“Leaders have placed a high priority on strengthening the safeguarding practice in the school. Staff are well-trained and are clear about what they must do if they are concerned. Individual cases are closely monitored by staff and actions followed up. Leaders work closely with external agencies when required. Leaders know about potential safeguarding risks. They make sure these are covered in the curriculum, assemblies or targeted events.” Ofsted 2022
Please contact the school office immediately, should you have any concerns about your young person’s welfare, or that of another child. You can also speak to our PFSA or your keyworker.
If your concerns arise during the school holidays you may also use the following links:
https://beta.somerset.gov.uk/education-and-families/children/report-a-child-at-risk/
https://www.somerset.gov.uk/social-care-and-health/report-an-adult-at-risk/
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 academy 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 along with all other academy policies on the Policies page under the Key Information menu.
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 Sky 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.
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.
CSE can occur over time or be a one-off occurrence and may happen without the child’s immediate knowledge, for example through others sharing videos or images of them on social media. CSE can affect any child who has been coerced into engaging in sexual activities. This includes 16- and 17-year-olds who can legally consent to have sex. Some children may not realise they are being exploited. For example, they may believe they are in a genuine romantic relationship.
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.
