Safeguarding

Designated Safeguarding Lead:

• Miss. Libby Thomassen (Head of School)

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads:

• Mr. Nathan Ladyman (Assistant headteacher KS1);
• Miss. Katie South (Assistant Headteacher LKS2);
• Mr. Tom Arnold (Assistant Headteacher UKS2);
• Miss. Vicki Gardiner (Director of Inclusion & SENCo);
• Mrs. Claire Cavanagh (Pastoral Support Lead);

At Green Ridge, 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 pupils, our safer recruitment policy includes all checks on staff and regular volunteers’ suitability, including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, in accordance with current legislation, and in addition to this teaching staff are monitored through the recently introduced national prohibition check service.

All entrances and exits to the school are secured during school hours, and the only access to the school is through the main school entrance which has a constantly monitored entry system.

In accordance with our responsibilities under section 175/157 of the Education Act 2002 and “Keeping Children Safe in Education“ September 2023, we have a Designated Safeguarding Lead for Child Protection, Miss. Libby Thomassen 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 receive 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 Buckinghamshire Safeguarding Children Partnership, and the academy has adopted a Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy in line with this for the safety of all. If you want to know more about our procedures, please speak to the one of the safeguarding leaders.  The Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy can be found on our policies page, as well as below.

Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy 2024-2025 (804KB)

Sun Watch/Sun Safety

We advise parents/carers to check UV ratings daily and apply sunscreen on days where the levels are three and above.  Access to the UV ratings can be found here.

For further information and procedures for Sun Safety, please see our Sun Safety policy here.