Safeguarding & Student Welfare

We follow the procedures set out by the local safeguarding children board and take account of guidance issued by the DFE to:

• Ensure we have a designated safeguarding lead for child protection who has received appropriate training and support for this role. At Harlington we have a safeguarding team that supports the designated safeguarding lead.
• Ensure we have a nominated governor responsible for child protection.
• Ensure every member of staff (including temporary and supply staff and volunteers) and governing board knows the name of the designated senior person responsible for child protection and their role.
• Ensure all staff and volunteers understand their responsibilities in being alert to the signs of abuse and responsibility for referring any concerns to the designated safeguarding lead responsible for child protection.
• Ensure that parents have an understanding of the responsibility placed on the school and staff for child protection by setting out our obligations in the parent handbook and on the school website.
• Notify social services if there is an unexplained absence of more than two days of a pupil who is on the child protection register.
• Develop effective links with relevant agencies and co-operate as required with their enquiries regarding child protection matters including attendance at case conferences.
• Ensure safer recruitment practices are always followed.
• In all cases where abuse is suspected or a sustainable allegation is made, teachers and other members of staff should report the information to the designated safeguarding lead. The designated safeguarding lead should refer these cases to, or discuss them with, the appropriate investigating agencies according to the procedures established by the local area safeguarding children board and for maintained schools by the local authority (LA).

The Local Authority requires all schools to report any obvious or suspected cases of child abuse. Schools are encouraged to take the attitude that where there are grounds for suspicion it is better to be safe than sorry. The procedure is intended to protect children who may be at risk. This does mean that Headteachers or designated safeguarding leads risk upsetting some parents by reporting a case that, on investigation, proves unfounded. We trust that parents will appreciate the sensitive nature of our role in protecting children, and are assured that we always aim to act in the best interest of the child.
Worried about a child? Not sure what to do? Please contact the school and ask to speak to one of the safeguarding team, the Senior Teacher for Child Protection or the Headteacher.

Download our Safeguarding Leaflet

View our Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy

Before starting at Harlington School, parents will have be given student information forms, including a medical form, to complete. It is very important that these forms are completed and returned. Please ibnform us immediately if there are any changes to this information.

Allergies, Asthma, Diabetes and Epilepsy

It is very important that we know about all allergies your child might have, whether slight or severe (plasters, nut allergies, wasp stings, penicillin etc.), so that your child receives the appropriate treatment. If your child carries an Epipen, then please make sure you have seen your allergy doctor or nurse to help your child prepare for the transition to secondary school and managing their medication. Please also request an additional Epipen to be kept in the medical room. If possible, please provide a copy of your child’s allergy treatment plan from the hospital. All students who have allergies are offered an ID card with a green ‘A’ on the front, but it is entirely their choice whether or not to wear it.

All children who have asthma must carry a blue ‘reliever’ inhaler on their person every day and also have a spare inhaler kept in the medical room. Volumatic ‘spacers’ are available around the school site, should your child require it.

Children who are diabetic must have enough insulin, other medication and lucozade etc in school to manage their condition. Hillingdon Hospital is currently holding its diabetic clinics at the school so you will be offered an appointment at the school rather than Hillingdon Hospital. All students who have allergies are offered an ID card with a green ‘D’ on the front which allows children who have diabetes to go to the front of the queue in the Dining Hall.

Children who suffer from epilepsy are offered an ID card with a green ‘E’ on the front, but it is entirely their choice whether or not to wear it.

Accidents, Injuries and/or Sickness

At Harlington School, the health, safety and welfare of students is of utmost importance. If students are injured at school, we will monitor the student to ensure they receive additional care if necessary. All first aid incidents are recorded in a book and all major accidents are entered into an accident book. There may be times when the school needs to make contact with parents because the child may need treatment from their G.P. or the Hospital. In these cases, the school will make every effort to contact parents as quickly as possible.

If your child feels unwell during school we will contact you so that you can make any necessary arrangements to collect your child. Whilst these arrangements are being made we will keep your child as comfortable as possible in school.

Please ensure that we have your current landline and mobile phone numbers to ensure that we can make contact as quickly as possible, should the need arise.

Medicines

Students are only permitted to take medication in the Welfare room in the presence of the welfare assistant. With the exception of asthma inhalers, Epipens and insulin for diabetics, students are not allowed to administer drugs themselves. All inhalers should be labelled with your child’s name and be carried by them at all times. A second inhaler, Epipen or insulin supply must be kept in the medical room as an emergency backup. If a student needs a short-term course of medicine during school time, parents/carers must discuss this with a welfare assistant and give written instructions for them to supervise the medicine. If your child requires long-term medicine, parents/carers should discuss this with the Head of House.

Please note that all prescribed medicines must be in the original packaging. Over the counter medicines such as hay fever tablets and pain killers can only be given if a parent has given written permission and provides such medication in its original packaging.

Harlington understands the responsibility to educate our students on e-safety issues. This includes teaching them the appropriate behaviours and critical thinking skills to enable them to remain both safe and legal when using the internet and related technologies, in and beyond the context of the classroom.

A partnership with parents is essential in our goal to safeguard students in the use of digital technologies. We ask students and parents to sign an “Acceptable Use Agreement” that helps to define and establish expectations of digital safe behaviours. This and other e-safety advice can be found on our school website here. Please be aware that we endeavour to monitor all of our student’s use of the school’s digital technology.

The range of potential issues that can arise within E-safety can be extensive, but how we look to support students can be categorised into three areas of considerations:

Content: Contact: Conduct:

• Being exposed to illegal, inappropriate or harmful material
• Being subjected to harmful online interaction with other users
• Personal online behaviour that increases the likelihood of, or causes, harm.

Parents play a key role in supporting children to learn about how to stay safe online, and they are one of the first people children turn to if things go wrong. We know it can be difficult to stay on top of the wide range of sites and devices that young people use, so we hope that the following advice helps.

• Have ongoing conversations with your children about staying safe online
• Carry out spot checks on the devices that your children use, looking at images, videos, and social media
• Use safety tools on social networks and other online services, e.g. Facebook privacy settings
• Decide if you want to use parental controls on your home internet
• Understand devices and the parental control tools they offer.

Further information relating to e-safety can be found via the Thinkuknow website https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk. It is an excellent site and we would recommend that you visit and view the video clips available online. We would advise that cyber-bullying and other forms of malicious communication and misuse of the internet in school are subject to sanctions under the Behaviour for Learning Policy.

For practical advice on staying safe online, we recommend the following websites.

CEOP – Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre  
Virtual Global Taskforce – making the internet a safer place
Childnet International – advice for parents/carers
CBBC – Stay Safe