Safeguarding

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility

Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families and carers has a role to play in safeguarding children. All professionals should ensure that their approach is child centred: this means considering at all times what is in the best interests of the child. Concerns must always be logged and staff members must raise any safeguarding concerns with the appropriate safeguarding lead without delay. Parents should feel able to come and talk to any of our team, and/or the safeguarding leads named below.

Safeguarding policies: We regularly update key policies in relation to safeguarding. On our policies page you can find our policies for Child Protection and Safeguarding, Online Safety, Whistleblowing and other relevant policies. Our online learning page also has information about keeping children safe online.

The Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) at Belleville Wix Academy is Alex Williams.

The Designated Members of Staff (DMS) are Seana Henry and Dermot Mullin.

The Designated Local Governor for Safeguarding is Anthony Deane.

The Quality First Education Trust's Designated Trustee for Safeguarding is Karen Parkinson.

Child protection procedures
If there are serious concerns about immediate risk to a child or that a child has suffered significant harm and continues to be at risk, the school will contact the local authority and/or the Wandsworth Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) immediately. If a child is in immediate danger, the police will also be contacted.

Wandsworth Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH):
Telephone on 020 8871 6622 Email MASH@wandsworth.gov.uk
The MASH is in operation Monday – Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm.
At other times please contact the Out of Hours Duty Service on 020 8871 6000.

Safeguarding for Parents - Useful information sheet

Government guidance to Keeping Children Safe in Education

Update: Sexual misconduct in schools
Parents and carers may be aware of the current national investigation into sexual misconduct within schools, partly sparked by testimonies given on the ‘Everyone’s Invited’ website. Please visit www.q1e.co.uk/key-information/safeguarding/ to read more about the actions that we and our trust are taking, in light of this. If you or your child is worried about anything, please do contact the school. You can speak to our designated safeguarding lead (Miss Williams) or any member of staff. You can also contact the dedicated new NSPCC helpline for children who have experienced sexual harassment or abuse at school, and for worried adults who need guidance, on 0800 136 663.

Update: Sexual misconduct in schools

Parents and carers may be aware of the current national investigation into sexual misconduct within schools, partly sparked by testimonies given on the ‘Everyone’s Invited’ website.

Please visit www.q1e.co.uk/key-information/safeguarding/ to read more about the actions that we and our trust are taking, in light of this.

If you or your child is worried about anything, please do contact the school. You can speak to our designated safeguarding lead (Miss Williams) or any member of staff.

You can also contact the dedicated new NSPCC helpline for children who have experienced sexual harassment or abuse at school, and for worried adults who need guidance, on 0800 136 663.

Emergency procedures

The school has clear emergency procedures in place which are known to staff and (where appropriate) children - for example we ensure regular fire drills so that all children understand the evacuation procedure. We work closely with the Ecole de Wix team to ensure we all know and follow the same procedures on site.

We also have a 'lockdown' procedure in case of incidents where it is necessary to lock down the school so that it is not able to be entered from the outside. This will ensure that pupils, staff and visitors are safe in situations where there is a hazard in the school grounds or outside the school in the near vicinity. Parents can access our lockdown guidance on our policies page.

We will always aim to notify parents of any incident and keep them updated. Please ensure you keep the school updated regarding your contact details.