Safeguarding

What is safeguarding?

The Swanage School is committed to the highest standards in all safeguarding issues and we take seriously our duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of the children in our care.

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and is defined in government guidance "Working Together to Safeguard Children" as:

protecting children from maltreatment
preventing impairment of children's health or development
ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care, and
taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes

What we do

In our commitment to safeguarding the children in our care, we ensure we follow best advice, guidance and best practice. In doing so we:

value and respect all children in our care
follow government guidance and the advice of safeguarding partners such as the Local Area Designated Officer (LADO)
are quick to act if we believe or suspect a chid in our care is suffering any type of abuse, maltreatment or neglect
network and share information with other schools and external agencies, sharing information where appropriate, including with children's social care
involve children and their parents / carers appropriately

In relation to staff, volunteers and governors, we:

recruit them safely, ensuring all checks are done
adopt a code of conduct
ensure they are appropriately trained
ensure they understand their responsibilities in safeguarding and know who to report concerns to
provide information about whistle-blowing
deal appropriately with allegations or concerns raised about a member of staff, volunteer or governor

What to do if you have a safeguarding concern about a student

Everyone has a responsibility to safeguard children. If you have any concerns, no matter how seemingly small, about the welfare of a student at The Swanage School please contact our Designated Safeguarding Lead or one of the Deputy DSLs immediately.

Dorset Council - Information and Advice

You can also find advice, if you are worried about about the safety or wellbeing of any child or young person who lives in Dorset, on the Dorset Council website. This includes information on: