Safeguarding

Under the Education Act 2002 (Section 175), schools must make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Parent/carers should know that the law (Children Act 1989) requires all school staff to pass on information which gives rise to a concern about a child’s welfare, including risk from neglect, physical, emotional or sexual abuse.

The staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with the parent/carer, and where possible, seek their consent to a referral to Social Care. This will only be done where such discussion will not place the child at increased risk of significant harm. Schools will seek advice from Social Care when they have reasonable cause to suspect a child may be suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. Occasionally, concerns are passed on which are later shown to be unfounded.

Parents/carers will appreciate that the designated person for safeguarding (child protection) was carrying out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acting in the best interests of all children.

Please click here for a direct link to the Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy

Click here also for a direct link Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy – Covid-19 Annex

Click here to view the whistleblowing policy

Latest News

Safeguarding and Support over Summer (Updated 15-07-2020)

If you are concerned about the safety or wellbeing of any child you can contact the below numbers. Please see the school website for more information: barrshill.coventry.sch.uk/parents/safeguarding/

School Safeguarding Leads: 07724 046375
Neighbourhood Family Hub: 024 7697 8130
Emergency Food Hub: 08085 834 333
Coventry Children’s Services/Social Care: 02476 788555

Free School Meals
Eligible families will receive two vouchers to cover the holiday period. If you need any further support or advice over the holiday please contact the Family Hub or the Food Hub on the numbers above.

Keeping children safe from abuse and harm (Updated 29-06-2020)
The DfE has jointly published new guidance with the Home Office, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and Public Health England on keeping children safe from abuse and harm. This guidance brings together sources of information about the main risks children may be vulnerable to during the coronavirus pandemic and includes signposts to available help and support.

FSM extended to cover half-term (Updated 1-6-2020)

The government decided to cover Free School Meals over the June half-term holiday, in a last minute change. The next supermarket voucher was planned to cover week commencing 15th June, but this will now be brought forward a week to cover a 2 week period commencing 8th June.

Free School Meal Update – 7-4-2020

The government have put in place a national supermarket voucher scheme. More information is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance-for-schools

All eligible families have been contacted to discuss the new process, as it primarily requires an email address. If you have recently updated your contact details, please keep us updated by contacting your child’s hub via email.

The current plan is that you will be provided with vouchers every two weeks, to the value of £15 per child per week. The new vouchers have an expiration of 1 month, so you will need to plan accordingly, so you don’t miss out. The benefit of the new scheme is that you will be able to use them in a number of different major supermarkets. Currently, Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Waitrose, M&S, although they are hoping to expand this in the future.

The first voucher provided by Barr’s Hill was on 27^th April. The next voucher is being processed and should be available by the start of the Easter holidays. As with all local and national arrangements, they are subject to possible delays due to the ongoing impact of the covid-19 outbreak.

If you did not receive the first free school meal voucher which was a £25 Sainsbury’s voucher sent out via text message, then please contact your child’s hub. A text message was sent out explaining the process, followed by a website link which you needed to click to access the voucher. You could then show this voucher on your phone, or print it out, to show it to the Sainsbury’s cashier.

The easiest way to contact us is by emailing your hub, but if you do not have access to email you can text the safeguarding mobile phone on 07724046375 and we will call you back. Please include your child’s name and year group in any text message.

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March 2020

Update from Coventry and Warwickshire Mind and our collaborative work on the Whole School Approach below

Whole School Approach – Coventry and Warwickshire Mind

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Dear Parents/Carers,

Safeguarding Information during COVID 19

Safeguarding has never been more important so please know that the school is still aiming to ensure the right support gets to the right place, wherever possible given the current restrictions. The local family hubs are working hard to support families who are in need, so if you have any concerns about neighbours or yourselves please highlight the support available. We will also try and update this page as more information about support becomes available.

Please see the newsletter on the virtual school page of the school website for some helpful information about mental health and online safety tips. There is also a guide for parents on the virtual school page as students spend more time online during this period out of school, having discussions with your children about finding a healthy balance and staying safe has never been more important.

If you have any concerns you can email safeguarding@barrshill.coventry.sch.uk and we will do our best to respond with some helpful advice.

Hillfields Harmony Hub – https://www.facebook.com/pathwaysfamilyhub 024 7678 8444, PathwaysFamilyHub@coventry.gov.uk

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Dear Parents/Carers,

We have received the below concern from West Midlands police. It has also been publicised in the media. It is a good reminder of how important it is that parents are fully aware of the apps or websites our young people are using. We recommend that parents have an open dialogue with young people about the positives and negatives of all social media. You might like to ask them regularly “which apps do your friends use most?”, “what is the latest craze?” and “have there been any problems online?”.

Please read the warning below and also the online safety advice at the following sites.

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/articles/what-is-live-streaming/