At Meadowcroft School, the safety and wellbeing of our pupils comes before everything else.
We are committed to creating a culture in which every child and young person feels safe, valued, listened to and able to seek help when they need it.
Safeguarding is not simply the responsibility of a designated team or something we consider when a concern arises. It is part of everyday life at Meadowcroft and is the responsibility of every member of staff, every day.
We work from the understanding that safeguarding concerns can arise anywhere and that it could happen here. Our staff are expected to remain professionally curious, notice changes, listen carefully to pupils and act promptly whenever something does not feel right.
Our Safeguarding Culture
Effective safeguarding begins with knowing our pupils well.
Strong, trusted relationships enable staff to recognise changes in presentation, behaviour, attendance, communication or emotional wellbeing which may indicate that a young person needs additional support.
Our approach is child-centred. We listen to pupils, take their concerns seriously and consider their individual communication needs when helping them share their experiences.
We recognise that some children may find it particularly difficult to communicate that something is wrong. Staff therefore remain alert to both what pupils tell us and what their behaviour, presentation or circumstances may be communicating.
Our safeguarding culture is built upon:
- vigilance and professional curiosity;
- strong and respectful relationships;
- listening to the voice of the child;
- acting on concerns promptly;
- appropriate information sharing;
- effective record keeping;
- early identification of emerging need;
- partnership with parents and carers;
- multi-agency working; and
- a shared understanding that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.
Our Safeguarding Team
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility at Meadowcroft, supported by a trained and experienced safeguarding team who provide leadership, advice and support across the school.
Deputy Headteacher – Strategic Lead for Safeguarding: Laura Young
Operational Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL): Sarah Fisher
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads (DDSLs): Hannah Littlewood, Eva Blade, Chloe Ramsden and Hira Ashraf
Executive Headteacher: Gavin Hosford
The Operational Designated Safeguarding Lead has responsibility for safeguarding and child protection across the school, supported by the Deputy DSLs.
The Deputy Headteacher with strategic responsibility for safeguarding provides senior leadership oversight, ensuring that safeguarding remains central to the school’s culture, systems and practice.
The Executive Headteacher retains overall leadership accountability for ensuring that Meadowcroft provides a safe culture in which safeguarding is understood as everyone’s responsibility.
Recognising and Responding to Concerns
All staff are trained to recognise indicators that a child or young person may need help, support or protection.
Safeguarding can encompass a wide range of circumstances, including abuse, neglect, exploitation, child-on-child abuse, domestic abuse, online harm and other risks within a young person’s family, peer group, community or wider environment.
Staff understand that safeguarding concerns do not always present in obvious ways.
A change in behaviour, attendance, relationships, emotional regulation, appearance or engagement with education may provide important information about what is happening in a young person’s life.
When a pupil shares a concern, staff know how to listen, reassure appropriately, record the information accurately and pass it immediately to the safeguarding team.
We do not expect staff to investigate concerns themselves. We expect them to notice, listen, record and act.
Listening to Our Pupils
The voice of the child is central to effective safeguarding.
We want every pupil to know that there are adults at Meadowcroft who will listen to them and take them seriously.
Because our pupils have different communication profiles and needs, we recognise that voice is not limited to spoken language. Staff use their knowledge of individual pupils and appropriate communication approaches to help young people express their views, experiences and concerns.
Through the curriculum, pastoral support and everyday relationships, pupils are also helped to understand how to keep themselves safe, recognise potentially unsafe situations and know how and where to seek help.
Working with Parents, Carers and Other Professionals
Safeguarding children is a shared responsibility.
We work openly and constructively with parents and carers and will usually discuss concerns with families when it is appropriate and safe to do so.
There may, however, be circumstances where information needs to be shared or a referral made without first discussing this with parents or carers. This will happen where doing so is necessary to protect a child or where informing an adult could increase the risk to the young person.
Meadowcroft works closely with Local Authorities, children’s social care, police, health professionals and other agencies to ensure pupils receive the right help at the right time.
Information is shared appropriately and proportionately where this is necessary to safeguard a child.
Early Help and Prevention
Good safeguarding is not only about responding when a child is at immediate risk.
Identifying emerging concerns early can prevent difficulties from escalating and enable children and families to access appropriate help and support.
Our staff are alert to changes which may indicate that a pupil or family requires additional support. Where appropriate, we work with families and partner agencies to identify needs and coordinate support.
Attendance is an important part of this picture. Patterns of absence or changes in attendance can sometimes be an indicator of wider safeguarding concerns and are therefore considered carefully alongside everything else we know about a pupil.
Safeguarding Beyond the School Gates
We recognise that the risks young people encounter may extend beyond their home and school environments.
Our safeguarding practice considers risks within peer groups, relationships, local communities and online spaces.
This includes maintaining awareness of issues such as exploitation, harmful relationships, bullying, harassment, discrimination, online harm and other forms of abuse or vulnerability.
We work with pupils to develop their understanding of risk, healthy relationships, consent, online safety and how to seek help when something concerns them.
Online Safety
Technology provides significant opportunities for learning, communication and participation, but it can also expose children and young people to harm.
Online safety is therefore an important part of safeguarding at Meadowcroft.
Through our curriculum, policies, filtering and monitoring arrangements and ongoing conversations with pupils, we help young people develop the knowledge and judgement they need to navigate the online world more safely.
Staff remain alert to emerging online risks and receive appropriate information and training to support their safeguarding responsibilities.
Staff Training and Professional Responsibility
All staff receive safeguarding training as part of their induction before working with pupils.
Training is regularly updated and supplemented throughout the year with briefings, professional development and information about emerging safeguarding themes and risks.
Staff are expected to understand:
- their individual safeguarding responsibilities;
- how to identify and report a concern;
- how to respond if a pupil makes a disclosure;
- the school’s safeguarding and child protection procedures;
- the importance of information sharing and accurate record keeping;
- how to identify pupils who may benefit from additional help and support;
- child-on-child abuse, including harassment and violence;
- online safety and emerging risks; and
- the professional standards expected of adults working with children.
Safeguarding is kept visible throughout the year so that it remains part of our everyday professional practice rather than something considered only during annual training.
Safer Recruitment and a Safe Culture
Keeping pupils safe also means ensuring that the adults working with them are suitable to do so.
Meadowcroft follows safer recruitment procedures and appropriate pre-employment checks are undertaken for staff in accordance with statutory requirements.
All adults are expected to maintain appropriate professional boundaries and follow the school’s code of conduct.
Staff also understand their responsibility to report concerns about the conduct of another adult, including concerns which may not meet the threshold for an allegation.
We aim to maintain a culture in which concerns can be raised openly, professionally and without hesitation.
Operation Encompass
Meadowcroft participates in Operation Encompass, a partnership between police and education which supports children and young people who have experienced or been exposed to domestic abuse.
Where the school receives an Operation Encompass notification, information is shared securely with appropriately trained safeguarding staff so that we can consider what support the pupil may need when they arrive at school.
Statutory Guidance and Policies
Our safeguarding practice is informed by current statutory guidance, including:
Our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy, alongside other relevant school policies, sets out our procedures in greater detail and can be accessed through the Policies section of our website.
All staff are required to understand and follow the school’s safeguarding procedures.
Reporting a Concern
If you are a parent, carer, professional or member of the community and you are concerned about the safety or welfare of a pupil at Meadowcroft, please tell us.
You do not need to be certain that something is wrong before raising a concern.
Contact the school and ask to speak to a member of the Safeguarding Team:
Telephone: 01924 366242
Email: SAWTeam@ofgl.co.uk
If you believe a child is at immediate risk of significant harm, contact the emergency services or the relevant Local Authority children’s social care service.
Safeguarding Is Everyone’s Responsibility
The strongest safeguarding culture is one in which people notice, listen, question and act.
At Meadowcroft, we want our pupils to know that their voice matters, that trusted adults will listen to them and that we will act when they need help.
We can never assume that someone else will notice or someone else will act.
Keeping our pupils safe is everyone’s responsibility, every day.