Safeguarding
If you have any concerns about a child, or member of staff, within our school you should share this information immediately.
The named people below are the people who you should talk to within West Wycombe School if you have a concern about a child - however if they are unavailable please speak to the most senior member of staff available.
You can email the DSLs on safeguarding@wwglt.co.uk.
If your concerns are about a member of staff please speak to the Head of School or if the concern is about the Head of School please contact the Chair of Governors.
Our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is:
Ed Tang (Headteacher)
Mr Tang is also the Designated Teacher for Looked After and Previously Looked After Children.
Our Additional DSLs is:
Mr D. St Croix (Deputy Headteacher)
Our Safeguarding Governor is:
Mrs C. Ramsay
Please see our E-Safety page for parent guides to online sites, such as Oovoo, Instagram etc.
To report child abuse to the local council, click here:
Safeguarding Statement
At West Wycombe School, the health, safety and well-being of every child are our paramount concern. We listen to our pupils and take seriously what they tell us. Our aim is for children to enjoy their time as pupils in this school. We want to work in partnership with you to help your child achieve their full potential and make a positive contribution.
To promote a safe environment for children, our selection and recruitment policy includes all checks on staff and regular volunteers’ suitability, including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, as recommended by Buckinghamshire County Council in accordance with current legislation.
In accordance with our responsibilities under section 175/157 of the Education Act 2002 and “Keeping Children Safe in Education “ 2019, we have a Designated Safeguarding Lead for Child Protection (Mr Tang) who is a member of the senior management team, and has received appropriate training for this role. It is their responsibility to ensure that all staff in contact with children receives child protection awareness training on a regular basis.
Occasions do arise when our concern about a child mean we have to consult other agencies. Whilst we would always aim to work in partnership with parents there may be exceptions to this when concerns are raised for the protection of a child.
On very rare occasions Social Care, whilst undertaking an investigation under s47 of the Children Act 1989, may want to speak to a child without a parents’ knowledge. This would be a decision made in collaboration with partner agencies and would only be done in situations where a child might be at immediate risk. To gain consent at this point may increase the level of risk to the child or cause evidence of a crime to be lost.
The procedures, which we follow, have been laid down by the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board, and the school has adopted a Child Protection Policy in line with this for the safety of all. If you want to know more about our procedures, please speak to Mr Tang or Mr D. St Croix.
Mrs C. Ramsay is the Full Governing Board member with responsibility for Safeguarding.
Share Aware overview
Share Aware, from NSPCC and O2, gives parents all the tools they need to have regular and informed conversations with their child about staying safe online. Under 20% of parents discuss online safety regularly with their children but we want to get every family talking about their child’s life online, just as they would their day at school.
Parents can sign up to the Icebreaker email series and become an expert in their child’s online world in 6 weeks, follow our four simple steps to keeping kids safe online, watch our film ‘Safety advice from a 10 year old’ or visit Net Aware – our guide to your child’s social networks apps and games.
The internet is a great place for kids to be, being Share Aware makes it safer.
- Just like in real life, kids need our help to stay safe online. Teach your child to be #ShareAware with @NSPCC and @O2 https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/share-aware/
- Teach your child to be #ShareAware online, with step-by-step advice from @NSPCC https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/share-aware/
Share Aware campaign overview
To kids, online life is real life. And, just like in real life, kids need help to stay safe online.
Share Aware is an NSPCC and O2 campaign to help parents have regular and informed conversations with their child about online safety. We're aiming to get every family in the UK chatting about their kids' online world, just like they would about their day at school.
We tell children that’s it’s good to share, but online it’s different and sometimes it can be dangerous. Through our straight-forward, step-by-step advice and Icebreaker email series, we’ll show parents how to untangle the web and teach children how to make the right decisions online, even when parents aren’t there.
- Our new TV ad – Safety advice from a 10 year old.
- Icebreakers email series – We’ve teamed up with O2 to create a bespoke email series full of tips and information on different issues eg cyberbullying and inappropriate content, with activities parents can complete with their child.
- Mumsnet partnership – Join our Twitter Q&A at 12.30pm on 16th May using #ShareAware, alongside a Mumsnet Facebook live.
- Family agreements – We have created a downloadable family agreements document for families to complete and fill in together.
- Share Aware homepage - Read our step-by-step guide to being Share Aware and our TEAM (Talk, Explore, Manage, Agree) framework on how to stay safe online in four simple steps.
- Net Aware - Our guide to the most popular social networks sites, apps and games that children use. New sites site such as Musical.ly, Kiwi and Pokemon Go have been added this year, along with a breaking news page and top tips from O2 Gurus on blocking, private account settings or in-app purchases. The new Net Aware can be downloaded on both iOS and Android.
- Specialised advice - Advisors at our O2 & NSPCC Online Safety Helpline – 0808 800 5002 – are here to help with any questions, or anyone can make an appointment with a Guru in store.
Security and Safety
The welfare of pupils and staff is a priority and so the school follows the Buckinghamshire procedures for safeguarding children. Over the past few years we have addressed the issue of security in a pro-active manner.
We have a remote switched front door with a speech panel. Visitors sign in as they enter school and are asked to wear a visitor badge. Staff are always vigilant. Children are not allowed to wait at the gate for parents. They should be collected, but if there is a delay in collection, children are instructed to wait in the reception foyer.
At this school, the health, safety and well-being of every child is our paramount concern. We listen to our pupils and take seriously what they tell us. We want to work in partnership to help all children achieve their full potential and make a positive contribution. On rare occasions our concern about a child may mean that we have to consult other agencies even before we contact you. The procedures, which we follow, have been laid down by the Buckinghamshire Area Child Protection Committee, and the school has adopted a Child Protection Policy in line with this for the safety of all. If you want to know more about our procedures or the policy, please speak to the Headteacher or your child’s class teacher.
Page last updated: 20/11/23