ARCHWAY ACADEMY INDEPENDENT SCHOOL VULNERABLE CHILDREN S POLICY 1
Safeguarding Statement Archway Academy takes seriously its responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people; and keep them safe in education. We work together with other agencies to ensure adequate arrangements within our school to identify, assess, and support those children who are suffering harm. We recognise that all adults, including staff, volunteers, health & education professionals, contractors and all those working in or on behalf of the organisation have a full and active part to play in protecting our pupils from harm, and that the pupils welfare is our paramount concern. Management and staff believe that Archway Academy should provide a caring, positive safe and stimulating environment that promotes the social, physical and moral development of the individual child. Vulnerable Children At Archway Academy we want all our pupils to develop into successful lifelong learners who are confident and happy. In order to give them the tools they need to be successful we realise that some pupils need more help than others. The amount of support we provide depends on their needs and this policy sets out to how we will support vulnerable children. It describes what we mean by vulnerable children, how we identify them and what support we provide for them. This policy should be read in conjunction with the following policies: Safeguarding policy Looked after children s policy Anti-bullying policy Disability policy Inclusion policy A vulnerable child At Archway Academy, we define a pupil as vulnerable if their health and emotional wellbeing is impaired in a way that has an impact on their ability to learn and engage with the opportunities we provide. This in turn means they are not achieving the outcomes of the Every Learner Matters framework. We would also identify pupils as vulnerable if we had evidence to suggest that the transition from Archway Academy to further education, apprenticeships or employment could be difficult for them. Pupils who are at risk from future exclusion or involvement in the criminal justice system are also 2
considered as vulnerable children. Vulnerable children can also include those who have disabilities or special educational needs although that is not always the case. Research has shown that the following groups of pupils may be vulnerable: those who are Looked after children who are in private fostering who have behavioural or emotional difficulties who have medical needs who have low attendance and/or punctuality issues who are or have been on the child protection register who have witnessed domestic violence who are young carers whose parents misuse drugs or alcohol who misuse drugs or alcohol whose family circumstances have changed suddenly (separation, divorce, bereavement, illness, unemployment) who have newly arrived from overseas with low levels of English who have disabilities, special educational needs or those whose mental capacity is such that they can t make some or all decisions for themselves whose parents have disabilities, mental health problems, or medical needs. Identifying vulnerable children When pupils are interviewed as part of the application or referral process the interviewer should establish a clear picture of each pupil s personal situation to determine whether there are any issues which might affect their attendance or participation in the learning process. This is also an opportunity to assess whether or not the pupil s living situation makes them potentially vulnerable. When pupils are referred, department heads should ensure that the referring agency or school declares any disabilities, medical issues, behavioural issues or learning difficulties which the learner might have. The referring agency should also provide a statement of special educational needs or Education, Health and Care plan where the learner has one; this helps to identify potentially vulnerable pupils and ensures that support mechanisms are put in place before pupils enroll. All tutors should regularly attend CPD training around safeguarding, child protection and other relevant issues to help them develop skills to identify and support vulnerable pupils. 3
All tutors should always be vigilantly observing pupils interactions during all activities in order to identify vulnerable pupils using the indicators learned from CPD. All tutors should monitor and observe pupils interactions during breaks to ensure that all pupils are safe and happy within the school environment and to provide support where it is needed. All tutors should be aware of the designated Safeguarding Lead, the deputy Safeguarding Lead, members of the Safeguarding Focus Group in order to be able to report any observations that are a cause for concern Supporting vulnerable children The support needed by vulnerable children depends on their individual circumstances and can include any of the following: All pupils who have an Education Health and Care plan/ statement of SEN who are referred for the 1 to 1 Education & Skills provision will be allocated a tutor who will work with them on a 1 to 1basis Referral for anger management support Allowing pupils to work side by side with their care givers if they are coming from a care home Developing positive attitudes towards equality and inclusion amongst pupils through the equality of opportunity statement, the SETPD (skills for employment, training and personal development) curriculum and general teaching practice Additional support and resources funded by the Pupil Premium Free School Meals Being flexible in our general provision to support pupils who are vulnerable. The Safeguarding Focus Group will discuss and investigate any issues raised by staff as causes for concern and follow specific procedures to keep pupils safe including escalating to the Designated Safeguarding Lead where there is a potential safeguarding issue. Any concerns reported to the Designated Safeguarding Lead will be dealt with according to the procedures detailed in the school s Safeguarding policy which might include using a common assessment framework to work with social care, the police, health services and other services to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm. 4
Specific guidance for different situations and issues is provided in the following policies: For Policy Looked after children Disabilities Learning difficulties Behavioral and emotional difficulties Low levels of English Looked after children s policy Disability policy Special Educational Needs policy Equal Opportunities policy Inclusion policy Anti-bullying policy Children on the child protection register Low attendance and punctuality Medical needs Safeguarding policy Attendance policy Health & Safety policy Policy for supporting children with medical conditions Parents misuse drugs or alcohol Drugs policy Children who misuse drugs or alcohol Children who are Carers Young Carers policy This Policy will be reviewed in June 2016 5