Safeguarding

Merchants' Academy is committed to the vital contribution all Governors, teaching and non teaching staff make to safeguarding and the protection and welfare of children and young people. We aim to ensure that all child protection and welfare concerns and referrals are handled sensitively, professionally and in ways that support the specific needs of the individual child. Through providing a caring, safe and stimulating environment which promotes the social, physical and moral development of all our students, we aim to foster an atmosphere of trust, respect and security.

A copy of the Academy's Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy can be downloaded from this page.

The Student Support Centre provides the central provision for student welfare within the Academy.


Merchants' Academy Safeguarding Team 

DSL for Secondary and Primary Ms Stacia Pettersen 

Deputy DSL Secondary: Miss Emma Tatters (Safeguarding Manager)

Designated Safeguarding Governor: Mr Robert Bourns

Deputy DSL for Primary are: 

Mrs Geeta Verrell (Head of MA Primary)

Mrs Lisa Bannister (Deputy Head)

Miss Nicola Burbridge (Assistant Vice Principal)

Mrs Hannah Green (Primary Safeguarding)

Mrs Amy Greenslade (Primary Safeguarding)

Deputy DSL for Secondary are:

Ms Lynn Broome (Child Protection Officer, MA Secondary)

Mr Jack Jones (Assistant Head of Year)

Miss Stacey Hughes (Assistant Head of Year MA16)

Who's Who at Merchants' Academy Primary? - View Safeguarding poster 

Who's Who at Merchants' Academy Secondary? - Safeguarding-Poster-MAS.docx.pdf


Learn about the Bristol Safeguarding Board website here 

What safeguarding looks like at Merchants' Academy Primary Safeguarding-info-for-website-Nov-23.odt


Safeguarding is…

  • How well pupils are taught to keep themselves safe
  • How well the school protects pupils from bullying, racist abuse, harassment or discrimination, and promotes good behaviour
  • The effectiveness of health and safety policies and procedures
  • The effectiveness of arrangements to provide a safe environment and secure school site
  • How well the school meets the needs of pupils with medical conditions
  • How appropriately child welfare and child protection concerns are identified and responded to by the school
  • How effectively the school works with key agencies to safeguard and promote the welfare of children
  • The extent to which the school ensures that adults working with children are appropriately recruited and vetted, and receive appropriate training, guidance, support and supervision to undertake the effective safeguarding of pupils.

Our culture of vigilance

At Merchants' Academy we:

· Believe safeguarding and protecting children is everyone’s responsibility

· Identify signs of concerns immediately

· Train all our staff to the highest level

· Keep all staff updated with new guidance and policies

· Monitor attendance thoroughly

· Have rigorous monitoring of vulnerable students

· Communicate regularly with external agencies

· Listen to our students

· Care for each other

· Have an open culture

· Support students and their families

· Teach our students to keep safe at all times


Useful Links and Resources

Safeguarding

 

Training

Supporting the wellbeing of children has never been so important. To assist you in doing this, we have produced two fantastic free parental resources

Advice and support

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust
National Personal Safety Day
Domestic Violence Support - The Hideout 
NSPCC & ChildLine resources
The ChildLine School Service
Young Minds
Educate Against The Hate
Kooth - Online mentoring
Off The Record
Self Injury Support
Winston's Wish
National Self Harm Network
BEAT
Bullying UK
Anorexia and Buliminia Care

Online Safety

CEOP Police
Thinkuknow 11-13
Thinkuknow 14+

Childline

Childline

Bullying

KidScape

Sex and Relationships

NHS Live Well
Young Stonewall

Drugs

Talk To Frank


e-Safety

Although the Academy teaches students e-Safety as part of the Computing curriculum, it is vital that parents/carers are aware of the risks too and what you can do to develop a culture of e-Safety in the home.  There are some helpful resources for parents/carers below, which we encourage you to read in order to help your child stay safe online.

http://www.internetmatters.org/

#DITTO is a free online safety (e-safety) magazine for schools, organisations and parents to keep you up to date with risks, issues, advice and guidance related to keeping children safe online, with a view to enjoying and learning about technology. A new edition is released approx. every 6 weeks.  Please click here for more information.


Click on the below links to read or download the documents: