Safeguarding Overview

Grove Academy safeguarding statement

At Grove Academy safeguarding is integral to every aspect of our school community. Safeguarding is not a separate issue; it is woven into the fabric of the curriculum, teaching practices, and extracurricular activities. Teachers, staff, and visitors are trained to recognise and respond to signs of abuse, neglect, and exploitation, and to understand their roles in keeping children safe.

We ensure that safeguarding is embedded through all lessons, activities, and interactions, promoting a culture of readiness, respectfulness and safety. Through lesson content and discussions, students are encouraged to understand their rights and responsibilities, as well as the importance of personal safety, well-being, and respect for others. This is underpinned by the school ‘Keeping Safe at Grove and Beyond’ programme.

All students and adults within the school community have a clear understanding of safeguarding procedures, how to recognise potential risks, and how to seek help if needed. We work in partnership with parents, carers, and external agencies to ensure a coordinated approach to safeguarding, providing a safe and supportive environment where every child can thrive academically, emotionally, and socially.

Our approach is in line with the latest guidance from "Keeping Children Safe in Education" (KCSIE) 2024, ensuring that the welfare of every child is prioritised.

At Grove Academy we recognise that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, and it is embedded into every lesson, activity, and interaction to ensure the well-being and safety of all children.

Feedback from Osfted Monitoring visit 2023

"members of the safeguarding team are very visible around the school, and this helps pupils to feel safe. All pupils spoken to have a named adult who they can go to if they are worried or concerned." ​

"The ‘Staying safe at Grove and beyond’ programme underpins this, where pupils learn how to stay safe online and in the community."

SEE HERE FOR THE SAFEGUARDING AUDIT 2022

"Through a strong focus on a clear strategy regarding “Keeping Safe at Grove Academy”, and a diligent response by senior leaders …. the culture of safeguarding has been significantly strengthened at Grove…."

• Pupils feel safe and report that they are safe due to the care staff show them
• Pupils can clearly identify trusted adults they would turn to if they had a concern
• Staff are secure when using the systems and processes established by the school regarding safeguarding

Everyone at Grove Academy shares an objective to help keep our children safe. 

We do this by providing a safe environment for children to learn and play, identifying children who are suffering or likely to suffer significant harm, and taking appropriate action with the aim of making sure they are kept safe both at school and at home. 

In order to achieve this, we have systems in place which are designed to: 

• Prevent unsuitable people working with children.
• Promote safe practice and challenge poor and unsafe practice.
• Identify instances in which there are grounds for concern about a child’s welfare and initiate or take appropriate action to keep them safe.
• Contribute to effective partnership working between all those involved with providing services for children and young people. 

The words 'safeguarding ' and 'child protection' are often used interchangeably, but they have distinct meanings. Safeguarding is what we are doing for all our children; child protection refers to the policy and procedures we have for referring and supporting children at risk of serious harm, or who have been seriously harmed. The definition of safeguarding is given in 'Keeping Children Safe in Education'.

• providing help and support to meet the needs of children as soon as problems emerge 
• protecting children from maltreatment, whether that is within or outside the home, including online
• preventing the impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development 
• ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care 
• taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes

We work with parents, the Local Authority and other professionals to maintain children's safety. We also follow procedures set out by the local Safeguarding Children's Board and take account of guidance issued by the Department of Education (Dfe), and document 'Keeping Children Safe in Education'.

All members of staff are responsible for safeguarding but in addition we have a number of staff with designated safeguarding responsibilities. 

The safeguarding team can be contacted by emailing safeguarding@groveacademy.co.uk 

The Safeguarding Team at Grove Academy are:

Further advice can also be found on the Slough Safeguarding Partnership website: 
https://www.sloughsafeguardingpartnership.org.uk/ 
Tel: 01753 875362 
If you would like more information on our policies and procedures, then please refer to our policies page, or call into the office for a copy of our policies, alternatively telephone: 01753 517359