Safeguarding

All schools have safeguarding duties in respect of their students, and as part of this should investigate any unexplained absences and gives due regard to this responsibility.

The academy collaborates closely with the education support, behaviour and attendance service (ESBAS), other schools and local social services to ensure that children do not go missing from education. No child of compulsory school age is removed from the school roll at the Academy without the authorisation of the designated safeguarding lead and without confirmation from the school the student is joining or without the academy notifying the local authority or ESBAS.

Nationally, students with school attendance average of 90% or less are considered persistently absent and therefore at risk of becoming not in education or employment (NEET) or being the victim of abuse or exploitation. As such, the Academy refers all students with an average attendance of less than 90% to ESBAS. We work with families who have children who are at risk of becoming persistently absent in order to improve the attendance of their children.

We are taking part in an operation that will run jointly with Sussex Police called Operation Encompass.

Operation Encompass has been designed to provide early reporting to schools and colleges of any domestic abuse incidents that occur in which a child was present, ordinarily resides at the incident location or with an involved party. We know that children can be significantly affected through witnessing or being exposed to domestic abuse and this operation will allow us to better support our students and their families.

Nominated members of staff, known as a key adults, have been trained to liaise with the police. At The St Leonards Academy our key adults are the safeguarding team. They will be able to use information that has been shared with them, in confidence, to ensure that the right support is available should it be required by a child and / or their family.

We are keen to offer the best support available to our students and we believe this is going to be extremely beneficial for all those involved.

If you have any concerns or questions then please contact the safeguarding team and we will be happy to discuss this further.

All adults at the Academy play a vital role in protecting young people from extremist groups or individuals who deliberately try to radicalise or recruit them using the internet and social media. Furthermore, the Academy is dedicated to serving the local and national community by promoting the fundamental rights and values that characterise British society.

The Academy provides a safe environment in which students can discuss issues such as extremism and terrorism in an age-appropriate and balanced way. Examples include lessons on extremism and radicalisation in ‘lifelong learning’, discussions of extremist views expressed in ‘Animal Farm’ during English literature lessons and learning about terrorism and democracy during history lessons. Opportunities to debate stereotyping, propaganda, online safety and freedom of speech can be found across the curriculum.

All students at the academy are taught to participate in and value democracy. There is an active, elected school parliament who run, amongst other things, weekly tutor groups discussions on issues that affect the whole academy. We hold regular ‘mock’ elections to coincide with national elections and have recently had fantastic turn outs for a mock ‘Brexit’ referendum and a mock general election.

The Academy’s internet filtering system effectively prevents students from accessing dangerous websites and students receive regular lessons and assemblies on e-safety. All teaching staff have completed the Metropolitan Police’s online ‘Channel’ training to help them spot students in danger of radicalisation and new staff receive training in their safeguarding duties. The academy works closely with the local police and Children's Services to offer support to any students identified as being at risk .