Safeguarding Update
Dear Parent/ Carers,
As you are aware, safeguarding is of paramount importance to everything we do at The Edge, and I would like to take this opportunity to update you all on the success and impact of some of our recent work in this area.
First of all I would like to remind you that our new Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is Adam Smith. Many of you will already know Adam well now that he is into his second term with us at The Edge, he is an experienced Vice Principal and DSL. A reminder too that Adam is ably supported in the safeguarding team by Jas Green, Deanne Davies and Carrie Houghton. Outside of this core team, another 12 of our staff have now been trained to DSL status, so there is lots of expertise in school to help and support students and families with any issues which may arise.
We have made a number of improvements to our safeguarding procedures in recent weeks. To highlight just a few, we have updated our safeguarding and child protection policy and our visitors’ policy, introduced a new system of online safeguarding training and “safeguarding portal” for staff whereby staff now complete regular advanced training modules, overhauled our admissions procedures, and ensured that all staff completed “positive handling” training earlier this term with “Team Teach”.
A key area we have worked particularly hard to prioritise within safeguarding in recent months has been attendance. Impact in this area has been significant, with 2018/9 attendance now 19% higher than that of 2017/8. We are equally pleased to report improvements in our punctuality as this half-term’s punctuality is the highest so far in 2018/9 with an improvement of 16% compared to the first half-term of the academic year. Furthermore, we are delighted that on average 34% of our students now come to school early for our free Breakfast Club which begins at 8.45 each day.
In fitting with our culture of transparency and desire to continue to improve, we were proactive in commissioning a full day’s safeguarding review last week led by Jayne Lowe (Director and Consultant at Bright Green Learning and Education Advisor for DFE). The review recognised the progress we have made and continue to make in improving our safeguarding procedures, highlighting the “dramatic improvements in attendance”, “massive reductions in internal truancy” and the “wave of change” now evident in our day-to-day culture.
Finally, I would like to congratulate the vast majority of our students who are meeting the heightened expectations we have shared with you recently in line with our “Safe, Ready, Respectful” ethos. It has been a pleasure to work with such large numbers of students in recent weeks who have behaved in a “safe” and “respectful” way, we will continue to stretch them by ensuring they are “ready” to learn and achieve the outcomes they are capable of!
As always, please contact me you if you require any further information regarding this letter, either on 0121 533 5858 or via e-mail at [email protected]
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Wakefield
Principal