Safeguarding
Child protection is an integrated part of the ethos and practices of our school. Our pupils, by default of having an Educational Health and Care Plan are children in need. The Windmill School is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all pupils and staff. The Headteacher is the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) however there are also 2 members of the teaching staff who are deputy DSL's. A trained DSL will be on site at all times.
Where staff have a concern about a child they follow the processes outlined in the schools Child Protection Policy, this includes making a report via CPOMS which is a safeguarding and child protection management system for schools.
Every member of the school staff team has an obligation to report any concerns they may have. Once information is logged into the central system an alert is sent to the DSL and deputy DSL so that a chronology is build around that pupil and can be used to produce reports for OFSTED and school Governors. CPOMS is not a replacement for immediately passing on a child protection concern to a Designated Safeguarding Lead.
All school staff have read Part 1 of Keeping Children Safe in Education (2023) (KCSIE).
Under no circumstances will a volunteer who has not been checked be left unsupervised or allowed to work in regulated activity. We use the Disclosure and Barring Service DBS standard and enhanced ID checks for all staff employed. When recruiting new staff we follow the 'Safer Recruitment' processes including as appropriate relevant sections of KCSIE (2023).
We view school as a protective factor in a child or young persons life and attendance is a high priority.
We work with all teams around each child to ensure any circumstances that prevent a child from attending school are quickly addressed.
Online Safety and Cyber Security are given an exceptionally high priority in our school. Autistic young people are often straightforward, and they may not always grasp easily that not everything is to be trusted on the internet. Whilst this is a huge advantage (due to their honesty) nonetheless, our pupils may be vulnerable. It is very important to teach an autistic child that not everyone is as sincere as they are and protect them from the plethora of information on the world wide web. See our section on E-Safety for parents for more information.
Safeguarding & Child Protection Policy