🛡️ Safeguarding at SACGS
St Anne’s College Grammar School
Every child safe. Every voice heard. Every concern acted upon.
At St Anne’s College Grammar School (SACGS), safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do. It is not a standalone policy—it is a lived culture embedded in our daily practice, relationships and decision-making.
We are committed to ensuring that every pupil feels safe, supported and able to thrive in a calm, inclusive and nurturing environment.
🚨 Report a Safeguarding Concern
If you have any concern about a child’s safety or wellbeing, please contact us immediately.
📧 Andrea Burrell (Designated Safeguarding Lead)
andrea.burrell@sacgs.co.uk
📧 Lucy Bridge (Deputy DSL)
lucy.bridge@sacgs.co.uk
📞 School Office: 01253 725815
⚠️ If a child is in immediate danger, call 999
No concern is ever too small. You do not need proof—if something does not feel right, please report it.
🛡️ Our Safeguarding Culture
Safeguarding at SACGS is built on a strong, proactive culture:
- Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility
- Pupils are listened to and taken seriously
- Concerns are reported, recorded and acted upon promptly
- Staff maintain professional curiosity and vigilance
- Early help and intervention are prioritised
We believe that children are safest when they feel known, respected and understood. Strong relationships underpin everything we do.
👥 Safeguarding Leadership
Safeguarding is led by a highly trained and experienced team:
Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL):
Andrea Burrell – Assistant Principal
Deputy DSLs:
Abigail Welsby – Principal
Wendy Cottier-Brown – SENCo
Lucy Bridge
Designated Senior Mental Health Lead:
Mrs Ward
All safeguarding leads receive regular, up-to-date training, including multi-agency safeguarding procedures.
All staff receive:
- Safeguarding training at induction
- Regular updates in line with statutory guidance
- Clear instruction on recognising and reporting concerns
⚖️ Statutory Framework
Safeguarding at SACGS is implemented in accordance with:
- Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE)
- Working Together to Safeguard Children
- The Children Act 1989 and 2004
Policies are reviewed regularly to ensure full compliance and responsiveness to emerging risks.
💬 What Safeguarding Looks Like in Practice
Safeguarding is visible in everyday school life:
- Daily pastoral check-ins
- Strong staff–pupil relationships
- Early identification of concerns
- Immediate and appropriate intervention
- Consistent recording and monitoring of concerns
- Emotional and pastoral support throughout the school day
- Staff actively reporting and challenging low-level concerns
👉 This reflects implementation, not just intention.
📊 Recording, Monitoring & Accountability
We use a secure safeguarding system (CPOMS) to:
- Record concerns accurately and promptly
- Share information appropriately
- Monitor patterns and emerging risks
- Support timely decision-making
Safeguarding is:
- Monitored systematically
- Reviewed regularly by senior leaders
- Strengthened through ongoing staff training
- Subject to continuous evaluation and improvement
🔍 Professional Curiosity & Low-Level Concerns
We promote a culture of openness and vigilance:
- Staff report all concerns, however small
- Concerns are recorded and reviewed
- Patterns are identified early
- Action is taken proportionately
This ensures safeguarding is proactive, not reactive.
🧠 Supporting Pupils
We ensure that every pupil:
- Knows who they can speak to
- Feels safe to share concerns
- Is listened to and supported
- Receives appropriate pastoral and emotional care
Additional support is provided for pupils with SEND, mental health needs, or additional vulnerabilities.
🗣️ Student Voice
Our pupils tell us:
“I know who to talk to if I’m worried.”
“Teachers listen and take things seriously.”
“We feel safe here.”
Pupil voice is central to how we evaluate and strengthen safeguarding.
🧭 Safeguarding Curriculum
Safeguarding is taught proactively through:
- RSHE (Relationships, Sex and Health Education)
- Assemblies and awareness sessions
- Form time discussions
- Online safety education
- Prevent duty education
This ensures pupils:
- Understand risk
- Develop resilience
- Know how to seek help
- Can support others appropriately
🌐 Online Safety
Online safety is a key part of safeguarding at SACGS.
We provide:
- Filtering and monitoring systems
- Staff training in digital safeguarding risks
- Education for pupils on safe technology use
- Guidance for parents
We address risks including:
- Cyberbullying
- Online exploitation
- Harmful content
- Social media pressures
- Emerging technologies
🤝 Multi-Agency Working & Specialist Support
We work closely with a wide range of external agencies:
- Police
- Fire & Rescue Service
- RNLI
- Fylde Coast Women’s Aid
- Early Help services
- School Nursing Team
- CAMHS
- Youth Therapy services
- AFC Fylde Community Trust
- On-site school counsellor
We also receive Operation Encompass notifications, enabling immediate support following domestic incidents.
We regularly welcome visiting professionals, including:
- Anxiety and mental health specialists
- Nutritionists
- Online safety experts
- Community and emergency services
We are always open to working with additional agencies where this benefits our pupils.
