Safeguarding

At Riverwalk School we take child protection and safeguarding very seriously. All our school staff including senior leaders, teachers, support staff, office staff, mid-day supervisors, cleaning staff and office staff, undertake Child Protection/Safeguarding training which is updated through the year. We also have regular supply staff who have undertaken training with us. Our Governors attend child protection/safeguarding. Prevent Duty training is part of the ongoing safeguarding training for all staff, raising awareness of signs and indicators of radicalisation and how and when to report concerns to the Channel programme. Members of the Leadership, HR department and Governors have completed “Safer Recruiting” training and are part of the process in recruiting new staff.
All staff and Governors have DBS checks. All students and volunteers have induction which includes information about safeguarding and child protection.

Visitors

On entry to this school all visitors are asked to provide ID. You will be handed our safeguarding information sheet to read before you sign in. Visitors to the school are not allowed to use mobile phones, cameras or other devices with camera facilities in school.

There are posters with photographs of the Safeguarding Team placed around school so if visitors have any safeguarding concerns, they are able to identify who to report their concerns to.

Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy

The school’s Child Protection/Safeguarding Policy is available to read on the website and is available for staff to access on My Concerns.

Code of Conduct

The school has a Code of Conduct which seeks to ensure that the duty to promote and safeguard the wellbeing of children is in part, achieved by staff having a clear understanding of positive professional behaviours and provides practical guidance for anyone who works with, or on behalf of children regardless of their role, responsibilities or status.
Staff are responsible for ensuring their behaviour is in line with the professional conduct expected. If a member of staff is concerned about the behaviour of another member of staff, this should be reported to the Headteacher or the Safeguarding Governor in line with the school Whisteblowing policy.

First Day Calling and Children Missing in Education

Parents are requested to notify the school if their child is going to be absent due to illness or appointments. If a child does not come to school and we have not been informed of the reason, the school does first day calling and logs details of the concern on “ My Concern” to monitor attendance as part of child protection and safeguarding procedures. Children missing from education are reported to the local authority following the Suffolk County procedures.

Safeguarding Team: Safeguarding

As Riverwalk is based on 2 different sites Riverwalk has a Safeguarding Team made up of 6 staff and the Chair of Governors. The staff who make up the Safeguarding Team are:

Safeguarding Trainers

Information under development following the transfer to Consortium Trust

Reporting Concerns

It is the responsibility of all Riverwalk staff, whatever their role, to report any concerns they may have about a student with regard to child protection and safeguarding.  Riverwalk uses the electronic recording system “My Concern” to log all child protection and safeguarding concerns. Staff  have their own individual log on to “My Concern”.  The safeguarding team are able to then track Child protection and Safeguarding concerns easily as it keeps a chronology for each child of reports and actions taken. For any visitors, parents, students there is a recording form which they complete and this can be scanned in to My Concern to be added to the chronology. The DSL and all the Alternates receive electronic notifications when a concern is added to the system and are able to look though the chronologies and can assign actions to staff if required. This is a very effective tool in collating and monitoring child protection and safeguarding at Riverwalk. Any concerns about staff should be reported direct to the Head teacher or the Safeguarding Governor, not to Alternates in line with the schools ‘Whistleblowing Policy’.

Online Safety and Acceptable Use of ICT Policy

Riverwalk has an acceptable use of ICT policy which is available to read online on our website and is available to school staff on My Concerns. As part of the Acceptable use of ICT, mobile phones with cameras are not allowed to be used in and around school or out on school trips by staff.

PSHE Curriculum – Teaching pupils to be safe and Equality