Coop Academy Stoke on Trent is our Academy and we want it to be a safe place for every child. We will always do everything we can to make sure that every child within our Academy is safe both inside and outside of our Academy.

This policy is to help you understand what Safeguarding means to you and to help you decide what could be a “problem” and whom you should talk to.

Most children enjoy happy childhood experiences within their own family, but unfortunately for some, this is not the case. During difficult times, everyone who knows the child must do the best they can to protect them from harm. The welfare and safety of children is everyone’s responsibility.

Principles:

What we believe:

Children have a right to be safe, to be listened to, valued and respected
Parents have a right to be informed of any concerns regarding their child
Children are best protected when parents and school can work together
Safeguarding is everybody’s responsibility

Practice:

How do we keep your child safe:

Making the Academy a safe, friendly, welcoming and supportive place to spend time in – somewhere where your child wants to be
Be there for your child to talk to.
Give your child guidance in your lessons to help them learn how to look after themself, both online and in the real world
Doing our best to spot if there is a problem. All of the staff in our academy have been taught how to do this.
Support and encourage your child, and listen to their wishes and views.

Partnership:

The Academy will inform parents of any concerns about their children (providing it does not compromise the child’s safety) and will help support them as necessary. It is important that the Academy is open and honest about any concerns we may have about your child.

Prevention:

The Academy will take positive action to prevent children suffering abuse and neglect through the development of an open culture that informs children of their rights and encourages them to speak about any concerns. The Academy will also address the issue of children’s safety through the curriculum.

Definition of Child Abuse:

When someone hurts, harms or takes advantage of you it can be called abuse. This is when someone does something to you that is harmful, unpleasant or painful like:

If someone deliberately hits you, hurts you, injures you or humiliates you in different ways
If someone says or does something that makes you feel bad about yourself or hurts your feelings which makes you feel scared, sad, upset or frightened
If someone shouts, threatens, hits or hurts someone you love whilst you are around which makes you scared, unhappy or worried
If someone doesn’t take proper care of you, you feel abandoned, lonely or neglected. You might not be able to eat or wash regularly, or you might not be able to come to school every day or on time.
If someone touches you in a way that you don’t like, for example touching your private parts.
If someone makes you look at things or do things which make you feel ashamed, embarrassed, uncomfortable or guilty. They may ask you to keep it a secret or give you presents.

Abuse and neglect are forms of ill-treatment of a child. Somebody may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting harm, or by not taking action to protect a child from harm.

Children may be harmed at home, by people living near their home (in their community) or by an adult who is responsible for caring for them in any place away from home such as school, nursery, college, sports and leisure centres, after-school clubs, youth clubs, which is why it is really important to work together to keep children safe. Sometimes children are abused by a stranger they have met over the internet. They may also be abused by another child or children.

Abuse may be physical, sexual, emotional or neglect. Some examples of each type of abuse are described below;

Physical Abuse

Unexplained injuries, bruises or marks
Injuries which have an unusual fracture or are in an unusual place on the body
Fear, watchfulness, over anxiety to please
Small round burns or bite marks
Frequent time off from school

Sexual Abuse

Sexual knowledge or comments that you wouldn’t expect from a child
Sexual behaviour that you wouldn’t expect from a child
Unexpected reactions, fear or wariness of people
Repeated urinary or genital infections
Pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases
Self-harming or recurrent abdominal pains

Emotional Abuse

Withdrawn, anxious behaviour, lack of self-confidence
Self-harm and eating disorders
Demanding or attention seeking behaviour
Not wanting to communicate
Repetitive, nervous behaviour such as rocking, hair twisting or scratching

Neglect

Dirty, scruffy or unsuitable clothes
No one seeks medical help when the child is ill or hurt
The child is smelly, unclean hair and dirty nails
Dental issues (bad breath)
The child is left alone or with unsuitable carers
The child is thin, pale and lacking energy
Lots of accidents happen to the child
The child is exposed to risks or dangers, such as drugs or needles being left around

