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Safeguarding and Child Protection in Education Policy

​Version: 1.8

Date: 15 June 2026

Next review date: May 2027

 

 

 

Introduction

OBA School has the commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable people in education. We respect our pupils and want to provide them with a safe environment and virtual environment that encourages them to achieve their best. We regularly audit our safeguarding policies to ensure the protection of our pupils.

 

Aims

The aims of this policy are to:

  • To provide an environment in which pupils feel safe, secure, valued and respected, and feel confident, and know how to approach adults if they are in difficulties, believing they will be effectively listened to

  • To raise the awareness of all our staff of the need to safeguard children and of their responsibilities in identifying and reporting possible cases of abuse

  • Ensure protecting children with special educational needs and disabilities from maltreatment

  • Mature students refers to students above 18 years old, in the school community are aware of the expected behaviours and the school’s legal responsibilities in relation to safeguarding and child protection

  • Ensure that wherever possible every effort will be made to establish effective work relationships with parents and organisations that we are in partnership with in-line with our safeguarding and Children Protection Policy standard  

Scope

This policy defines a child or pupils as anyone under the age of 18 years. The policy applies to all members of staff in our school, including all permanent, temporary and support staff.

 

Record keeping

OBA School ensures keeping clear written records of all pupil safeguarding and child protection concerns including actions taken and outcomes as appropriate, and also ensures all records are stored securely online on our secured drive of the school administrator account

 

Confidentiality in the context of child protection

OBA School’s staff understand and agree to the importance of respecting issues around confidentiality when they receive their safeguarding briefing.  Our staff must never guarantee confidentiality to a child if they think they may hurt themselves or someone else. If a child asks the adult to keep a secret, the child needs to be advised that the information may need to be shared with others for the benefit of the child.

 

 

 Our Staff

All of our existing staff have been provided with induction and regular internal training to enable them to understand the safeguarding and child protection policy to keep children safe in education. Our safeguarding and child protection policy clearly draws the responsibilities of our staff towards ensuring that all pupils studying with OBA School are kept safe and respected.

 

Inclusion and Equality

OBA School has a commitment to equality and accessibility for all and we believe that everyone studies with us should be treated with care and respect. Our pupils are clearly taught that any form of discrimination on grounds of race, religion, sexuality or disability is wrong and that others’ ideas, cultures, faiths and beliefs should be respected.

 

Cyberbullying

By cyber-bullying, we mean bullying by electronic media such as bullying by texts or calls, the use of mobile phone cameras to cause distress, fear or humiliation, posting threatening, abusive, defamatory or humiliating material on websites, hijacking e-mail accounts, or any such related or similar matter that is considered cyber-bulling.

OBA School will also consider any reported bullying perpetrated outside school which spills over into the school that is related to our young age pupils; therefore, we will respond to any cyber-bullying that we become aware of that has been carried out by pupils when they are away; in which event we will study each individual case and may pass on information to the parents or organisations that we are in partnership with or the police if it feels that it is required to do so.

 

Preventing Radicalisation and Extremism

Our staff are aware of the need to report any signs of radicalisation that a child maybe vulnerable to due to reasons such as political; environmental; animal rights; or faith based extremism that may lead to children being radicalised; in which event we will study each individual case and may pass on information to the parents or organisations that we are in partnership with or the police if it feels that it is appropriate to do so.

 

Grooming and Online Reputation

Online reputation is the opinion others get of a person when they encounter them online. It is formed by posts, photos that have been uploaded and comments made by others on people’s profiles. While the online grooming is the process by which one person with an inappropriate sexual interest in children try to approach a child online, with the intention of developing a relationship with that child, to be able to meet them in person and intentionally cause harm. OBA School will teach children in our care to be cautions of such individuals and prevent any interactions with them. OBA School will not tolerate such an inappropriate acts if occurs or observed and will pass any concerning information to the parents or organisations that we are in partnership with, or the police as soon as it is identified.

 

Children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

Pupils with additional needs face an increased risk of abuse and neglect. Staff take extra care to interpret correctly apparent signs of abuse or neglect. Children who have special educational needs can have additional vulnerabilities when recognising abuse. These can include pupils with communication barriers and difficulties in overcoming these barriers, have an impaired capacity to resist abuse, have communication difficulties that may make it difficult to tell others what is happening, the ones more vulnerable than other children to abuse by their peers.

OBA School staff understand that additional challenges can exist when recognising abuse and neglect in pupils with SEND, including communication barriers. Staff recognise that children with SEND are also at a higher risk of peer group isolation and can be disproportionately affected by bullying. Our staff will ensure making all children and pupils with special needs know how to raise concerns and give them access to a range of our staff with whom they can communicate and report any abuse events

 

Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Between Children

OBA School staff are made aware of what sexual violence and sexual harassment might look like and what to do if they have a concern or receive a report. Whilst any report of sexual violence or sexual harassment should be taken seriously.

OBA School staff are clear that sexual violence and sexual harassment is not acceptable and will not be tolerated if occurs or have an observed signs and will pass on information to the parents or organisations that we are in partnership with or to the police as soon as signs observed.

 

Mental health

All staff are aware that mental health problems can be an indicator that a child has suffered, or is at risk of suffering, abuse, neglect or exploitation.

Staff understand that:

  • Abuse and neglect, or other potentially traumatic adverse childhood experiences can have a lasting impact throughout childhood, adolescence and into adulthood.

  • These experiences can impact on children’s mental health, behaviour and education.

  • OBA Staff have a duty to observe pupils and identify those whose behaviour suggests that they may be experiencing a mental health problem or be at risk of developing one.

 

If OBA School staff have a concern about a pupil mental health that is also a safeguarding concern, they will report this concern using the agreed report procedure

 

Staff with key safeguarding responsibilities

The responsibility for child safeguarding falls on all OBA School’s staff.  All our staff is expected to support the Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy, with overall responsibility falling on the Headteacher. 

The headteacher responsibility is to:

  • Ensure that the Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy is fully implemented and followed by the staff.

  • Ensure that all relevant training for all staff is up-to-date and reviewed annually.

  • Ensure that all staff have received the Safeguarding and Child Protection in Education Policy and have signed to acknowledge they have read and understood its contents.

 

Our designated Child Protection and Safeguarding Lead is Headteacher, Mrs. Suzana Fermawi who can be contracted at headteacher@obaschool.co.uk to address or discuss related concerns.

 

The next review of this Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy will be carried out in June 2027.

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