Safeguarding Statement

Tidemill Academy is committed to ensuring the welfare and safety of all our pupils. We believe that pupils have a right to learn in a supportive, caring and safe environment which includes the right to protection from all types of abuse; where staff are vigilant for signs of any pupil in distress and are confident about applying our safeguarding procedures.

Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies when there are concerns about a child’s welfare. We will ensure that our concerns about our pupils are discussed with parents and carers first unless we have reason to believe that this would be contrary to the child’s welfare.

Safer Schools Week

Circle time, assemblies, newsletters, parent workshops and the website you are accessing now are just some of the ways that Tidemill Academy promotes pupils’ safety and well-being.

Every Autumn term, Safer Schools Week provides another opportunity to emphasise ways of keeping safe based on the specific trends and needs within our community. In the past, we have helped pupils to identify ‘safe adults’ they can turn to for support including staff, community leaders and the police. More recently, we have emphasised online safety; ways of protecting families from harmful content as well as a greater awareness of each child’s ‘digital footprint’. Tidemill’s attitudes and skills are always central to the behaviours we wish to model. Respect, appreciation and empathy are embedded over time so that bullying and other unsafe behaviours stand out and are dealt with quickly and effectively.  

Are you worried about the safety or welfare of a child?

If you are ever concerned about the safety or well-being of someone at our school please:-

• Call 999 if you think a child or young person may be in immediate danger
• Talk to one of the Tidemill Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) on 0208 692 3470
• Contact the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) directly on 0208 314 6660 or email them on     [email protected] (Opening hours: Monday-Friday 9am-5pm)                                                                  If you are concerned outside of these hours, please contact the emergency duty team on 0208 314 6000 and ask to speak to the out-of-hours duty social worker
• If you have any concerns which relate to the actions or behaviour of staff (which could suggest s/he are unsuitable to work with children) then please report this to the Headteacher for consideration. If the matter relates to the Headteacher, concerns should be reported to the Chair of Governors.

For further details, please view our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy

Operation Encompass

At Tidemill, we are working in partnership with the Metropolitan Police and Lewisham Children’s Services to identify and provide appropriate support to pupils who have experienced domestic violence in their household; this scheme is called Operation Encompass.

The purpose of Operation Encompass is to safeguard and support children and young people who have been involved in or witness to a domestic abuse incident. Domestic abuse impacts on children in a number of ways. Children are at increased risk of physical injury during an incident, either by accident or because they attempt to intervene. Even when not directly injured, children are greatly distressed by witnessing the physical and emotional suffering of a parent.  Please see our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy for further information. 

Please also look at our E-Safety page and Keeping Safe page for useful information