At School:
Should you have any concerns relating to the safety and welfare of a child at the school, you should immediately contact our safeguarding team at [email protected] or through the main school phone number and request to speak with someone in the safeguarding team.
On the rare occasion that our core safeguarding team is unavailable, please report your concerns to the Principal or Vice Principal.
Outside of school
You can also contact the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) Phone: 01452 426994 or email: [email protected]
You can call the Gloucestershire County Council Children and Families Front Door Service on 01452 426565 (Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm).
The Emergency Duty Team (EDT) are available for emergencies, out of office hours, which cannot safely wait until the next working day. You can call them on 01452 614194.
In an emergency, please ring 999
For further information, please go to the Gloucestershire County Council website.
At School:
Tell a trusted adult. This could be your Tutor, Head of Year or Pastoral team, a teacher or TA.
Ask to speak to a member of the Safeguarding Team.
At home or in the community:
Phone Childline on 0800 11 11 any time day or night. They are happy to speak to you about any worries. The call is free.
You can call Children and Families Front Door Service on 01452 426565 (Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm). If you need to speak to a social worker outside these hours because you are worried about yours, or someone else’s safety, then you can call our Emergency Duty Team (EDT) on 01452 614194 to speak to a social worker.
If you feel you or another child is in immediate danger, please call 999.
For further information, please go to the Gloucestershire County Council website.
Should you have any concerns in terms of safeguarding relating to the behaviour of a member of staff, you should immediately contact the Principal. Should you feel that your concerns have not been dealt with appropriately by the school or the Chair of Academy Council, you should contact the Designated Officer for Allegations (DOFA), [email protected]
If you have any concerns regarding the safety of the school site, please contact the school through the main school telephone number.
The councillors and school staff team are committed to keeping our children safe and we regularly review our school policies and procedures to ensure that everything is being done to fulfil our duty of care. All staff are familiar with the government’s guidance for schools – Keeping Children Safe in Education
The Safeguarding Policy can be found below and along with all other academy policies on the Policies page under the Key Information menu.
The Councillor responsible for safeguarding is Sue Maizonnier.
We are an equal opportunities employer. At least one member of every interview panel has had Safer Recruitment training. All offers of employment are subject to a disclosure and barring check (DBS), medical clearance and satisfactory references.
At Tewkesbury Academy we aim to equip our students with the knowledge, understanding and skills to use information and communication technology creatively and purposefully. A key aspect of this lies in being digitally literate. Online technologies play a huge role and so providing a broad and balanced e-safety education is vital to ensuring our students can navigate the online world safely and positively.
All children and young people have the right to go about their daily lives without the fear of being threatened, assaulted or harassed. Bullying can cause high levels of distress, affecting young people’s well-being, behaviour, academic and social development right through into adulthood. At Tewkesbury Academy we are committed to creating a safe, purposeful, calm and reflective learning environment in which all students flourish in both phases and reach their full potential equipped with skills for life, and so, bullying of any kind is unacceptable. Bullying is an anti-social behaviour and affects everyone. All types of bullying are unacceptable at our academy and will not be tolerated.
All pupils should feel able to tell and know that when bullying behaviour is brought to our attention, prompt and effective action will be taken. Anyone who is aware of any type of bullying that is taking place is expected to tell a member of staff immediately or use the Red Hand Reporting system which can be found on our website’s home page (bottom left).
The Anti-bullying Policy can be found below and along with all other academy policies on the Policies page under the Key Information menu.
Young Minds Matter
Young Minds Matter (YMM) is a safe and confidential mental health support service developed for children and young people up to 18 years of age in schools across Gloucestershire. The team can offer you support if you are struggling with things like anxiety, low mood and poor sleep or similar concerns. This can be either face-to-face in school or via a virtual online platform.
To meet with someone from Young Minds Matter you can ask a teacher/member of staff in the school to make a referral for you. Alternatively, if you attend a secondary school and would prefer not to talk to someone at school you can refer yourself into the team using YMMChat.
For more information visit their website linked below.
Samaritans
Free, confidential emotional support for those experiencing despair, distress, self-harm or suicidal feelings. Tel: 116 123 (free, from any phone, 24/7).
Young Minds
Young Minds national charity offers confidential online and telephone information and support for anyone worried about the emotional, behaviour, or mental health of a child/young person up to 25 years of age, including ADHD, Autism and Aspergers.
Parents Helpline: 0808 802 5544
Prevent is about safeguarding people and communities from the threat of terrorism. Prevent is one of the four elements of CONTEST, the Government’s counter-terrorism strategy. It aims to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.
Incidents of extremism and radicalisation are rare and as such when they do occur, make the news. As with all safeguarding issues, it is important to be vigilant, and not complacent, but also not to panic.
Prevent defines extremism as: “Vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. We also include in our definition of extremism calls for the death of members of our armed forces.”
Radicalisation is defined by the UK Government within this context as “the process by which a person comes to support terrorism and extremist ideologies associated with terrorist groups”.
