Safeguarding

Introduction

The College fully recognises its statutory and moral responsibilities for safeguarding our young people and providing them with the information and tools they need to keep themselves safe.  We continually review our safeguarding systems in response to government guidance, social trends and emerging dangers. 

As well as links to our Safeguarding and Child Protection documents, this section also includes some tips and resources to help parents keep their child safe.

 

Safeguarding Policies and Procedures

Our main focus at OSFC is to ensure our students are able to progress and succeed in a safe and supportive environment, where their safety is paramount.  Our safeguarding policies and procedures are there to ensure our students are safe and protected from harm, and to provide an environment in which they can thrive.

This means we will always work to:

• Raise awareness of safeguarding themes and issues
• Equip staff, students and parents with the skills and information needed to keep our young people safe
• Establish a safe physical and online environment in which students can learn, progress and develop

The safeguarding policy will ensure we develop and put into practice:

• Procedures for identifying and reporting cases, or suspected cases, of abuse
• Safe recruitment processes and procedures to check the suitability of staff and volunteers to work with students
• Mechanisms for supporting students who have experienced, or are experiencing, abuse in cooperation with relevant external agencies
• Procedures for reporting and dealing with allegations of abuse against members of staff, including appropriate whistle blowing procedures.

 

Safeguarding Policy 

  

OSFC Safeguarding Team

 

• Emma Hart
  Assistant Principal - Designated Safeguarding Lead
  Emma Hart

• Jenny King
  Welfare and Additional Learning Support Manager - Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
  Jenny King

• Ruth Vickers
  Student Welfare and Learning Support Officer
  Ruth Vickers

• Zahida Sarwar
  Safeguarding Admin Support
  Zahida Sarwar

• Angela Shackley
  Learning Support Assistant and Welfare Officer
  Angela Shackley

Contacts

If you have a safeguarding concern about your child or another child who attends the College, please contact us on 0161 287 8000 or safeguarding@osfc.ac.uk during college hours.  If this is an urgent matter and you believe a young person to be at immediate risk of harm, then please contact the emergency services without delay.

All members of the safeguarding team can be reached using the details above during term time.

Safeguarding and Online Safety

The recent developments in online education mean we need to support our students to stay safe and well online more than ever.

We have collated a range of helpful websites for both parents and students to use in order to stay safe online:

Child Exploitation and Online Protection resources:

• CEOP for Parents
• CEOP for Young People

Current information on Apps, Games and Social Networking sites:

• UK Safer Internet Centre
• Parentzone
• Common Sense Media

Guide for Parents and Young People who have got into trouble online:

• What’s the Problem

Guide for Parents on Online Radicalisation and Extremism:

• Online Radicalisation Information and Support

When a young person loses control of a nude image of themselves, it can be very distressing. It's important that young people don't feel judged when this happens and they are reassured that they haven't done anything wrong. You should also follow your organisation's child protection procedures. 

• Supporting young people to report nudes images: Report Remove | NSPCC Learning