🏥 Health, Wellbeing & Medical Safeguarding
We provide a highly trained and responsive staff team:
- Many staff are first aid trained
- All Nursery, Junior and lunchtime staff are paediatric first aid trained
- Many staff are epilepsy trained
- Many staff are mental health first aid trained
- Staff are trained in trauma-informed practice
Where a child has a medical need:
- We seek specialist advice and training
- We train multiple staff members
- We ensure consistent, safe and reliable support
🌍 Safeguarding in Our Local Context
As a coastal school, we respond to local risks through:
- Water safety education (RNLI)
- Awareness of community-specific risks
- Strong local safeguarding partnerships
Safeguarding at SACGS is contextual, relevant and responsive.
🔒 Site Security & Safety
We maintain a secure environment through:
- Controlled access systems
- Visitor identification and supervision
- CCTV monitoring
These measures ensure a safe and well-managed site.
🧸 Early Years Safeguarding
Additional procedures include:
- Sign-in and sign-out systems
- Agreed collection arrangements
- High levels of supervision
This ensures a safe and nurturing environment for younger pupils.
👨👩👧 Parent Safeguarding Hub
We work in close partnership with parents and carers.
You can expect us to:
- Take all concerns seriously
- Act promptly and appropriately
- Communicate clearly where appropriate
- Work with external agencies when needed
Support for parents includes:
- Online safety guidance
- Advice on raising concerns
- Access to local safeguarding services
📊 Safeguarding in Action
Examples of safeguarding in practice:
- A pupil disclosed concerns about online contact. Immediate action was taken, parents were informed, and external advice sought.
- Early help support was initiated for a family, improving attendance and wellbeing.
- A low-level concern was recorded, reviewed and addressed through staff guidance and monitoring.
These examples demonstrate timely, proportionate and child-centred safeguarding.
⚠️ External Support
If needed, you can contact:
Children’s Social Care
📞 0300 123 6720
Out of Hours
📞 0300 123 6722
NSPCC Helpline
📞 0808 800 5000
Childline
📞 0800 1111
🌟 Our Commitment
Safeguarding at SACGS is:
- Proactive – risks identified early
- Responsive – concerns acted upon swiftly
- Embedded – part of everyday practice
- Accountable – clear systems and leadership
🔻 Final Statement
Safeguarding at SACGS is not simply a requirement—it is a core value.
We are committed to ensuring that every pupil is safe, supported and able to thrive within a secure, nurturing and professionally rigorous environment.
🔴 OPTIONAL BUTTON (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR WEBSITE)
🤝 Multi-Agency Working & Specialist Support
Safeguarding at St Anne’s College Grammar School is strengthened through close, proactive collaboration with a wide range of external agencies and professionals. We recognise that effective safeguarding extends beyond the school gates and relies on timely communication, shared expertise, and coordinated support.
We work regularly and constructively with a number of key services, including:
- Local Police
- Fire and Rescue Service
- RNLI
- Fylde Coast Women’s Aid
- Early Help services
- School Nursing Team
- CAMHS
- Youth Therapy services
- On-site school counsellor
- AFC Fylde Community Trust
We also receive and act upon safeguarding intelligence through Operation Encompass notifications, ensuring that children affected by domestic incidents are supported promptly and sensitively in school.
🌱 A Proactive and Open Approach
We are committed to continually strengthening our safeguarding provision and remain open to working with additional agencies where this will benefit our pupils and families.
The school regularly welcomes visiting professionals and specialist speakers to enhance pupil understanding and wellbeing. These have included:
- Anxiety and mental health specialists
- Nutritionists and healthy lifestyle educators
- Online safety and digital wellbeing experts
- Community and emergency service representatives
These opportunities form part of our wider safeguarding and pastoral curriculum, helping pupils to develop awareness, resilience, and informed decision-making.
🏥 Responding to Medical and Individual Needs
Where a child joins the school with a specific medical or health need, we take a highly responsive and solution-focused approach.
If we determine that a need can be safely met within our setting:
- We seek appropriate professional guidance and training
- We ensure that multiple members of staff are trained, not just a single individual
- We embed knowledge across the team to ensure consistency, safety, and continuity of care
This approach reflects our commitment to ensuring that children are supported by a confident, well-informed staff body, and that provision is robust rather than reliant on individuals.
🛡️ A Joined-Up Safeguarding Culture
Through strong partnerships, ongoing professional dialogue, and a willingness to adapt and grow, SACGS maintains a joined-up, child-centred safeguarding culture.
We are proud that our pupils benefit from:
- Early identification of need
- Timely and appropriate intervention
- Access to specialist expertise
- A community network of care and protection
If you want to push this even further, I can turn this into a visual “agency network” diagram for the website, which would make this section stand out massively to inspectors.
https://chatgpt.com/s/m_69f6190bd5f881919083e3c8effe6138
