Safeguarding
Welcome to the Safeguarding and Child Protection page for Horizon Academy.
This page will offer important information to parents/carers regarding issues surrounding Safeguarding & Child Protection.
Here we will also share information from other sources to give advice, facts and resources to support parents/carers to help protect their children.
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026
Please scroll to the bottom of the page for a copy of our 25/26 Early Help Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy PDF.
Reporting a Concern of Abuse or Neglect
You can also report you concerns to the NSPCC who will offer you support and advice if you are feeling worried about a child’s safety:
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/reporting-abuse/report/
Prevention
- We recognise that the school plays a significant part in the prevention of harm to pupils by providing pupils with good lines of communication with trusted adults, supportive friends and an ethos of protection
- We will establish and maintain an ethos where children feel secure and are encouraged to talk and are always listened to
- Ensure that all children know there is an adult in the school whom they can approach if they are worried or in difficulty
- Include in the curriculum opportunities for PHSCE which equip children with the skills they need to stay safe from harm and to know to whom they should turn to for help
In the event a child makes a disclosure/allegation the following procedures should be implemented.
We will support all pupils by:
- Encouraging self-esteem and self-assertiveness whilst not condoning aggression or bullying
- Promoting a caring, safe and positive environment within the school
- Liaising and working together with all support services and those agencies involved in the safeguarding of children notifying Social Services and those agencies involved in the safeguarding of children
- Notifying Social Services as soon as there is a significant concern
- Providing continuing support to a pupil about whom there have been concerns who leaves the school by ensuring that appropriate information is forwarded under confidential cover to the pupil’s now school
Listening and Talking with Young People
Do:
- Reassure
- Find a quiet place to talk where you will not be interrupted
- Listen but do not pressurise
- Ascertain the facts – DO NOT ask specific questions but encourage the child to tell you what happened by asking what happened next
- Let the child know you are pleased to have been told
- Tell the child you believe them
- Tell the child you will need to involve others to ensure the child’s safety in the future. Tell the child who needs to be involved and why.
- Report the incident to a designated teacher for any further action AND
- Give a written record, [how the disclosure arose, what the child said, your replies etc.] signed and dated to the designated teacher as soon as possible
- Ensure that the designated teacher is handed the report – not left on a desk which can then be lost
- Talk to someone about your own feelings
Do not:
- Promise confidentiality that you cannot keep
- Make false promises or reassurances about what will happen
- Interrupt the child to inform others
- Ask leading questions or sympathise inappropriately
Supporting staff
- We recognise that staff working in the school who have become involved with a child who has suffered harm, or appears to be likely to suffer harm, may find the situation stressful and upsetting
- We will support such staff by providing an opportunity to talk through their anxieties with a designated teacher and to seek further support as appropriate
Allegations against staff
- We understand that a pupil may make an allegation against a member of staff
- If such an allegation is made, the member of staff receiving the allegation will immediately inform the Head Teacher
- The Head Teacher on all such occasions will discuss the content of the allegation with the LA Lead Office for Child Protection
- If the allegation made to a member of staff concerns the Head Teacher, a designated teacher will immediately inform the Chair of Governors who will consult with the LS’s Lead Office for Child Protection
- The school will follow the LA procedures for managing allegations against staff, a copy is available in school
Whistleblowing
- We recognise that children cannot be expected to raise concerns in an environment where staff fail to do so
- All staff should be aware of their duty to raise concerns, where they exist, about the attitude or actions of colleagues
Restrictive physical intervention
- Our policy on physical intervention by staff is set out in a separate policy and acknowledges that staff must only ever use physical intervention as a last resort, and that at all times it must be the minimal force necessary to prevent injury to another person
- We use Team Teach which is a supportive use of physical intervention
Preventing radicalisation
From 1 July 2015 schools are subject to a duty under section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, in the exercise of their functions, to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”.
Horizon Academy is clear that extremism and radicalisation should be viewed as safeguarding concerns. We value freedom of speech and the expression of beliefs and both pupils/students and adults have the right to speak freely and voice their opinions.
Our school ethos seeks to build pupils’ resilience to radicalisation by promoting fundamental British values and enabling them to challenge extremist views.
If you are concerned about an individual or group regarding radicalisation please contact the Police Anti-terror Hotline 0800 789321
DfE guidance on the Prevent Duty can be found here:
Prevent Duty Departmental advice for Schools and Colleges
The NSPCC have information for parents/carers about radicalisation and dangers associated with extremism. There is also links to other supportive services on the NSPCC web page:
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/fighting-for-childhood/news-opinion/why-radicalisation-child-protection-issue/
Information and resources to download for Parents/Carer and Staff can be found here:
e-Learning training on PREVENT – training developed by HM Government
Educate Against Hate – website resource for schools and parents/carers
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
In April 2014 every school in England received new safeguarding guidelines and detailed information on identifying and responding to Female Genital Mutilation.
FGM is a procedure carried out on young girls between the ages of infancy and 15 years of age.
Female Genital Mutilation is classified as a form of Child Abuse in the UK. It therefore makes the procedure of it a serious Child Protection issue.
It is illegal for anyone to perform FGM in the UK or to arrange for a child to be transported to another country for the procedure. The maximum sentence for carrying out FGM or helping it to take place is 14 years in prison.
There is lots of information and support available online for parents/carers concerned about this subject or if you know someone who is at risk:
Contact the Police if you think that a girl or young woman is in danger of FGM and is still in the UK.
Contact the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (020 7008 1500) if she’s already been taken abroad.
The Daughters of Eve website helps to raise awareness of this issue and sign-posts those affected by it to supportive services:
The NSPCC has detailed advice on how to spot the signs, symptoms and effects of FGM and provides support for people who are concerned about a child or who have been affected themselves:
The NSPCC offers a free and anonymous FGM 24 hour helpline. Call; 0800 028 3550 or email fgmhelp@nspcc.org.uk
The Home Office provides free online FGM awareness training for parents/carers and professionals: https://www.fgmelearning.co.uk/
Child Sexual Exploitation
Child Sexual Exploitation, or CSE, is a form of sexual abuse which sees children/young people being manipulated or coerced into sexual activity for receiving ‘something’ such as; gifts, money, food, attention, somewhere to stay etc.
Technology is very often used to groom victims. This may occur through social networking sites and mobile phones with internet access.
CSE has gained a large amount of media attention over the last year as lots of services involved with children and young people have noticed a big rise in cases involving CSE.
Charities such as NSPCC and Barnardos have been campaigning to raise the profile of this form of child abuse. Information regarding CSE can be found here;
www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/resourcesforprofessionals/sexualabuse/cse-introduction_wda97566.html
www.barnardos.org.uk/what_we_do/our_projects/sexual_exploitation.htm
PACE (Parents Against Child Sexual Exploitation) is a national charity that works with parents and carers whose children are sexually exploited. PACE offers one-to-one telephone support, national and local meet-ups with other affected parents and information on how parents can work in partnership with school, police and social care:
www.paceuk.info
