Safeguarding

Westhaven School > Safeguarding

Safeguarding at Westhaven School

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children (everyone under the age of 18) is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families has a role to play and in order to fulfil this responsibility effectively, all practitioners should make sure their approach is child-centred. This means that they should consider, at all times, what is in the best interests of the child.

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined for the purposes of this guidance as:

  • Providing help and support to meet the needs of children as soon as problems emerge
    • Protecting children from maltreatment, whether that is within or outside the home, including online
    • Preventing the impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development
    • Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
    • Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes

At Westhaven, our safeguarding ethos is based around the “Four C’s of Exceptional Safeguarding” as defined by Peter Hall Jones (co-founder of Safeguarding Scenarios): 

  1. Curiosity – we always ask ourselves “what might be going on here?”  We seek to notice the subtle changes in our learners and choose to not always accept things at face value when our gut says something doesn’t feel right. Without curiosity, we risk becoming passive observers when we want to be active protectors
  2. Compassion – we listen without judgement, respond with care and recognise that all behaviour is communication. Curiosity with compassion can help separate the ‘pastoral’ from the ‘safeguarding’ and thus help us direct our attention and efforts more effectively for the benefit of all learners and staff
  3. Compliance – we use policies, procedures and protocols to ensure that our learners are protected consistently, professionally and lawfully
  4. Confidence – confidence grows from our training, but also more importantly, from our culture which encourages everyone to speak up about any concerns

Child protection

Child Protection is part of safeguarding and promoting welfare.  It refers to the activity that is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering, or are likely to suffer, significant harm. This includes Child Protection procedures which detail how to respond to concerns about a child.

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025 

Please see below the statutory guidance from the Department for Education.  All staff (including volunteers) read Part 1 and Appendix A of this guidance and consider it when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.  

Keeping children safe in education 2025 – GOV.UK 

Designated Safeguarding Lead
Mrs Z Payne

Deputy Safeguarding Lead
Mr J Peacock

Deputy Safeguarding Lead
Mrs S Tuttiett

Deputy Safeguarding Lead
Mrs J Hall

The safeguarding team can be contacted at safeguarding@westhavenschool.org.uk

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Supporting Safeguarding Team: Mrs S Cantello, Miss T Chaplin, Mrs E Wells

Nominated Governor responsible for safeguarding:  Mrs D Smith

Online Safeguarding Lead:  Mr J Orchard

Designated Teacher For Children Who Are Looked After: Mrs C Miyagawa

How Westhaven School can help

Early Help requires that agencies work together to ensure the child or young person gets the right response, and the right services, from the right people at the right time.

At Westhaven, our aim is to support our families to meet identified needs early. We can offer support, guidance and advice on specific issues or concerns, or can identify other agencies who can offer support and help.

For further information about our offer of Early Help, please contact our Parent Support Team, Mrs J Hall and Mrs S Tuttiett via the school office: reception@westhavenschool.org.uk Tel: 01934 632171 

 

If you want to know more about Early Help within North Somerset and how to access Family Wellbeing services, please contact:

 

Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) 

If you have any concerns about the behaviour of someone working or volunteering with children or young people, please contact:

LADO – Local Authority Designated Officer via the Referral and Assessment Team: lado@n-somerset.gov.uk

 

Useful contacts and information

 

Should you need to be signposted to any other agency, please contact our school office directly.

Prevent

Prevent is about safeguarding individuals from being drawn into terrorism, ensuring those vulnerable to extremist and terrorist ideas are given appropriate advice and support at an early stage.

The Prevent Duty Guidance makes it clear that frontline staff who engage with the public should:

  • understand what radicalisation means and why people may be vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism as a consequence of it
  • be aware of what we mean by the term “extremism” and the relationship between extremism and terrorism
  • know what measures are available to prevent people from becoming drawn into terrorism and how to challenge the extremist ideology that can be associated with it
  • understand how to obtain support for people who may be being exploited by radicalising influences

Please see the guidance below for further details: 

Prevent duty guidance: England and Wales (2023) – GOV.UK

 

Every member of Westhaven staff completes training on Prevent. The Designated Safeguarding Lead and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads attend advanced Prevent (WRAP) training.

 

At Westhaven, our PSHE, RE and SMSC curricula aim to promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of our learners and supports wider community cohesion. Learners develop understanding and appreciation of diversity and fundamental British Values and are encouraged to take part in conversations about controversial issues in order to build resilience to radicalisation in a safe place. 

 

Please see the links below for further advice and support:

 

Mandatory Reporting of FGM – Procedural Information

Westhaven staff understand that it is mandatory to report to the police if they find, or are told, that someone under the age of 18 has undergone Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

 

Safeguarding and the curriculum – PSHE 

PSHE helps learners develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to keep themselves healthy and safe, and prepare for life and work in modern Britain. Through tailored lessons at Westhaven, learners will learn how to understand and implement the key values of a PSHE curriculum. This includes staying safe and healthy, building and maintaining successful relationships – and becoming active citizens who participate in society responsibly – now and in the future.

At Westhaven we understand that by nature certain subjects may carry an increased risk of learner disclosure in PSHE. In cases where there is a safeguarding risk, the school safeguarding policy in relation to Keeping Children Safe in Education will be followed. In all other cases; concerns will be recorded on CPOMS.

Westhaven provides opportunities for discussion and sharing of ideas within a safe environment. In PSHE this is achieved through the revision of ground rules before each session and the use of distancing techniques, such as role play, where learners may relate to certain topics.

Staff receive yearly training on various issues in relation to safeguarding and have a duty to read and act on school policies that support the PSHE and wider curriculum.

Our PSHE curriculum at Westhaven offers a broad and balanced range of content coverage including but not restricted to; drug Education, RSHE, signs of abuse, and mental health awareness. Online safety is taught throughout the Computing Curriculum and compliments coverage within PSHE. 

 

For more information on PSHE. please see our PSHE subject page:

PSHE – Westhaven School 

 

If you have any concerns or questions about the PSHE curriculum at Westhaven school, please contact Mr Innes via the reception email address.

Online Safety

At Westhaven, we know how much our learners benefit from and enjoy using IT and how it can help them to learn, communicate and socialise in many ways. As a school, we strive for our learners to be confident and safe users of the Internet and of new technology as it develops:

  • Learners have access to a curriculum where online safety is taught and embedded
  • Learners are taught to question information before accepting it is true
  • Learners are encouraged to speak to trusted adults if they encounter something online which makes them feel unsafe or uncomfortable

Online safety is paramount to the safeguarding of all children and young people in the digital world. It is about learning to understand and use technologies in a positive way, and about supporting learners to develop safe online behaviours (both in and out of school). At Westhaven, we ensure that learners are given the right information about how to stay safe whilst accessing all forms of social media and technology.

 

Please see below for suggestions of services and agencies which can provide support and further information. If you have any questions regarding online safety at Westhaven, please contact Mr Orchard via reception. 

 

Online safety policy

Social media policy

 

Policies

Safeguarding Policy

Staff Code of Conduct Policy

Whistleblowing Policy

 

Resources and useful links

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025

NSPCC Definitions – Signs of Child Abuse

Support For Anyone Experiencing Domestic Abuse

Educate against hate

Think You Know

Child Exploitation & Online Protection

Young People – Childnet

Kidsmart – Be a smart surfer