Our Ickford School Safeguarding statement should be read in conjunction with our Child Protection Policy and Behaviour policy which are available on our website.

At Ickford School we believe that:

• Children should never experience abuse of any kind

• We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children, to keep them safe and to practise in a way that protects them.

We recognise that:

• The welfare of children is paramount in all the work we do and in all the decisions we take, all children, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation have an equal right to protection from all types of harm or abuse.

• Some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences (early trauma), their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues.

• Working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

 We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

• Valuing, listening to and respecting them; having a Designated Safeguarding Lead, two DDSLs and a lead trustee for Child Protection; adopting child protection and safeguarding best practice through our policies, procedures and code of conduct for staff and volunteers; developing and implementing an effective online safety policy and related procedures; providing effective management for staff and volunteers through support, training and quality assurance measures so that all staff and volunteers know about and follow our policies, procedures and behaviour codes confidently and competently.

In addition, Ickford School will promote our culture of safeguarding by:

• Recruiting and selecting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made

• Recording, storing and using information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance

 • Sharing information about safeguarding and good practice with children and their families via leaflets, posters, group work and one-to-one discussions

• Making sure that children, young people and their families know where to go for help if they have a concern

 • Using our safeguarding and child protection procedures to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving children, young people, parents, families and carers appropriately

• Using our procedures to manage any allegations against staff and volunteers appropriately

• Creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment and ensuring that we have a policy and procedure to help us deal effectively with any bullying that does arise

 • Ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in place

• Ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for our children, young people, staff and volunteers, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance

 • Building a safeguarding culture where staff and volunteers, children, young people and their families, treat each other with respect and are comfortable about sharing concerns.

Safeguarding Lead DSL– Dawn Basnett

DDSL – Sophie Holmes

DDSL – Emma Honey (as of September 2025)