Safeguarding

Safeguarding Team

  • Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL): Mr Luke Coulson – Principal
  • Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads:
    • Mrs Jessica Osborne – Community Liaison Officer and Attendance Officer
    • Mrs Aoife Mehigan – Vice Principal
    • Mr Andrew Perkins – Assistant Principal
    • Mr Alex Powell – Assistant Principal
  • Safeguarding Governor: Mr Andrew Perkins
  • Online Safety Coordinator: Mrs Aoife Mehigan
  • Person(s) Responsible for Children with Medical Needs: Mrs Clare Sculley and Mr Luke Coulson
  • Looked After Child Coordinator: Mr Luke Coulson
  • Additional Members of the Safeguarding Team: Clare Scully, SENCO; Sarah Goodfellow, Office Manager

Please Note: Posters of the Safeguarding Team are located on the notice boards outside as well as in all rooms within the school.

Please take time to read a range of our Safeguarding Policies on the Policies page which includes:

  • Acceptable Use of Technology Staff, Pupils & Parents (LAO)
  • Anti-Bullying (LAO)
  • Attendance (LAT)
  • Behaviour (LAO)
  • Child Protection Policy for Early Years Settings (LAO)
  • Combating Extremism (LAT)
  • Complaints (LAT)
  • Female Genital Mutilation (LAT)
  • Managing Allegations Against Staff (LAT)
  • Online Safety (LAT)
  • Safeguarding and Child Protection (LAO)
  • Whistleblowing (LAT)

What to do if you are worried about a child

If a child is in immediate danger, call the Police on 999 straight away.

If you want to record less immediate concerns about a child you can ring the NSPCC hotline on 0808 800 5000 or complete their online reporting form.

Alternatively, you can contact Kent’s children services team on 03000 41 11 11 (text relay 18001 03000 41 11 11) or email social.services@kent.gov.uk. Out of hours and in an emergency call 03000 41 91 91.

Reporting your concerns could provide the missing piece of information that is needed to keep a child safe.

The NSPCC is working with the Department of Education to provide a bespoke helpline for children and young people who have experienced abuse at school, and for worried adults and professionals that need support and guidance.

If you are concerned about something, you can contact the NSPCC helpline Report Abuse in Education on 0800 136 663 or email help@nspcc.org.uk

What do we mean by Safeguarding and Child Protection?

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined in the KCSIE (Keeping Children Safe in Education) document as:

  • Protecting children from maltreatment
  • Preventing the impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development
  • Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care,
  • Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes

Reporting and Recording Concerns at Leigh Academy Oaks

Staff at LAO will always act in the best interests of the child.

All staff and any volunteers are DBS checked before they start working for LAO.

Should any member of staff have a concern about a child, these will be recorded on Bromcom (online mis service). These files are only accessible by members of the senior leadership team.

All staff have access to Chromebooks and will complete the concern as a matter of urgency. Once completed, these concerns are triaged by a member of the safeguarding team who will decide on the appropriate course of action.

If, after conversations with the parents/carers, additional support is required, then referrals may be made (with permission of the parents) to the relevant services.

Information about the different Kent Support Levels can be found on the Kent Safeguarding Children Multi-agency Partnership.

Protocol for collecting children from Leigh Academy Oaks/walking home, etc.

There’s no legal age for your child to be in order to walk to and from school alone. As a school, we are responsible for the welfare of our pupils and recommend that only pupils in Year 6 travel to and from school unaccompanied, as agreed by their parents/carers. A form is sent out to parents during the school year to inform the school of their choice. We do ask that when possible, that Year 6 children are collected in the darker winter months.

For any school children being collected by an adult that isn’t their primary carer, the office must be notified of who is collecting the child from school. Every child has a unique password which we require if they are being collected by a different adult.

Online Safety at Leigh Academy Oaks

Parents of children at Leigh Academy Oaks can sign up to National Online Safety (free of charge).

We regularly share advice from NOS on our social media pages as well as in our newsletter with all parents. Termly assemblies are held for the whole school regarding online safety where we can reinforce the online safety principles which we follow: Be Kind, Be Brave, Be Alert, Be Sharp, Be Secure.

Operation Encompass

We are an Operation Encompass school. Operation Encompass is a partnership between police and schools. One of the principles of Operation Encompass is that all incidents of domestic abuse are shared with schools, not just those where an offence can be identified. Our Designated Safeguarding Lead receives notifications of incidents of Domestic Abuse from the police prior to the commencement of the next school day. This ensures that we can create a strategic plan to support all children with positive interactions throughout their time in school. As a school we may make direct contact with you or further relevant authorities.