Safeguarding

Safeguarding

At Ash Grove School safeguarding is of paramount importance to support our young people to engage with their education, home life and social life without concern. We ensure that we are consistent, active and effective in safeguarding our young people and supporting families and staff in safeguarding matters.

As leaders we judge our safeguarding to be effective, with clear procedure, up to date training and the culture of serving the best and safe interests of the child central to our practice. All our staff are trained in child protection procedures and are up to date with KCSIE guidance.

In most circumstances we endeavour to speak to parents and carers regards any safeguarding concerns, however, there may be exceptional circumstances were the school needs to speak to Social Services and/or the police without parental permission; this is in accordance with child protection procedures. We aim to maintain positive relationships with all parents, but we will always act in accordance with procedure and in the best interests of the child.

Key Safeguarding Contacts

Our key safeguarding contacts across the school sites are:

Designated Safeguarding Lead D Herbert
Deputy DSL's V Cherry, D Harper, L Kildunne, S Hobson, K Taylor-Valentine, K Vincent
Attendance Officer: J Spencer
Chair of Governors: V Shaw
Safeguarding Link Governor: K Ingham

If anyone has a safeguarding concern regards a child it is always best to contact the school immediately on the contact numbers available. However, we invite concerns to also be submitted using the QR Code under 'Reporting a Safeguarding Concern' at the bottom of the page. This is to be used out of school hours regards safeguarding concerns on our pupils, but must not be used in an emergency. 

Visitors to all our sites should sign-in on entry, have appropriate identification, wear a visitor badge with red lanyard and read our Safeguarding Leaflet for Visitors and Contractors prior to entering the building

We have a number of policies and procedures to safeguard our young people and further details can be found in the Safeguarding Policy, with key updates from Keeping Children Safe in Education.

Additionally, please note our latest Staff Safeguarding Bulletins to give insight into our CPD and awareness across our sites and staff.

Trauma Informed Practice

As part of our whole school commitment to make all our pupils feel safe, all our staff have undertaken Trauma Informed training and ACEs training. 

Trauma informed practice has become a major part of our Behaviour policy, focussing on empathic listening, co-regulation and restorative practice. Trauma Informed Schools UK have delivered:

- 1 day Whole School Staff Training

- 2 day Senior Leader Trauma Informed Training

- 10 day Trauma Informed Practitioner  Diploma

All our staff have undertaken ACEs training to supplement this comprehensive approach

Low-Level Concerns

In line with statutory guidance in Keeping Children Safe in Education, Ash Grove School has robust procedures around reporting, recording and addressing low-level concerns about the behaviour of teachers, support staff, agency staff, volunteers and contractors that may be apparent.


A low-level concern is any concern that an adult has acted in a way that:

  • is inconsistent with the staff code of conduct, including inappropriate conduct outside of work
  • doesn’t meet the threshold of harm or is not considered serious enough for the school or college to refer to the local authority.

Low-level concerns are part of a spectrum of behaviour. This includes:

  • inadvertent or thoughtless behaviour
  • behaviour that might be considered inappropriate depending on the circumstances
  • behaviour which is intended to enable abuse.

Examples of such behaviour could include:

  • being over familiar with children
  • having favourites
  • adults taking photographs of children on their personal mobile phone
  • engaging with a child on a one-to-one basis in secluded areas
  • using inappropriate language.

Our response and procedures around Low-Level Concerns can be found in our School's Safeguarding Policy.

Reporting a Safeguarding Concern

The school can be contacted in and out of school hours regard any safeguarding concerns about our pupils. For enquiries and concerns please contact the School Office to speak to our Safeguarding Team. 

For safeguarding concerns in school hours, staff and visitors will follow the school's Safeguarding Policy and reporting systems which adheres to Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance. Parents who want to raise a concern can speak to the Designated Safeguarding Lead, Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads or the Headteacher to raise these concerns immediately.

For immediate and significant concerns please contact either the Police, or Bury's Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) on 0161 253 5678.

CSE - information for Parents

Links & Downloads

As a parent or carer, it is important to discuss with children the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships to help highlight potential risks to them.

