Pupil Safety
Darton Academy is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We are fully committed to ensuring that consistent effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support families, children and staff at the Academy. The academy encourages parents and children to talk freely about any concerns or worries which may affect educational progress. It is important to us that parents and pupils see the academy as a safe place. Pupils and parents can report concerns via the ‘tell us‘ button which can be clicked on above.
Children will be taken seriously if they seek help from a member of staff. Pupils may be referred for additional bespoke support from external agencies who work closely with the academy. The academy will endeavour to work in partnership with parents at all times to inform them of additional support required or accessed for their child. However, staff cannot guarantee to consult parents first, or to keep children’s concerns confidential, if a referral must be made to agencies in order to safeguard the child’s welfare.
If you have a safeguarding concern please contact the Designated Safeguarding Lead Mrs Kay, or a Deputy; Mr Craig, Mr Carmody or Mrs Abbotts.
For the best interests of all our pupils we use the following safeguarding measures:
Cause for Concern – CPOMS
Staff are asked to report any causes for concern on the CPOMS system immediately. An alert will automatically go to the Safeguarding Team who will then ensure that the concern is picked up and dealt with in a timely manner.
If you have any serious concerns about your child or any other student at Darton Academy please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Kay who knows who to contact for the best advice and help and is experienced in using the appropriate degree of confidentiality.
Attendance
All lateness and absences are recorded by the Attendance Team. Reasons will be sought for all absence or lateness. Attendance is monitored through these systems and referrals to the Safeguarding Team can be made. Parents will always be informed of concerns around attendance at the earliest point. If attendance concerns continue the Academy will refer to the Education Welfare Service.
Online Safety Useful Websites
Healthy Minds
To support the mental health of our pupils, we have teamed up with the NHS’ mental health provider for young people, Kooth. Kooth provides free, safe and anonymous online support and counselling by trained experts. More information can be found in the letter below.
As well as the specialist support we can offer within the academy, we also work closely with Barnsley Targeted Youth Support who run drop in sessions on a Monday and Thursday after school, as well as during lunch times on Thursday.
Free resources for parents / carers
Help keeping children safe when they are online. The parental guides cover risks posed and actions to keep safe, these guides cover the big four social media platforms your pupils will be currently using (Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat and TikTok).
Visit https://www.onlinesafetyalliance.org/free-resources-for-safer-internet-day-2020/ to download them.
For more information and ideas on supporting your child, you can also visit the sites below: