Safeguarding
Under the Education Act 2002 (section 175), Horizons Education Trust are always “making arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children”.
If you have a safeguarding concern you can:
- Telephone the academy office and ask to speak to a member of the Safeguarding Team
- Visit the academy in person
- Submit your concern in writing to our Safeguarding Team
Please follow the links below to the relevant Academy safeguarding page.
You can view our Policies here.
Julie Perry
Lead Safeguarding Trustee
You can also contact the Trust: info@horizons.org.uk
Horizons Education Trust endeavours to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued.
The Trust and its schools will therefore be alert to signs of abuse and neglect and will follow the Safeguarding Children Partnership Board’s procedures to ensure that children receive appropriate and effective support and protection.
Parents/carers/guardians should know that the law requires all school staff to pass on information which gives rise to a concern about a child’s welfare, including risk from neglect, physical, emotional or sexual abuse. Schools should make parents/carers/guardians aware that records of safeguarding concerns may be kept about their child. They should be informed that school staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with them including referrals to other agencies.
Local procedures state that “Consent should always be sought from an adult with parental responsibility for the child/young person before passing information about them to Children’s Social Care, unless seeking consent would place the child at risk of significant harm or may lead to the loss of evidence for example destroying evidence of a crime or influencing a child about a disclosure made.” This includes allowing them to share information without consent, if it is not possible to gain consent, if it cannot be reasonably expected that a professional gains consent, or if to gain consent would place a child at risk.
Where there is a need to share special category personal data, the Data Protection Act 2018 contains ‘safeguarding of children and individuals at risk’ as a processing condition that allows professionals to share information.
In accordance with legislation and local Information Sharing protocols, Horizons Education Trust will ensure that information is shared securely and sensitively. Information will only be shared with other services where it is deemed necessary and proportionate to ensure that children and young people are safe and receive the right service. In all circumstances, the safety of the child will be the paramount concern.
Schools will contact Children’s Social Care when they have reasonable cause to suspect a child may be suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. Occasionally, concerns are passed on which are later shown to be unfounded. Parents/carers/guardians will appreciate that the member of staff in the school with responsibility for child protection (known as the Designated Safeguarding Lead or Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead) was carrying out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acting in the best interests of all children.
Under Section 3 (5) of the Children Act 1989, any person who has care of a child “may….do what is reasonable in all the circumstances of the case for the purpose of safeguarding or promoting the child’s welfare”. This means that on rare occasions, a school may need to “hold” a child in school whilst Social Care and the Police investigate any concerns further.
Horizons Education Trust follows the KCSIE guidance to comply with law and also ensures Prevent Duty has been carried out as required under section 26 of the Counter Terrorism and Security Act.