Safeguarding
"Staff work hard to promote high standards of behaviour and act as good role models for the students. Good relationships exist between staff and students."
Section 48
At St John Fisher Catholic Academy, safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do. We are fully committed to promoting the welfare, safety, and wellbeing of all our students, and we expect every member of staff, volunteer, and visitor to share in this responsibility.
We ensure that robust and effective safeguarding procedures are in place to protect and support all members of our school community. Our approach is rooted in care, vigilance, and the belief that every child has the right to feel safe, valued, and respected.
As part of the wider North Yorkshire community, we follow the safeguarding procedures set out by the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (NYSCP). We work closely with external agencies and families to provide the best possible support for our students.
All safeguarding concerns are passed directly to trained members of staff who serve as the school’s Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs). In line with national guidance on the safe sharing of information, our school uses CPOMS, a secure system for recording and monitoring all safeguarding, child protection, pastoral, and welfare concerns.
We are proud of our strong safeguarding culture and continue to review and strengthen our practices to ensure that St John Fisher remains a safe and nurturing environment for every child.
Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy 2024
St John Fisher Catholic Academy considers the safety, health, well-being and welfare of its students as paramount. We are committed to safeguarding and work together to ensure that our students thrive in a safe and supportive environment, whatever their age, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual identity or gender.
All staff in the Academy are trained in Safeguarding and Child Protection issues and are kept up to date with changes in legislation and practice. We take any allegation and suspicion of abuse seriously and will respond to them promptly.
All staff recruited to the Academy undergo a rigorous safer recruitment process in line with the Statutory Guidance outlined by Keeping Children Safe in Education and therefore all the necessary background checks for example DBS are completed before staff begin employment.
We have adopted the definition of Safeguarding used in the Children Act 1989 and the Children Act 2004 and the DfE guidance document: Working Together to Safeguard Children March 2015 which focuses on safeguarding and promoting children, young people and vulnerable adult’s welfare.
- Protecting children from maltreatment
- Preventing impairment of children’s health or development
- Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
- Taking action to enable all children and young people to have the best outcome
Safeguarding includes child protection, health care plans, health and safety, site security and safety on school trips.
The school adheres to the following three DFE safeguarding documents
- Working Together to Safeguard Children
- Keeping Children Safe in Education
- The Prevent Duty
The academy Designated Safeguarding Lead is Mrs Crichton, Assistant Headteacher.
The following staff are also members of the Designated Safeguarding team.
- Mr Mort Headteacher
- Mrs Luke Senior Deputy Headteacher
- Mr Marcus Philpott Assistant Headteacher
The Designated Safeguarding Team responsibilities include:
- Ensuring procedures to safeguard young people are in place and are updated as appropriate
- Raising awareness about safeguarding issues to overcome barriers to young people reporting their concerns
- Helping adults recognise the signs and indicators that might give rise to safeguarding concerns
- Providing help and advice on how to respond to safeguarding concerns about young people and how to respond appropriately.
- Explaining ways in which adults can raise concerns about unacceptable behaviour by other adults.
- Addressing specific issues such as photography and images on the internet, supporting performers, physical contact, one-to-one coaching, journeys in cars, conduct on school trips, etc.
- Providing advice/support to staff, parents, and carers and for confidential discussions about concerns.
- Co-ordinating arrangements for monitoring of students who have been identified as in need of protection.
- Making referrals to social care and other external agencies.
If a parent, carer, visitor, or guest has any concerns that a student or family at our school is at risk of harm please contact the school office and request to speak to Mrs Crichton Designated Safeguarding Lead or Mrs Hutchinson-Jones Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead.
We value your support in ensuring that our students are safeguarded and that we do everything we can to prevent them from being at risk of harm or significant harm.
The designated staff can offer support, advice and provide guidance with regards to any safeguarding or child protection concerns you may have, and the school have specialist support services within and out of the school to provide care, support and guidance for students if needed.
The school’s Child Protection policy is available on this website. If you require a copy of our Child Protection Policy, please e-mail office@sjfchs.org.uk and a paper copy will be provided.
The following websites may be useful for parents.