What to do if you are worried:

If you think a child is in immediate danger, call the Police on 999 or 101

If the child is not in immediate danger, but you’re still concerned that they need risk support, you can make a referral to the integrated Front Door for Stoke-on-Trent Children and Family Services on the online portal: childrensportallcs
If you have reasonable cause to suspect that a child has suffered or is likely to suffer significant harm, you can call the Integrated Front Door on 01782 235100 (Mon-Thurs, 8.30am – 5pm and Fri, 8.30am – 4.30pm), or call the Emergency Duty Team on 01782 234234 if you are calling out of office hours, at weekends or on bank holidays.

Co-op Academy Safeguarding Staff:

Parents are always welcome to contact the safeguarding team at the Academy. There will always be a friendly face and a supporting professional. We may not have all the answers but we will try our best to support you and your child.

The safeguarding team consists of:

Marianne Goodwin Designated Safeguarding Lead and Prevent Officer. Email: marianne.goodwin@coopacademies.co.uk
Julie Holdcroft Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead. Email: julie.holdcroft@coopacademies.co.uk
Megan Rowe Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead.Email: megan.rowe@coopacademies.co.uk
Diane Drew SENDCO and Designated Officer for Children in Care.Email: diane.drew@coopacademies.co.uk
Lauren Ruscoe Safeguarding Officer and Early Help Champion. Email: lauren.ruscoe@coopacademies.co.uk
Christine Timony Lead Mentor (maternity) and Mental Health Specialist Email: christine.timony@coopacademies.co.uk
Kirstie Burgess Safeguarding Officer and Acting Lead Mentor. Email: kirstie.burgess@coopacademies.co.uk
Maria Price Online Safety Officer. Email: maria.price@coopacademies.co.uk

Further examples of abuse:

Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE)

Child Criminal Exploitation is when individuals or gangs target young people and force them to carry out criminal activity. The individuals or Gangs (Exploiters) may force young people to dealdrugs, steal, commit violent or sexual acts and traffic them to other towns or cities.

Children who are being criminally exploited are usually threatened and/or beaten by the people exploiting them – but exploiters are smart: they’ll spend months or years grooming their victims, and sometimes the young person may not even know it is happening to them.

Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)

CSE stands for Child Sexual Exploitation and is a form of sexual, emotional and physical abuse. It often the young person being given food, accommodation, drugs, affection, presents/gifts and money in return for performing sexual acts. It usually involves the young person being beaten or threatened and intimidated if they don’t do what they are asked to do by the person who is exploiting them.

Criminal Exploitation and Sexual Exploitation are never ok and if your child is being or has been exploited you must remember – it is never your child's fault.

Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment between children (SVSH)

Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment between children is unwanted sexual behaviour that occurs between two children (or more) of any age or sex. This behaviour can be online or in person and can be either physical, verbal or both.

Examples of sexual violence and sexual harassment could be sexualised comments or sexually touching another person in a way that makes them feel, embarrassed, intimidated or degraded.

The term up-skirting refers to somebody taking a picture under someone else’s clothing without that person knowing and is a crime.

SVSH will not be tolerated at the Co-op Academy Stoke on Trent

Co-op Academy Stoke on Trent recognises the impact of gangs, county lines, serious violence, crime and exploitation. It is recognised that the initial response to child victims is important and that staff will take any allegation seriously and work in partnership with parents that support children to keep them safe.

All staff have been trained to recognise the signs of exploitation which may include, but not exclusively:

Unexplained gifts/new possessions – these can indicate children have been approached by/involved with individuals associated with criminal networks/gangs
Children who go missing for periods of time or regularly come home late
Children who regularly miss school or education or do not take part in education
Change in friendships/relationships with others/groups
Children who associate with other young people involved in exploitation
Children who suffer from changes in emotional well-being
Significant decline in performance
Signs of self-harm/significant change in wellbeing
Signs of assault/unexplained injuries

Preventing Extremism and Radicalisation:

The Academy has a due regard to the need to prevent children from being drawn into terrorism.

