Safeguarding

These are the email contacts for the Safeguarding Team at Hailsham Community College Academy Trust for both primary and secondary.  If you have any concerns at all about the safety or welfare of a child please make immediate with us directly on 01323 841468 and clearly state that your call relates to a potential safeguarding issue.  If your concern is outside of our college 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.

You can access the Child Exploitation & Online Protection Centre directly by clicking on the CEOP website

Hailsham Community College Academy Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare, both physical and emotional, of every student both inside and outside the school premises.  We aim to provide a caring, positive, safe and stimulating environment which promotes the social, physical and moral development of our learners and strive to make sure that every student feels secure, well cared for, and able to reach their full potential.

Hailsham Community College Academy Trust understands and is committed to the vital contribution that all trustees, staff, parents and students can make to safeguarding children and every of staff at Hailsham Community College Academy Trust has a collective recognition of the importance of providing an environment that helps children feel safe and respected and a culture that encourages children to talk openly and have the confidence they will be listened to.  Safeguarding is the proactive stance which aims to protect children from abuse or harm and Child Protection is the reactive stance taken to support students whom the college suspects may be in need of protection.

Hailsham Community College Academy Trust follows Safer Recruitment procedures as outlined in our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy to ensure all staff are suitable to work with children, including carrying out checks with the Disclosure Barring Service.  All visitors to the college sign in at reception on both sites (primary & secondary) and receive a visitors badge for the duration of their stay.  All staff and students are expected to challenge individuals who are not wearing a badge and are not known to them.

All staff undergo annual safeguarding training and regular updates throughout the academic year.  All staff and students receive e-safety training to raise awareness of the new challenges relation to the internet with the aim to reduce its misuse, including social media sites to minimise the incidents of cyberbullying and its effects.  Please see below of recommended age restrictions for the most popular social media platforms.

Staff receive training to raise awareness of the Prevent strategy with the aim of reducing the risk of radicalisation and the ideological challenge of terrorism.  Staff are aware of their duty to be alert to female students who may be at risk of Female Genital Mutilation and the key indicators to recognise children at risk of Child Sex Exploitation.

Our curriculum is designed to create awareness in students of safeguarding issues and how to deal with them.  Issues are covered in the PSHE (Personal Social and Health Education) programme, our assembly programme and during mentor times and more generally the curriculum.  Training for all staff in identifying, reporting procedures and dealing with such issues is regular and thorough.  We will continue to ensure that all our staff, other professionals, parents/carers and students work together to know the rules about keeping children safe.  They will understand the importance of following procedures and listening to each other, especially when there are concerns about safety.

There are a number of related policies and procedures linked to Safeguarding, some of which are a statutory requirement and some are considered to be best practice in order to support us with our collective responsibility of Keeping Children Safe in Education.  The non-statutory policies and procedures that are in place which support and have a relevance to safeguarding are not all listed here but are available on request.

SAFEGUARDING & CHILD PROTECTION POLICY

This comprehensive policy sets out clear and consistent framework for safeguarding and promoting the welfare, both physical and emotional of every student in line with relevant safeguarding legislation and the DFE’s Keeping Children Safe in Education statutory guidance document.  It also complies with the statutory duty under Section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 that states all schools and educational establishments must have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.  This is called the Prevent Duty.  For further practical advice on how to protect children from the dangers of extremism, which includes information on the warning signs, how parents should talk to children about extremism and the steps concerned parents should take please visit Educate Against Hate – Prevent Radicalisation & Extremism

The DfE defines radicalisation as: “the process by which a person comes to support terrorism and forms of extremism leading to terrorism”

The DfE defines extremism as: “the vocal opposition to fundamental British Values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs.

Advice and Support for Parents

The following organisations and details can provide help if you should need it.  The College’s Safeguarding Team are always happy to help and advise you where we can.  The Safeguarding Team can be contacted via the email.

• Childline
• NSPCC
• Chat Health
• Talk to Us
• E-motion
• Young Minds
• I-Rock
• Police 101 (Emergency 999)
• Domestic Abuse
• CAMHS – Hailsham 01323 446070
• Hailsham food bank
• SPOA – 01323 464222 (Children Services)
• CEOP (Online Safety)

We know that anyone can reach crisis point, particularly over the last few years and as such may be in need of some short term support from the Foodbank.

Hailsham Community College are able to issue e-vouchers.  If you would like to receive a Foodbank voucher to be used in any foodbank, please do email us at