Heathfield Community College is dedicated to safeguarding and promoting the physical and emotional wellbeing of every student. We are committed to creating a caring, positive, safe, and stimulating environment that nurtures our students’ social, physical, and moral development, ensuring that every student feels secure, valued, and supported in achieving their full potential. Our Safeguarding Policy demonstrate our ongoing commitment to protecting and promoting the welfare of all students and is aligned with the Keeping Children Safe in Education: Statutory Guidance for Schools and Colleges.
We believe that all children have a fundamental right to feel safe and protected, therefore we recognises the importance of providing an ethos and environment that will help our students to feel safe and secure. We encourage students to talk openly to us and we understand that all members of staff play a vital role in ensuring children feel safe, secure and listened to, and that their voices are heard. We remain vigilant for any signs of abuse or neglect and follow our procedures to ensure that children receive the support, protection, and justice they need.
The Safeguarding Team can be contacted at [email protected].
Except in exceptional circumstances, the Safeguarding Team will aim to respond to emails within 48 hours/two working days from receipt. This is because the matter may need investigation or because colleagues are engaged in teaching/working with students.
As a first point of contact for any pastoral matters, you should email your child’s tutor or Pastoral Manager, however, please note they will aim to respond within a 48 hours/two working days window. If your email is in reference to a subject specific matter then please contact your child’s class teacher in the first instance. Staff emails can be found on the school website: https://www.heathfieldcc.co.uk/?page_id=675362
If your concern is outside of school hours or during the school holidays, please contact the police or the Single Point of Advice team directly. Please see details below.
- Referrals into Early Help and Social Care Single Point of Advice: 01323 464222 or Contacting the Single Point of Advice (SPoA) | East Sussex County Council
- Emergency Duty Service (after hours, weekends and public holidays): 01273 335906 or 01273 335905
If a child is in imminent danger then please dial 999 for the Police.
If you are worried about online sexual abuse or the way someone has been communiicating with you online you can make a report to CEOP.
The website also provides support and information for children and young people, parents and carers and professionals
National UK charity whose work helps protect children and prevent abuse.
Services include: NSPCC Helpline, Childline, working with schools, regional and national hubs, working face to face in the local community, advice, guidance and support for families and children.
Report Remove is here to help young people under 18 in the UK to confidentially report sexual images and videos of themselves and remove them from the internet.
If you’ve experienced or witnessed harm online you can report this content.
The website also provides information on what harmful content is, advice for reporting this content and when to go to the police
Helping young people stay safe online: UKSIC provide support and services to children, young people and adults facing online harms.
There are helplines for:
- Professionals working with children
- Young people with online safety issues
- Support for adults facing harmful content and non-consensual intimate imagery online
As well as a hotline which provides an anonymous and safe place to report and remove online child sexual abuse images.
If you are worried about someone expressing extreme views or hatred that could lead to them harming themselves or others ACT work with organisations such as police and the Home Office PREVENT programme.
You can share your concerns with ACT through their 24 hour support line.
Online safety at Heathfield: https://www.heathfieldcc.co.uk/?page_id=445362
Social Media guide for parents: https://www.heathfieldcc.co.uk/?page_id=2377545
Online Safety Issues: Parent Guide: https://www.heathfieldcc.co.uk/?page_id=2377569
Operation Encompass is a Police initiative, to inform schools within 24 hours, when there has been an incident of Domestic Violence or Abuse which involves a pupil at the school.
When the Police attend a DV/A incident, and there are children present, they will identify the children’s schools and then notify the school, via email, that the incident occurred.
The information shared with the school will be limited: no details of the incident, merely that there was an incident and that Police attended.
By informing the school of this, the school can be better equipped to support that child.
We are an Operation Encompass School. More information about this initiative can be found on their website https://www.operationencompass.org/
