Bishop Alexander L.E.A.D. Academy is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We are fully committed to ensuring that consistent effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support families, children and staff at school.
There is a Safeguarding Team at Bishop Alexander L.E.A.D. Academy. The Designated Safeguarding Lead is Mrs Spencelayh (Headteacher). The Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads are Mr Ward (Deputy Headteacher) and Mrs Walker (Safeguarding Officer).
If you are ever concerned about the safety or wellbeing of a child in school, please contact any member of the Safeguarding Team.
Further advice and help can be sought from:
NSPCC: If you have concerns about the safety of a child then contact the NSPCC helpline on 08000280285 or email help@nspcc.org.uk.
Children can talk to someone for advice and support at any time by contacting ChildLine on 0800 1111 or chatting to a counsellor online at www.childline.org.uk.
For the best interests of all our children we use the following safeguarding measures:
Cause for Concern
Teachers are asked to report any causes for concern to the School Safeguarding Team using an online system called myconcern. Any concerns will be shared with parents as early as possible as often there are extremely reasonable explanations for the concern. Concerns may range from children being visibly upset to persistent lateness to children ‘disclosing’ concerns.
Attendance
All lateness and absences are recorded by the Attendance Officer, Mr Jones. Reasons will be sought for all absence or lateness. Attendance is monitored through these systems and referrals to the Safeguarding Team can be made. Parents will always be informed of concerns around attendance at the earliest point. If attendance concerns continue the school will refer to Nottinghamshire’s Education Welfare Team.
Prevent
Since the publication of the Prevent Strategy, there has been an awareness of the specific need to safeguard children, young people and families from violent extremism. There have been attempts to radicalise vulnerable children and young people to hold extreme views including views justifying political, religious, sexist or racist violence, or to steer them into a rigid and narrow ideology that is intolerant of diversity and leaves them vulnerable to future radicalisation.
Keeping children safe from these risks is a safeguarding matter and should be approached in the same way as safeguarding children from other risks. Children should be protected from messages of all violent extremism including, but not restricted to, those linked to extreme Islamist ideology, or to Far Right/Neo Nazi/White Supremacist ideology, various paramilitary groups, and extremist Animal Rights movements. Prevent, in the context of counter-terrorism is intervention before any criminal offence has been committed with the aim of preventing individuals or groups from committing crimes.