Wellbeing & Safety
Alde Valley Academy is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people. Safeguarding is a priority within the Academy and we aim to provide a safe and welcoming environment which is underpinned by a culture of openness where both children and adults feel secure. They are able to raise concerns and believe they are being listened to, with appropriate action taken to keep them safe. As part of the Academy's safeguarding policy, our children are taught to understand and manage risk to keep themselves safe within all aspects of their community.
The safeguarding team at Alde Valley Academy are:
Mr Michael Connell-Smith
Assistant Headteacher
Designated Safeguarding Lead
Mrs Andrea Betts
Assistant Designated Safeguarding Lead
Mr Robert Battle
Assistant Headteacher
Assistant Designated Safeguarding Lead
Mrs Libby Isaac
Assistant Headteacher
Assistant Designated Safeguarding Lead
The Designated Safe Guard Lead and the Deputy are also supported by our heads of year Mrs Debelgeonne (Year 7), Miss Hostler (Year 8), Mrs Dawes (Years 9), Mr Moscovici (Year 10) and Mr Webb (Year 11)
If you have any concerns regarding the wellbeing and safety of your child or a child at Alde Valley Academy please contact the school to discuss these concerns and how we can support you and your child moving forward. Outside of working hours please email either Mr Connell-Smith (DSL) or Ms Betts (DDSL) on the addresses above. If these concerns require urgent, emergency care please call 999.
What we do to safeguard students at Alde Valley Academy:
Pastoral support:
Students are assigned a form tutor who they see daily. This is a student’s first point of contact.
Strong pastoral system with non-teaching Learning Support Managers to support students’ welfare.
Close liaison with parents/carers.
An established ethos of encouraging students to speak to staff about their concerns whether they are their own or their friends’.
Staff trained as Emotional Literacy Support Assistants.
Programmes and interventions to support identified students’ emotional well-being e.g. managing emotions, building positive relationships and anxieties.
A team of Mental Health Support who offer Primary intervention as well as whole school support.
Referrals made to outside agencies if support is needed beyond the expertise available in school e.g School nursing team, Diversion programme through Youth Justice and Specialist Education Service.
Clear expectations and action to maintain a safe environment:
Policies and practises covering safeguarding and child protection.
Comprehensive behaviour policy and systematic and graduating sanction and reward systems.
Staff visual on duty during breaks and start/end of the day, including Senior Leadership Team.
Close monitoring of student attendance with contact being made to parents/carers if a student is absent or late without prior notice.
Safer recruitment practice followed for all staff employed and volunteers working in the school.
Staff receive regular safeguarding updates and training; with a team of staff trained as Designated Safeguarding Leads.
Educating students:
PSHE lessons covering safeguarding issues e.g. anti-bullying, sexual harassment, online safety, healthy relationships, etc, as outlined in the RSE guidance.
Whole school, half termly themes which encompass safeguarding messages through form time activities and assemblies.
Key Stage 3 Computer Science curriculum which covers online safety.
Safety and Security on site:
Secure site with any access during the school day being gained through the main reception where appropriate checks will take place.
Filtered internet access.
Monitoring and checking anything accessed or written on school computer/ICT devices, following up on any concerns.
Risk assessments carried out for offsite activities and for students with specific difficulties.
First aiders on the school site.
Staff wear identification badges.
Visitors wear a lanyard according to their relevant safeguarding checks (Green – the visitor is DBS checked and can be unsupervised. Red – The visitor has not got a DBS check and needs to be supervised at all times).
The above list is not exhaustive but intends to give an overview of the safeguarding measures we have in place at Alde Valley Academy. Further details can be found in the Academy's policies section of the website. Here you will find policies linked to safeguarding, such as: Safeguarding and Child Protection, Online Safety and RSE.
Early Help
At Alde Valley Academy we offer a range of early help strategies to support our students and families, promoting the welfare and safety of all our young people. By identifying emerging problems, sharing information with other professionals and targeting assessed need, we aim to react early rather than later. With this support in place we aim to improve the positive outcomes of our young people and families.
You will find our Early Help offer in the document below.
PSHE
To support with the education of safeguarding issues, students at Alde Valley Academy are delivered a PSHE curriculum which includes Relationships and Sex Education. Key Stage 3 have a fortnightly lesson and Key Stage 4 have PSHE days where they come off their usual timetable for the day.
You will find the PSHE overview in the document below. We use some external agencies to deliver specific aspects of the curriculum so the content order may vary slightly based on their availability.
For further information regarding the RSE curriculum and the right to request a student being withdrawn from the sex education aspect, please refer to the Academy's RSE policy.