Safeguarding and Child Protection
What to do if you have a Safeguarding Concern?
Students and parents/carers can raise a concern to any member of staff; however, we also have a dedicated Safeguarding and Wellbeing Team who can be contacted by emailing safeguarding@longroad.ac.uk
For urgent matters, please phone Long Road reception on 01223 631100 and ask to be transferred to a member of the Safeguarding and Wellbeing Team.
Students can speak directly to a member of the team in the Safeguarding and Wellbeing Team area (C4,C6, C9) next to Additional Learning Support.
Under section 175 of the Education Act 2002, colleges must have arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. We will endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued.
The College will therefore be alert to signs of abuse, neglect and exploitation and will follow the Cambridgeshire Safeguarding Children Partnership Board’s procedures to ensure that children receive appropriate and effective support and protection.
Child Protection is for all young people up to the age of 18. The definition of a vulnerable adult is defined in ‘No Secrets’ (the Government’s Guidance on Adult Abuse) as: ‘a person aged 18 years or over, who is in receipt of or may be in need of community care services by reason of ‘mental or other disability, age or illness and who is or may be unable to take care of him or herself, or unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or exploitation’.
Parents and carers should know that the law requires all College staff to pass on information which gives rise to a concern about a child’s welfare, including risk from neglect, physical, emotional or sexual abuse and exploitation. Parents/carers should know that records of safeguarding concerns may be kept about their child. They should be informed that college staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with them, including referrals to other agencies.
However, in certain situations where the child is suspected to be at risk of harm, the law says that colleges may take advice from other agencies without informing parents/carers.
Local procedures state that “Consent should always be sought from an adult with parental responsibility for the child/young person before passing information about them to Children’s Social Care, unless seeking consent would place the child at risk of significant harm or may lead to the loss of evidence, for example destroying evidence of a crime or influencing a child about a disclosure made.” This includes allowing them to share information without consent, if it is not possible to gain consent, if it cannot be reasonably expected that a professional gains consent, or if to gain consent would place a child at risk. Where there is a need to share special category personal data, the Data Protection Act 2018 contains ‘safeguarding of children and individuals at risk’ as a processing condition that allows professionals to share information.
In accordance with legislation and local Information Sharing protocols, we will ensure that information is shared securely and sensitively. Information will only be shared with other services where it is deemed necessary and proportionate to ensure that children and young people are safe and receive the right service. In all circumstances, the safety of the child will be the paramount concern.
The College will seek advice from Children’s Social Care when they have reasonable cause to suspect a child may be suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. Occasionally, concerns are passed on which are later shown to be unfounded. Parents/carers will appreciate that the member of staff in the College with responsibility for child protection (known as the Designated Safeguarding Lead or Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead) was carrying out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acting in the best interests of all children.
Holding power
Under Section 3 (5) of the Children Act 1989, any person who has care of a child “may….do what is reasonable in all the circumstances of the case for the purpose of safeguarding promoting the child’s welfare”. This means that on rare occasions, a school may need to “hold” a child in college whilst Social Care and the Police investigate any concerns further.
For further reading, please click here for our College Policies.
