Benton Dene Schools

Safeguarding

Here at Benton Dene children’s safety and welfare is of paramount importance to us. Children have a right to be protected from harm. Families have the right to expect schools to provide a safe and secure environment.

As a school we have a legal duty to safeguard your child’s welfare. All members of staff are trained in safeguarding children and have a duty to ensure the safety of all of our pupils. If the school is worried that a child is at risk of harm, we must legally look into the matter. We do this by following the Department of Education’s statutory guidance for schools and colleges called ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ and the Local Safeguarding Children Board’s child protection procedures.

Click here to read our Safeguarding policies

GDPR information can be found by clicking here.

Every school must have a Designated Safeguarding Lead to support staff to carry out their safeguarding duties and to liaise closely with other services such as children’s social care.

At Benton Dene our Designated Safeguarding Leads are Claire Harrison-Hoggarth, Helen Richardson, Yvonne Manton and Tina Steele. Sarah McGow is our Safeguarding Governor.

Please see the photos below to help you identify our DSLs.

Safeguarding in Practice

We actively undertake our safeguarding commitment in a number of practical ways – these include:

Our staff

are DBS checked as part of the recruitment procedures in place
are made aware of our safeguarding policies and procedures during their induction
attend safeguarding training throughout each year, incorporating updates
have photographic ID and use fobs to access the building and classrooms
receive weekly updates regarding emerging issues and incidents
record incidents and actions on our electronic system, which are analysed half termly by safeguarding leads to reflect on practice

Pupils

actively engage with a PSHCE and RSE curriculum that teaches them how to look after themselves and to keep safe
know of safe adults, beyond the family, to confide in at times of distress or danger. Pictures of DSLs are located throughout school
weekly safeguarding and attendance meetings help leaders identify any children/families who may require additional support
are taught online safety as part of the computing curriculum
attendance is monitored and unexplained absences are followed up the same day by phone calls and a home visit
have information around them to offer support through posters and displays

Parents/Carers

are encouraged to share any concerns with school and know how they can report these concerns. We utilise SeeSaw, to enable parents to communicate with staff at all times
are aware of our school safeguarding policies and have access to these on our website
Have access to a home-school link worker for their child (according to zone) whom they can speak to throughout the day, gaining support when needed
are aware that we are an Operation Encompass school and can offer support
are offered an Early Help approach to gain maximum support as soon as possible
are offered Wellbeing advice and links to useful websites to support their own children
are offered support with e-safety
are given advice and support following annual review meetings

Governors

Receive appropriate training and a Lead Safeguarding Governor has regular meetings with Safeguarding Leads in school to ensure policies, procedures and systems are compliant.

Key information about safeguarding at BDS:

Operation Encompass

Operation Encompass aims to safeguard and support children and young people who have been involved in a domestic abuse incident. As an Operation Encompass school, we will be alerted of any incident the following day.

Following an incident at home, children can arrive at school distressed, upset and unprepared for the day. North Tyneside Council, the police and nominated key adults in school will be working together to make sure that school staff are made aware of an incident early enough to support pupils in school.

More information can be found here: http://www.operationencompass.org/

Prevent

PREVENT is part of the Government’s counter terrorism strategy CONTEST, it aims to stop people becoming terr

orists or supporting terrorism. All staff have been trained in PREVENT as vulnerable young people can be susceptible to radicalisation and recruitment into terrorist organisations. As a school we have a duty under the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (Section 26), to prevent children and young people from being drawn into terrorism.

More information can be found here: https://www.northtynesidescp.org.uk/prevent-counter-terrorism/

Peer on Peer Abuse

At Benton Dene School we have a zero tolerance approach to peer on peer abuse. All staff have been trained on recognising the signs and indicators of peer-on-peer abuse, and this type of abuse will never be accepted or dismissed as ‘children being children’.

Peer on peer abuse includes, but is not limited to:

physical and sexual abuse
sexual harassment and violence
emotional harm
on and offline bullying
teenage relationship abuse
grooming children for sexual and criminal exploitation

For more information please visit the following website: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1021914/KCSIE_2021_September_guidance.pdf

Sexual Harassment

Sexual Harassment refers to any ‘unwanted conduct of a sexual nature’ and can occur online or offline, inside and outside of the school context. At Benton Dene School we have a zero tolerance policy on sexual harrassment. All staff have received update training and our safeguarding policy directly responds to the Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance around sexual harassment.

For more information please visit the following website: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1021914/KCSIE_2021_September_guidance.pdf

https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/media/2622/sexual-violence-harassment-guidance-2021-caspar-briefing.pdf

County Lines

County lines is a form of criminal exploitation where urban gangs persuade, coerce or force children and young people to store drugs and money and/or transport them to suburban areas, market towns and coastal towns (Home Office, 2018). It can happen in any part of the UK and is against the law and a form of child abuse. All staff at Benton Dene School have been trained in spotting the signs and indicators of this.

For more information about what county lines is, please visit the following website: https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/child-abuse-and-neglect/county-lines

The following websites may also provide safeguarding information that may be of interest to you:

Keeping Children Safe in Education:

Safeguarding and protecting people for charities and trustees - GOV.UK

Quality Care Commission

Safeguarding people - Care Quality Commission

Gov.uk - Safeguarding Children

Schools, colleges and children's services : Safeguarding children - detailed information - GOV.UK

NSPCC

What is child abuse?

Safeguarding children and child protection | NSPCC Learning

Online safety