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Safeguarding

Amery Hill School is firmly dedicated to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. To achieve our commitment, we will ensure continuous development and improvement of our robust safeguarding processes and procedures that promote a culture of safeguarding amongst our staff and volunteers. We are committed to inspiring, challenging and safeguarding our students, enabling them to become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens, who are able to live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives, whilst making a positive contribution, both socially and economically, to society.

At Amery Hill School, safeguarding is about keeping all our students safe, happy, and supported in all aspects of their lives. It’s not just about responding to serious concerns - it also includes early help; ensuring that the students get the right support as soon as challenges arise.

Safeguarding at Amery Hill School means:

  • Protecting children from abuse, neglect, and harm
  • Providing a safe and supportive school environment
  • Helping children develop confidence, resilience, and well-being
  • Offering early help to children and families before small problems become big ones

What do we mean by Early Help?

Early help is about supporting the students as soon as difficulties arise, rather than waiting until a situation becomes more serious. It’s a way of working together to prevent problems from escalating and to ensure that the students feel safe, supported, and able to thrive.

Children may need Early Help for many reasons, including:

  • Struggling with emotions, anxiety, or mental health
  • Difficulty making friends or feeling isolated
  • Problems at home, such as changes in family circumstances
  • Low self-esteem or confidence issues
  • Struggles with learning, behaviour, or attendance

We provide Early Help in school by:

  • Having trusted adults that children can talk to
  • Offering wellbeing and pastoral support, and counselling
  • Running groups and activities to help build confidence and social skills
  • Teaching children strategies to manage emotions and build resilience
  • Working with outside agencies to provide specialist support if needed

We can also offer support with:

  • Parenting advice and guidance
  • Managing behaviour and emotional wellbeing at home
  • Support for children’s learning and attendance
  • Mental health and well-being support
  • Relationship difficulties and family challenges

How we can work together to keep children safe

  • A safe and supportive school environment – we ensure the school is a safe place for every child, with policies on safeguarding, bullying and E-safety.
  • Trained staff – all staff receive safeguarding training and know how to identify early signs of concern.
  • Encouraging children to speak up – we teach children that it’s okay to ask for help and talk about their worries.
  • Working in partnership – we work with families and external agencies to provide extra support when needed.

If your child is struggling or if your family needs advice, you’re not alone. We would encourage you to talk to us so we can help. You can contact our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) or a Deputy DSL.

By working together, we can create a safe and supportive environment where every child thrives. If you have any concerns, big or small, please reach out.

Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies when there are concerns about a child's welfare. We will ensure that our concerns about a student are discussed with his parents or carers first, unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child's welfare. If a member of staff is concerned about the welfare of a child or young person, they will record their concern, and any observations or conversation heard, and report it to the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) or a Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL) as soon as possible the same day.

Are you concerned about a child?

If you are ever concerned about the safety or wellbeing of someone who is part of our school community, please contact the school's DSL Team by email: safeguarding@ameryhill.school or call us on: 01420 84545

 

The Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is:

Mr M Gibbs (Head of Safeguarding)

 

The Deputy DSLs are:

Mr R Jeckells (Headteacher)

Mrs J Riley (Assistant Headteacher)

Mrs A Lee (Assistant Headteacher)

Mr J Eacott (Assistant Headteacher)

Mrs B Pretsell (Assistant Headteacher)

Ms C White (Student Services Manager)

Ms K Hooker (Student Services Assistant)

Mrs D Winch (Progress Leader for Year 11)

Mr C Board (Progress Leader for Year 10)

Mr J White (Progress Leader for Year 9)

Ms L Lee (Progress Leader for Year 8)

Miss S Holdway (Progress Leader for Year 7)

Contact details: safeguarding@ameryhill.school 

01420 84545

 

The nominated safeguarding trustee is:

Mrs L Bostelmann

Contact details: trustees@ameryhill.school

 

Key Policies:

You can find more detailed information in our school policies: