Safeguarding

What does Safeguarding look like at Riversides?

Riversides School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of pupils and expects all staff, volunteers and visitors to share in this commitment. We actively listen to all pupils and always take seriously what they tell us. Our aim is for all pupils to enjoy their time at school and feel safe and secure.

In its broadest sense safeguarding encompasses:

• quality of staff recruitment and management, including induction, professional training, support and conduct;
• an appropriate and enriching curriculum;
• a safe built environment and site security;
• behaviour management, including rules and sanctions;
• health and safety, including trips and expeditions;
• attendance;
• PSHE, RSHE and Online Safety weekly lessons;
• nutritious food, healthy lifestyles and medical care;
• well-maintained and updated operating procedures and policies;
• arrangements for visitors, speakers and volunteers;
• managing complaints and allegations appropriately;
• child protection, children in need and early intervention protocols (see our Early Help Offer); and
• whistleblowing procedures.

Good schools embed safeguarding in all that they do; it means wanting the best outcomes for pupils and being proactive (as adult staff) in achieving them. Our aspiration is to be an outstanding school, where safeguarding threads through all aspects of school life.

To this end, we aim:

• to maintain a whole school culture of openness and transparency;
• to encourage vigilance and a sense of shared responsibility for the duty of care to protect children and young people;
• to develop an aspirational approach to pastoral care, delivering the highest standards of proactive, consistent and individual attention; and
• to never think pupil pastoral care and safeguarding is someone else’s job: pupils feel safe and supported because the whole school shares this commitment.

We seek to develop and improve our safeguarding policies and procedures continuously. We encourage an ‘open culture’ where any concern can be raised, however small it may seem, and where all members of the Riversides community contribute to effective safeguarding practices.

The Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy is reviewed annually, in line with key statutory guidance, primarily Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE).

We work with

• Worcester Children’s First and other external statutory agencies, including attending meetings of the Worcestershire DSL Network.
• Ann Brown, the Safeguarding Consultant for CLPT with supervision of the DSL and Trust Safeguarding Network meetings.
• The Governors have oversight of the School’s Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy at its three yearly meetings. The safeguarding Governor meets with the Designated Safeguard Lead once a term.
• The school’s Safeguarding team meets every week during the term.
• Throughout the year the Riversides staff complete Safeguarding training on a range of relevant topics further improving their knowledge and understanding.

Further information is included in our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy.

Safeguarding in the school holidays

If you experience difficulties in the school holidays or at weekends and you or your children are in immediate danger: please call 999

You can also call Worcestershire Family Front Door on 01905 822666 to report concerns for other families or about your own family.

Class teachers will not be expected to keep their work phones on during the holidays. You can call school and leave a message on the answer machine which will be checked every couple of days in the holidays. 01905 21261

There is also the Safeguarding School mobile phone number which can be called or will receive text messages which will be checked regularly during the holidays. 0759 2307439