuKnow
Childline
NSPCC
Young Minds
Avon & Somerset Constabulary
NHS

Safeguarding Policy

Preston School’s policy on Safeguarding is available by clicking this link here.

Designated Staff and staff responsible for Safeguarding

Our Governors have ultimate responsibility for Safeguarding issues. There is a Safeguarding team who leads on Safeguarding issues. There are designated lead staff who monitor the effectiveness of the policy and, where necessary, liaise with the local authority when significant safeguarding concerns arise. The team is clear about their role and have sufficient time and receive relevant support, and training, which includes close contact with outside agencies including Children’s Services, the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board and relevant health care organisations.

If you have a concern that a child is being harmed, is at risk of harm, or you receive a disclosure (intentionally or unintentionally) you must contact one of the designated safeguarding leads as quickly as possible.

The Safeguarding Team members are as follows:

Mr T Filali – Designated Safeguarding & Prevent Lead
Mrs K Banbury – Designated Safeguarding Officer
Mr J Hinks – Designated Safeguarding Deputy
Mrs M Noone – PFSA & Pupil Premium Support Officer

Students can report an issue by speaking to a member of the Safeguarding Team and we will ensure that there is always a member of this team on site throughout each school day. However, a student can raise a concern with any member of staff within the school. 

Disclosure & Barring Checks

Preston School meets statutory requirements in relation to Disclosure & Barring Service – all staff and volunteers who work with the school who meet the ‘regulated activity test’ (Freedoms Act 2012) are required to undergo an enhanced DBS check prior to employment.

Parent and Family Support Advisors

Parent and Family Support Advisors (PFSAs) work with school-aged children and their families that require additional support. PFSAs work to enable high-quality support for children/young people and families at the earliest possible stage. PFSAs work closely and collaboratively with schools, families and other support services in order to improve attendance, engagement and outcomes for children. The needs of the child/young person or family form the basis of all work completed. Where there is a need for support from other services, PFSAs can act as Lead Professional. PFSAs are only able to engage in work with families with their informed consent and agreement.

Support is based on the needs the child/young person or family have at the time. Support plans are reviewed regularly to ensure needs continue to be met and that progress is made. They support parents with some of the everyday problems that they might be having with their children so that the children are happy to attend school and engage in their learning. The focus of a PFSA is to empower families to address various challenges and reduce problems and risks in their lives. PFSAs support parents with things like behaviour, attendance and health and can signpost families to more specialist support if it is needed. They are very good at getting families through tricky times and helping them to get things back on track.

PFSAs also offer support through a parenting programme - Tuning into Teens:

To engage with parents/carers and families to provide early intervention, focused family support and guidance to increase engagement with the school and improve learning outcomes for pupils
Provide advice and guidance to parents/carers to reinforce their self esteem and ability to provide good parenting
To give targeted individual support on practical childcare and parenting skills, including meeting the emotional needs of children, consistent discipline, healthy eating and attendance
Deliver an accredited parenting program, Tuning into Teens
To work with parents/carers to identify why children are not achieving good attendance and assist in the implementation of measure to address this
To work with appropriate school staff to develop action plans and undertake individual case work with families to support them in addressing issues which might be impacting on their child’s learning
Promoting parental partnership and involvement in children’s learning and the life of the school
To provide advice and signposting to enable families to access universal and targeted services including financial hardship, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, mental health and wellbeing, emotional support, drugs and alcohol, child exploitation, support for LGBTQ+, behaviour, racial awareness support and education, support for families affected by imprisonment, healthier lifestyles, sexual health services, eating disorders and much more
To identify and break down barriers to parental involvement and proactively reach out to parents
To liaise with other agencies supporting families and assist with referrals as appropriate

PFSA Contact details:

Mrs M Noone

Mandy.Noone@prestonschool.co.uk

Tel: 01935 471131 Ext. 223

Mob: 07825 182209