The safeguarding and well being of our pupils is our utmost priority. Should you have any concerns about safeguarding, please ask to speak to one of our Designated Safeguarding Leads.
Our Designated Safeguarding Leads are:
Mrs H Sale
Mrs J Gamble
Mrs S Allen
If you have an urgent safeguarding concern and need to speak to a Designated Safeguarding Lead out of school hours or during the school holiday, you can email a DSL on office@highgate.bepschools.org (mark in the subject box DSL). Alternatively, you can call Leicestershire First Response Children’s Duty on 0116 3050005. Please leave a message on our office answer machine as this is monitored.
Operation Encompass
Operation Encompass Letter BEP
We will be working with Leicestershire Police as part of Operation Encompass. This means that if the police are called to an incident at home, expect that they will then contact the school.
Prevent Duty
Preventing Radicalisation in school
Building resilience in our young people and the promotion of fundamental British values is at the heart of preventing radicalisation. We do this by providing a safe place in which children can discuss issues, and we aim to give them the knowledge and confidence to challenge extremist beliefs and ideologies.
Our new prevent duty, is carried out under the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, which legally requires us to take steps to prevent pupils from being drawn into terrorism. We take this duty seriously and carry out the four main actions responsibly, namely: risk assessment, working in partnership, staff training and IT policies. If we assess a child as at risk, we will refer to the Channel Programme, which focuses on providing support at an early stage to people who are identified as being vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism.
In terms of training, staff have received formal WRAP training (Workshop to Raise Awareness of PREVENT) and are regularly familiarised with updates. In terms of internet safety, we ensure suitable filters are in place to keep children away from extremist materials, in keeping with recommended guidelines.
We recognise that we play a vital role in keeping children safe from harm, including from the risks of extremism and radicalisation, and in promoting the welfare of children in our care.
What we do if there is a concern
If we have a concern about a particular pupil we will follow the school’s normal safeguarding procedures, including discussing with the school’s designated safeguarding lead, and where deemed necessary, with children’s social care. In Prevent priority areas, the local authority will have a Prevent lead who can also provide support.
We may also contact the local police force or dial 101 (the non-emergency number). They can talk to us in confidence about concerns and help us gain access to support and advice.
The Department for Education has dedicated a telephone helpline (020 7340 7264) to enable staff and governors to raise concerns relating to extremism directly. Concerns can also be raised by email to counter.extremism@education.gsi.gov.uk. Please note that the helpline is not intended for use in emergency situations, such as a child being at immediate risk of harm or a security incident. In an emergency situation we will follow the recommended emergency procedures.
Internet Safety
Keeping your child safe at all times is the primary concern for you as parents and us as a school.
The use of the internet is playing an increasingly important role in improving the learning experience for our children. At the same time we need to be mindful of the dangers that can occur too. The clear message we want to give is that we want you to encourage your children to have open and honest conversations about things they view/use online. It is better to be a nuisance and check on your child’s online activity, than regret not paying enough attention perhaps when it is too late. We teach our children about Stranger-Danger from a very early age, we also need to help them to understand how they can stay safe online too.
We want to encourage open discussion about internet safety and as such the children participate in activities that are age-appropriate for them to learn how to stay safe.
Please find below some helpful website links and leaflets that can offer advice.
If you have any concerns about websites, games or apps where the children have been frightened or concerned about something they have seen, please encourage them to speak out and let us know. It might not just be your child who has had this experience.
Together we can keep our children safe.
Thank you