There are also a number of practical steps you can take to protect children such as:

  • Staying alert to changes in behaviour or any physical signs of abuse such as bruising.
  • Being aware of new, unexplained gifts or possessions and carefully monitoring any episodes of staying out late or not returning home.
  • Being aware of more secretive behaviour, especially around a child's use of a mobile and on-line technology.
  • Exercising caution around older friends your child may have, or relationships with other young people where there appears to be a power imbalance.
  • Making sure you understand the risks associated with your child being online and putting measures in place to minimise these risks.

For further information, please see the Child sexual exploitation leaflet on this page and visit It's Not Okay.

A free online course can also be downloaded from Virtual college - Keep them safe.

Early Help

Links & Downloads

Early Help means identifying needs within families early and providing preventative support and intervention before they become difficult to address and wellbeing in the home could be affected. 

If key staff in our school have identified any unmet need or they feel that early intervention needs signposting to support you, it may be that a member of our Safeguarding Team has a conversation with you and gains your consent and prompt a (TAS) 'Team Around the School' meeting.

A TAS is where one of our Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads will meet with the School's Locality Social Worker and any other services that are involved with your family to determine the best way to support you.

This may then prompt a 'Story So Far' being completed by a member of our Safeguarding Team to gain a better understanding of yours or your child(s) needs.

A Story So Far is a tool in which agencies use to gather information which helps us to formulate a plan together and determines how best to support you and your family. Once an initial plan has been formalised, Team Around the Family meetings would then be held every 6-12 weeks which require a multi-agency response in order to support you and your family.

The early identification of support could be in relation to:

  • SEND or long-term health issues
  • Mental Health
  • Behaviour of your child in and out of school
  • Attendance to school
  • Exploitation or radicalisation
  • Challenges at home – unhealthy relationships, domestic abuse, alcohol/drug misuse, mental health in the home
  • Being a young carer
  • Being a young parent
  • Private foster care
  • Financial and/or housing problems

Early Help can be provided at any time in a child's or young person's life, pre-birth to adulthood and support can be delivered from a wide range of services depending on what is needed. 

All agencies in Bury who have contact with children and their families can provide help and support, including School. 

For more details speak to our School’s Safeguarding Team, or contact your Locality Team on 0161 253 5200/5077 to speak to an Early Help Social Worker.

Bury Encompass Commitment

Links & Downloads

This Encompass Project sets out a joint-agency procedure to provide support for children and young people who have experienced domestic abuse in their household. It outlines how the police will share information about Domestic Abuse incidents with schools and how schools should respond.
 
It has been endorsed by Bury Council and GMP.  All schools in signing the Bury Encompass Commitment agree to implement the processes outlined in this protocol.
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Ash Grove School is committed to following the Bury Encompass project and further details, including letters to parents, are available to view to the left.

Private Fostering

A private fostering arrangement is one where children under the age of 16 or 18 in the case of disabled children, are cared for and provided with accommodation in the carer’s own home, by a carer who is not their parent or a close relative*, does not have parental responsibility for a period of 28 days or more. In these circumstances, it is the responsibility of the parent, carer, and anyone else involved in making the private fostering arrangement, to notify their local authority (LA) of the private fostering arrangement.

 *A relative as defined by The Children Act 1989 ‘means a grandparent, brother, sister, aunt, uncle (whether of full blood, half blood or by marriage) or step parent.’

 This definition thus excludes cousins, great grandparents and co-habitees.
Privately fostered children include:

• Children sent from abroad to stay with another family for 28 days or more

• Asylum seeking and refugee children staying with non-relatives or friends for 28 days or more.

• Teenagers who are staying with friends or ‘non’ relatives for 28 days or more.

• Children on ‘exchange’ visits living with host families for 28 days or more.

Where the arrangements come to the attention of the school (and the school is not involved in the arrangements), they should then notify the local authority to allow the local authority to check the arrangement is suitable and safe for the child. Schools who are involved (whether or not directly) in arranging for a child to be fostered privately must notify local authorities of the arrangement as soon as possible after the arrangement has been made. 

Therefore, in either case, we will notify the local authority of the arrangements