Safeguarding
Kelvin Hall School has a responsibility to protect and safeguard the welfare of children and young people they come into contact with. The need for guidelines and procedures is important to ensure that this is done well and clearly. Kelvin Hall School aims to protect and safeguard pupils by:
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ensuring that all staff and volunteers are carefully selected, DBS-checked, vetted, trained and supervised;
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having a Safeguarding Policy that is reviewed and updated in line with national and local developments, as well as reviewed annually;
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ensuring that all staff and volunteers are familiar with this Policy and understand at least Part 1 of ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSiE) 2023’. Furthermore, staff involved in recruitment know and understand Part 3 of KCSiE 2023;
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ensuring that staff/volunteers receive Safeguarding training appropriate to their role and their level of involvement;
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ensuring that Kelvin Hall School has a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and a Deputy (DDSL), that all staff and volunteers know who these members of staff are and know how to report concerns to them;
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assessing risk(s) that pupils are likely to encounter and take steps to minimise and manage these;
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letting parents, carers and pupils know how to report concerns about another pupil, staff members, and volunteers, and how to complain about anything that they are unhappy about;
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giving pupils, parents and carers information about expectations and what the school does, as well as offering different pupils different ways of reporting concerns from both in and out of school.
Kelvin Hall School recognises that protecting and safeguarding children and young people is a shared responsibility and that this depends on effective joint working between agencies and professionals that have different roles and expertise. Individual children and young people, especially some of the most vulnerable children and those at greatest risk of social exclusion, may need coordinated help from Health, the Police and Social Care. These are the school’s Safeguarding partners. The voluntary sector and other agencies also have an important role in protecting and safeguarding children.
Our Safeguarding Team
Every school must have a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL). At Kelvin Hall School, this is Mrs Grandidge. There is also a Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead: Miss Wilson.
All of our Year Leaders are trained in all aspects of Safeguarding and they are experienced in dealing with relevant supportive agencies that help us support children and families. In the first instance, please contact your child’s Year Leader if you have any concerns.
The DSL and DDSL, along with the Pastoral Year Leaders, comprise the core safeguarding team of the school. There are weekly safeguarding team meetings, weekly reports to the Senior Leadership Team and termly reports to the Trust Board on safeguarding matters. These reporting mechanisms ensure that pupils at risk are constantly under review, that the strategic safeguarding plan is delivered and that safeguarding work across the school is quality assured; the latter includes attendance, site safety, educational visits, staff awareness and contextual safeguarding as just some examples.
Above all, safeguarding is the responsibility of all staff, underpinned by three core statements:
● It could happen here.
● Always act in the best interests of the child.
● “If there’s any doubt, there’s no doubt” – always report a concern.
Peer-on-peer Abuse, Sexual Harassment & Violence
We understand that attitudes, behaviours and beliefs in society have the effect of normalising and trivialising sexual violence. Misogyny, rape jokes, sexual harassment, online sexual abuse (upskirting, non-consensual sharing of intimate photos, cyberflashing), and sexual coercion are examples of behaviours which should not be tolerated by society and are not tolerated at Kelvin Hall School. We know that when behaviours such as these are normalised, they can act as a gateway to more extreme acts such as sexual assault and rape. Pupils and students are taught in age-appropriate ways about the consequences of these behaviours and how everyone in society has a role to eliminate them. This is rooted in our core value of respect, which we define as showing an understanding of the rights, wishes and feelings of others through words and actions. Accordingly, we teach students that being a bystander, not reporting or not showing compassion towards a victim equally do not align with our values.
For young people who are victims of sexual harassment and/or violence, we want to provide support, guidance and signposting. We are in regular contact with Hull Children’s Social Care and the Police, and make referrals to support organisations. If you are a pupil or student, or are the parent of a child, who has been the victim of sexual harassment and/or violence, we urge you to speak to us so we can provide assistance. This can be to the DSL, DDSL, or any member of the Safeguarding Team.
Peer-on-peer abuse
Peer-on-peer abuse is any form of abuse between children, including physical or verbal bullying, cyber-bullying, sexual abuse or sustained equality-based harassment. Pupils and students are taught about these issues, how to report them and the school’s stance, which is one of zero tolerance. Parents who are concerned about peer-on-peer abuse should contact the school in order that we can address the matter quickly.
Online Safety
All students at Kelvin Hall School receive age-appropriate teaching and information about keeping safe online. Whilst the internet and mobile technology provide numerous positive opportunities for young people, they also represent a risk and the school recognises its important role in mitigating this.
Through Assemblies, the Focus Groups, PSHE, Year 7 and Year 8 ICT/Computing Curriculum and information for parents, the school maintains a high profile for online safety. Issues covered include peer-on-peer abuse, cyberbullying, sexting, grooming, fake news and screen time. Pupils and students are also strongly encouraged to report online abuse, either to the school, their parents or the Police.
The links below provide lots of useful information for children and their parents:
Visitors
Visitors to the school are required to sign in and we have lanyard system for ensuring all members of the community are aware of access rights to the school:
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Teal lanyards are for staff members
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Yellow lanyards are for approved visitors, who can move about the school site unaccompanied
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Red lanyards are for visitors who require escorting at all times.
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Green lanyards are for members of the Thrive Trust.
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Orange lanyards are for school governors.
All visitors to the school are provided with a leaflet about safeguarding on arrival.
Relevant Policies
Policies can be found by clicking here.