Plashet puts the safety and wellbeing of our students at the core of our work. We want all students to learn how to keep safe and stay happy. This will allow them to thrive both academically and emotionally, and enable them to contribute positively to the wider community. Plashet is committed to ensuring that consistent and effective procedures are in place to fulfil its statutory obligation to safeguard and promote the welfare of the young people in its care.
The Department of Education, through Working Together to Safeguard Children (DfE 2018) and Keeping Children Safe in Education (DfE Sept 2023), places a duty on organisations to safeguard and promote the well-being of children and young people.
At Plashet, we are committed to ensuring that consistent, effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support students, families and staff. Our professional and dedicated staff and governors all share this commitment. Our school has policies and procedures in place for safeguarding our girls, all of which are in accordance with local authority and statutory guidance. The school also adheres to safer recruitment guidelines.
As part of our collective mission to keep our young women safe in education, we work in close partnership with many other agencies including, the London Borough of Newham, local health authority including school nurses, the Police (particularly the safer schools team) and social services, all of which share our commitment in safeguarding children and young adults.
On occasion, a student may disclose information of a sensitive nature to a member of staff. When this happens, staff will listen and explain clearly and calmly to students that information about their safety may mean that other people have to be informed in order to support and safeguard them. They cannot promise to keep such information confidential.
Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies when there are concerns about a student’s welfare. We will ensure that our concerns about our students are discussed with her parents/carers first unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child or young person’s welfare.
When a member of staff has any child protection or welfare concerns about a student, they have a duty to report these concerns to the designated teacher in the school. Staff are kept up to date and reminded of their responsibilities regularly through briefings and whole school training.
We provide a secure site for our children and adults are asked to adhere to our rules. School gates are kept locked except at the start and end of the day. Visitors may enter only through the main entrance after signing in at the office where relevant safeguarding checks are completed.
Plashet takes its Safeguarding and Child Protection responsibilities very seriously. We work closely with the local authority and other appropriate external agencies to ensure the welfare of all our students.
If you are concerned about a child or young person’s welfare, please record your concern and any observations or conversations heard, and report it to one of the School Leads as soon as possible the same day.
Our safeguarding practice is designed to deliver:
- Procedures that ensure safe recruitment to help identify people who may pose a risk to children.
- A strong Learning for Life curriculum and pastoral programme that educates all our girls on how to keep safe, recognise behaviour that is unacceptable and what to do if they have concerns.
- High quality safeguarding training for all staff.
- Appropriate provision for any child who has been or is at risk of being subject to abuse.
- A Governing Body, Head Teacher and Staff that understand their responsibilities, under safeguarding legislation and statutory guidance, to be alert to the signs of child abuse and to refer concerns to the Designated Safeguarding Lead.
Every member of staff and volunteer at the school receives safeguarding training when they join the school (and a refresher session each year), so everyone in the school community is aware of their duties and responsibility to keep our students safe. The school site has restricted access to the public, with visitors monitored. The school uses safer recruitment principles when employing staff and volunteers. Registers are taken for every lesson and parents/carers notified by phone if their daughters are not in school.
We are committed to providing early help, to identify any needs and work closely with students and families to overcome these. We also work closely with other schools and agencies such as health, social care and the police. We have a Plashet Counsellor, Mr Watson, two Plashet School Nurses, Ms Roked and Ms Darr, as well as a LBN attached school nurse and a Safer Schools Police Officer who are able to assist us when working with families on health or police matters.
The safeguarding and child protection issues that affect our young women are many and varied including: friendship issues; self-harm; physical and emotional abuse; sexual exploitation; social media grooming; witnessing domestic abuse; mental health; drugs; gangs; teenage arguments at home; truanting and low self-esteem.
If we are concerned that your daughter is at risk of serious harm, we will make a referral to Newham Children and Young People’s Services and a social worker may become involved. If we do make a referral, we will always notify you and your daughter unless social care or the police ask us not to.
If you are concerned about your daughter or any other child in school, please do not hesitate to contact the school by telephone (0208 471 2418) or emailing safeguardng@plashet.newham.sch.uk
Key staff
- Designated Safeguarding Lead: Ms L Still
- Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead: Ms Gell
- Safeguarding Officer for Years 7 and 8: Ms St Louis
- Safeguarding Officer for Years 9 and 10: Ms Sultan