Our Academy is a safe place where children can explore controversial issues safely and where our teachers encourage and facilitate this – we have a duty to ensure this happens. However, there is no place for extremist views of any kind in our school, whether from internal sources - children, staff or governors; or external sources - school community, external agencies or individuals.

As an Academy we recognise that extremism and exposure to extremist materials and influences can lead to poor outcomes for children and so should be addressed as a safeguarding concern as set out in the ‘Preventing Extremism and Radicalisation’ policy found on the academy website. We also recognise that if we fail to challenge extremist views we are failing to protect our children.

Extremists of all persuasions aim to develop destructive relationships between different communities by promoting division, fear and mistrust of others based on ignorance or prejudice and thereby limiting the life chances of young people.

Education, in partnership with parents, is a powerful weapon against this; equipping young people with the knowledge, skills and critical thinking, to challenge and debate in an informed way.

We want our children to understand and accept difference and diversity and also to ensure that they thrive, feel valued and are never marginalised.

We are aware that young people can be exposed to extremist influences or prejudiced views from an early age and we need to protect them from such negativity by ensuring appropriate online monitoring and filtering systems. We would strongly encourage you to do the same.

We all need to work together to safeguard our children.

Sources of Support for Parents and Children in the Local Area:

Alice Charity
Supports struggling families in Stoke on Trent & Newcastle-under-Lyme area. They can help support with clothing, food, school uniforms, household items and white goods.

W: alicecharity.com

T: 01782 627017

E: info@alicecharity.com

Middleport Matters
A hub within the Middleport Community, helping children and families. They also offer a food bank service for families who are struggling.

W: middleportmatters.co.uk

T: 01782 817590

E: info@middleportmatters.co.uk

Catch 22
We support children and young people in unhealthy relationships, victims of child sexual exploitation and children missing from home.

W: catch-22.org.uk/about/

T: 01782 237106

E: StokeandStaffs@catch-22.org.uk

New Era
A domestic abuse support service for victims of domestic abuse. It also offers help for perpetrators.

W: new-era.uk

T: 0300 303 3778

Glow
Refuge accommodation

W: findtheglow.org.uk/our-services

T: 0330 0945 559

Victim Support
An independent charity helping people affected by crime or traumatic events, including those who are affected by domestic abuse, to get support.

W: victimsupport.org.uk

T: 0808 168 9111

The Carers Hub
Provides support for adult carers and young carers.

W: thecarershub.co.uk

T: 0330 123 1937

North Staffs Carers
A local charity providing support for unpaid carers in North Staffordshire

W: carersfirst.com/home

T: 01782 793100

The Community Drug and Alcohol Service
Provides support to people struggling with drug and alcohol addiction.

W: scdas.org.uk

T: 01782 28311

Anxiety and General Mental Health Concerns:

24-hour mental health helpline
Call handlers offer the person calling a safe space to talk through any issues they may be experiencing, and callers are then sign posted to the appropriate support services available.

T: 01782 234233

Mental Health Crisis Team

The Crisis Care Centre: Located at Harplands Hospital, this hub offers walk-in services and telephone triage for people of all ages.

T: 0800 0328 728

Stoke on Trent City Council Housing Solutions Service

One Smithfield
Leonard Coates Way
Hanley

W: homeless.org.uk

T: 01782 233696

E: housing.adviceservices@stoke.gov.uk

The Citizens Advice Staffordshire North and Stoke-on-Trent
Provides support for people facing debt and other financial problems.

W: snscab.org.uk

T: 0300 3309 062

Safeguarding Flow Chart:

This flowchart shows how the safeguarding system at Co-op Academy Stoke on Trent works. At every stage the adults will listen to your child's voice and make a record of any action they take.