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Safeguarding

Great Marlow School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare and safety of all students, all staff and volunteers share in this commitment.

Safeguarding Team

For any safeguarding related queries please email: safeguarding@gms.bucks.sch.uk
Mr N Maguire
Designated Safeguarding Lead & Teacher for Looked after Children
Mrs K Craig
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Mr K Ford
Headteacher Safeguarding
Mrs A Gifford
Safeguarding Officer
Mrs S Paul
Safeguarding Officer
Mr J Beukes
Designated Trustee for Safeguarding

The Safeguarding & Child Protection Policy has been written in accordance with the vision of the school to provide ‘a high quality learning environment that inspires students, staff and the community to be compassionate, successful and resilient contributors to a better society’, alongside the school’s core values of ‘excellence, compassion and integrity’.

 

The Safeguarding & Child Protection Policy and the practices it promotes reflect three key DFE safeguarding documents:

 

 

The Designated Safeguarding Lead is Neil Maguire (Deputy Headteacher). Other staff trained in child protection are Karen Craig (Assistant Headteacher), Kevin Ford (Headteacher), two Safeguarding Officers, namely Anna Gifford and Sheryl Paul.

Great Marlow School’s policies have effective child protection and safeguarding procedures in place, which include tackling radicalisation and extremism, together with recording and monitoring processes. To promote a safe environment for students, GMS employs a strict selection and recruitment policy, which includes all statutory checks on staff and regular volunteers, including enhanced disclosure and debarring service checks (DBS).

As a minimum, all staff receive an annual Child Protection and Safeguarding update training and are aware of the procedures for passing on concerns within school. Safeguarding practices and training are regularly reviewed and updates are given throughout the year, as and when deemed necessary, to take account of national, regional and more local issues. If any member of the school or local community has concerns about the welfare of a child in the school, please pass them on to the Designated Safeguarding Lead or a member of that team. All referrals are logged and monitored to make sure that they are followed up swiftly and appropriately.

 

As a key part of the safeguarding strategy, student attendance is monitored closely, and concerns are shared, as appropriate, with parents/carers, Buckinghamshire County Council, social care and the school’s safeguarding team. Great Marlow School works effectively with other agencies and parents/carers when necessary to safeguard young people.

Should there be any serious concerns about a child, or a member of staff at Great Marlow School, the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) should be contacted, who will provide advice and help using the appropriate degree of confidentiality. Our Child Protection Policy can be found on our school website.

If you are concerned about a child, you can also call the Buckinghamshire Social Care “First Response Team” on 01296 383962 or if a child is at immediate risk of significant harm call 999.

Related Policies

Below are links to GMS Child Protection & Safeguarding policy, Mental Health support page and National Crime Agency page.

Child Protection and Safeguarding

Policy about Child Safety at GMS

Mental Health Resources

Support and awareness for mental health in young people

National Crime Agency

A law enforcement agency fighting to cut serious and organised crime such as 'sextortion', a financially motivated sexual extortion (a type of online blackmail). Children and young people worldwide are being targeted.

National Online Safety Guides

The online world is posing an ever-increasing risk to children and it is important that schools, parents and carers work together to take an active role in teaching children about online dangers and how to act safely when using the internet.

We are therefore delighted to announce that Great Marlow School has shown our commitment to protecting its pupils online and has worked with National Online Safety to deliver an interactive online workshop for all our parents & carers.

The course can be taken at your own convenience and covers:

 

  • Information about online dangers and the newest platforms
  • What online risks to look out for and how to protect your child

 

Please find below the URL you need to visit to register your account. This link is also available via ‘Parent & Carers’ -> ‘Internet Safety’ menu. You will need to complete your details and select “I am a: Parent/Carer” from the drop down:

http://nationalonlinesafety.com/enrol/great-marlow-school

Once you have registered, you will be able to access the “Online Safety for Parents and Carers’ course and National Online Safety’s Resources (which includes 50+ online platform guides on the latest social media channels and games). This aims to help empower parents with the knowledge to protect their children from the dangers of the internet.

If you have any questions, or trouble accessing the course please contact: support@nationalonlinesafety.com

Online Safety Resources for both students and parent/carers

Childline

Childline helps anyone under 19 in the UK with any issue they’re going through. You can talk about anything. Whether it’s something big or small, trained counsellors are there to support you.

Galop

Galop works directly with thousands of LGBT+ people who have experienced abuse and violence every year. We are a service run by LGBT+ people, for LGBT+ people, and the needs of our community are at the centre of what we

Kooth

Kooth provides an online mental wellbeing community. Free, safe and anonymous support.

Mind

Mind provides advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. We campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding.

Papyrus

Papyrusis the national charity dedicated to the prevention of young suicide.

NSPCC

NSPCC is the UK's leading children’s charity. They have been looking out for children for over 130 years.