Safeguarding
Above all else, Sacred Heart is committed to keeping children safe. All staff are required to read the school's Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy annually, together with the latest government policy guidance on Keeping Children Safe in Education. All staff are also required to sign annually, their commitment to abiding by our Code of Ethical Practice. Thorough staff safeguarding workshops are held at the start of every year and this training is then supplemented further with compulsory completion of online safeguarding modules and other related sessions during the year.
Safeguarding is the responsibility of our whole community, including parents. The school is always helped by knowing if there are any serious problems at home that may affect our students in any way. Such information will be handled confidentially and parents and students should feel confident in telling either the Pastoral Support Manager or their Head of Year or a member of the Senior Leadership Team or the Headteacher what is happening.
We have included some useful guides for parents at the end of this page.
School Policies
While safeguarding affects everything we do, the school has a number of specific policies that address aspects of this. These include our Child Protection & Safeguarding policy, Anti-Bullying Policy, Acceptable Use of Computers Agreement for Students, Children Missing Education Policy, Drugs Policy, Health & Safety Policy, Mobile Phone Policy, Online Safety Policy, Prevent Duty Policy, Awareness & Roles Relating to Self Harm Policy, Whistleblowing & Low level Concerns Policy [discuss which to include, not ALL on website]
Bullying
The school takes any instance of bullying very seriously.
Concerns raised by parents and carers: Any immediately urgent issues can be reported by phone to the school. An appropriate member of staff will be found to make a note and take action as appropriate.
You can also report bullying by emailing the Head of Year. Heads of Year can be contacted directly through Edulink One. Please login to Edulink, click messages at the bottom of the screen, then select your daughter that the message relates to by clicking the student’s image. You can then select at the top, to send a message to the Head of Year.
For information the Heads of Year are listed below:
| Head of Year 7 | Ms B Dancer |
| Head of Year 8 | Ms N Nye |
| Head of Year 9 | Ms R Cunningham |
| Head of Year 10 | Ms S Westley |
| Head of Year 11 | Ms M Curtis |
| Head of Years 12 & 13 | Ms C McCarthy |
Concerns raised by students: Students can speak with any member of staff but the school has just purchased two secure boxes for students to be able to post their own concerns, anonymously if they prefer. These should arrive next week and students will then be notified of this resource.
School Counsellors
Occasionally, it is helpful for a student to have the possibility of talking to someone who is neither a parent nor a teacher nor a friend of the same age. The school is able to make available the services of a trained counsellor each week.
Key Staff
The headteacher Mrs S O'Donovan is ultimately responsible for Safeguarding but in the first instance if you have a concern, or need to inform us about something then please contact our Designated Senior Lead for Safeguarding (our deputy headteacher) Mrs M Conran, contact details below. In her absence, please contact Ms B Sharma.
Please report anything that could be a worry, you do not need 'proof' to raise a concern and you can raise concern about any student, not just your own daughter. We would far rather be alerted to a possible problem than know nothing about it.
If your concern relates to the headteacher, then please contact the Chair of Governors, using the email shown below.
If your concern relates to the possible radicalisation of a student, then you could also contact Ms Maton directly.
| Designated Senior Lead (DSL) for Safeguarding |  |
Ms M Conran, Deputy Headteacher |
safeguarding@sacredh.lbhf.sch.uk |
| Operational Safeguarding Lead for all key stages |  |
Ms B Sharma, Pastoral Support Manager | 0208 748 7600 x213 |
| Designated Senior Person for the Prevent Duty (this relates to preventing radicalisation) |  |
Ms E Maton | 0208 748 7600 x 239 |
| Chair of Governors | Glen Hodgson | governors@sacredh.lbhf.sch.uk |
Useful Fact Sheets
We subscribe to a useful online safeguarding portal which provides a range of up-to-date fact sheets for parents and carers. The following may be helpful to you:
10 tips to Help Your Child Stay Safe Online
Guide for parents about children using social media
County Lines, Parent Fact Sheet
Cyber-Flashing, Parent Fact Sheet
Helplines for Parents and Carers
Loot Boxes & Skins Betting, Parent Fact Sheet