We live in a wonderfully diverse world, with both differences and similarities to celebrate. Exploring religious and different social beliefs, in a peaceful and non-violent way, is part of growing up and should not be confused with something more sinister. The best way to PREVENT extremism and radicalisation is by open discussion and increased understanding of each other.
Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) is a form of child sexual abuse. Sexual abuse may involve physical contact and or noncontact activities, such as involving children in the production of sexual images, forcing children to look at sexual images or watch sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways or grooming a child in preparation for abuse including via the internet.
Like all forms of child sex abuse, child sexual exploitation:
Signs of possible CSE include:
CCE is where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, control, manipulate or deceive a child into any criminal activity (a) in exchange for something the victim needs or wants, and/or (b) for the financial or other advantage of the perpetrator or facilitator and/or (c) through violence or the threat of violence. The victim may have been criminally exploited even if the activity appears consensual. CCE does not always involve physical contact; it can also occur through the use of technology.
Children and young people may be vulnerable to neglect and abuse or exploitation from within their family and from individuals they come across in their day-to-day lives. These threats can take a variety of different forms, including: sexual, physical and emotional abuse; neglect; exploitation by criminal gangs and organised crime groups; trafficking; online abuse; sexual exploitation and the influences of extremism leading to radicalisation.
CCE can include children being forced to work in cannabis factories, being coerced into moving drugs or money across the country (county lines), forced to shoplift or pickpocket, or to threaten other young people.
Signs of possible CCE include:
Speak to a member of the academy safeguarding team for further information and advice.
Female genital mutilation is the mutilation of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons. It is often referred to as female circumcision, ‘cutting’ or ‘sunna’. While all staff should speak to the designated safeguarding lead (or deputy) with regard to any concerns about female genital mutilation (FGM), there is a specific legal duty on teachers. If a teacher, in the course of their work in the profession, discovers an act of FGM appears to have been carried out on a girl under the age of 18, the teacher must report this to the police.
Government Statement opposing FGM
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is child abuse and an extremely harmful practice with devastating health consequences for girls and women. Some girls die from blood loss or infection as a direct result of the procedure. Some women who have undergone FGM are also likely to find it difficult to give birth and many also suffer from long-term psychological trauma.
UK Law
Female genital Mutilation is a crime in the United Kingdom. Even if a girl is taken abroad to undergo FGM, it is still a crime in the UK if the mutilation is done by a UK national or a UK resident.
It is also a crime if a UK national or resident assists or gets a non-UK national or resident to carry out FGM overseas on a UK national or resident.
If FGM is committed against a girl under the age of 16, each person who is responsible for the girl at the relevant time is guilty of an offence.
Criminal Penalties
Anyone found guilty of an FGM offence – or of helping somebody commit one – faces up to 14 years in prison, a fine, or both. Anyone found guilty of failing to protect a girl from risk of FGM faces up to seven years in prison, a fine, or both.
Support
If you are worried that this might happen to you or someone you know, you can speak to a member of the safeguarding team in school.
Alternatively, you can report this abuse by contacting one of the following:
If there’s immediate danger or if you or someone you know is in immediate danger of FGM, contact the police.
Call 999 to report emergencies or 101 for non-emergencies.
You should also contact the Foreign and Commonwealth Office if you know a British national who’s already been taken abroad.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office: 020 7008 1500
If you or someone you know is at risk you can contact the NSPCC anonymously
NSPCC FGM Helpline- Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 0800 028 3550
So-called ‘honour-based’ abuse (HBA) encompasses incidents or crimes which have been committed to protect or defend the honour of the family and/or the community, including female genital mutilation (FGM), forced marriage, and practices such as breast ironing. Abuse committed in the context of preserving “honour” often involves a wider network of family or community pressure and can include multiple perpetrators. It is important to be aware of this dynamic and additional risk factors when deciding what form of safeguarding action to take. All forms of HBA are abuse (regardless of the motivation) and should be handled and escalated as such. Professionals in all agencies, and individuals and groups in relevant communities, need to be alert to the possibility of a child being at risk of HBA, or already having suffered HBA.
Advice for parents on a range of parenting issues, including talking to teenagers, fussy eating and teenage aggression. See the NHS website linked below.
SENDIASS Gloucestershire provides information, advice and support on matters relating to children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The service is offered to parents and carers of children and young people aged between 0 and 25 years old. SENDIASS provides free, confidential, impartial advice and helps parents play an active and informed role in their child’s education.
Alateen – Support for families and friends of alcoholics. Tel: 0207 403 0888
FRANK – Support, advice and information on any issues or questions relating to drugs and alcohol 24/365. Helpline: 0300 123 6600. SMS: 8211
Gloucestershire Domestic Abuse Support Service (GDASS) is a county-wide service designed to reduce the level of domestic abuse and improve the safety of victims and their families. The helpdesk is open Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm: Phone: 01452 726 570 Email: [email protected]. GDASS website linked below.
The helpdesk is managed by support workers who are able to offer immediate support and advice and take referrals for our support packages.
Mermaids UK Tel: 0344 334 0550
