Safeguarding Overview

In the event of a specific or urgent query please contact a member of the Safeguarding team on 01932 598029 (please note this number does not accept text messages, only voice messages).  The school office number (01932 598020) should be used for all non-emergency calls.

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We were delighted to have been awarded 'The Safeguarding Initiative Award' in July 2020. This award has been designed to publicly recognise and highlight schools who have demonstrated exceptional safeguarding initiative during COVID-19 to keep children and young people safe. 

Chertsey High School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of students and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We are fully committed to ensuring that consistent effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support families, students and staff at school.

What we offer:

  • Through our curriculum we teach the students about personal safety, and how to keep them safe from harm.
  • There is a strong anti-bullying ethos evident throughout the school. We teach our students how to recognise bullying, how to keep themselves safe from bullying behaviour and how to report it.
  • Our curriculum includes opportunities to discuss feelings and emotions, and helps our students to think about their own personal safety and their rights as individuals to be kept safe from harm.
  • We teach our students about the uses and misuses of drugs at an age-appropriate time and level.
  • Our sex education programme teaches our students about keeping themselves safe from harm at an age-appropriate level.
  • We have clear guidance to help students to use the internet (including social media) safely.
  • Our policies and agreed practices for child protection, health and safety, behaviour management, attendance and looked after students all comply with the recommendations for safeguarding students at school. We have a trained designated child protection officer and deputy officer, and a designated governor with responsibility for child protection practices at the school.
  • We have policies to manage potential allegations against staff, whistle-blowing and the use of physical intervention.
  • Our staff recruitment policies and practices are rigorous and comply with safe recruitment and selection requirements. We always pursue identity checks and qualification checks and we take up and scrutinise written references before confirming employment.
  • We require clearance from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) before employing any staff, in addition to pursuing List 99 checks.
  • All voluntary helpers, supply teachers, agency staff, and outside club and coaching staff are required to provide evidence of DBS clearance.
  • The local governing body is regularly updated about child protection, bullying and safeguarding policies and practices by the Headteacher.
  • It is the responsibility of every adult in this school to ensure that we maintain the highest level of awareness about possible unsafe practices and deal with any issues immediately and appropriately.

All concerns are passed through the members of staff who are trained as Designated Child Protection Officers in school in compliance with the sharing of information guidance. 

Designated Safeguarding Lead

Safeguarding Governor

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Mr Howell

HES Governor

Mrs Edwards

Click here to see our 2023/24 Safeguarding Team

Safeguarding Poster

Prevent

Building resilience of young people and the promotion of fundamental British values is at the heart of preventing radicalisation. Schools can do this by providing safe places in which children can discuss controversial issues, and be given the knowledge and confidence to challenge extremist beliefs and ideologies.

Schools play a vital role in keeping children safe from harm, including from the risks of extremism and radicalisation, and in promoting the welfare of children in their care. 

For an introduction to the Prevent duty and an explanation of how it aims to safeguard vulnerable people from being radicalised, HM Government has created an e-learning module following consultation with a range of individuals and organisations. The module has been created with the feedback of teachers, local authority officials, community-based groups, youth workers and many others.

Prevent

FGM

Female Circumcision & Cutting

It has been estimated that over 20,000 girls under the age of 15 are at risk of FGM in the UK each year, and that 66,000 women in the UK are living with the consequences of FGM. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a growing cause of concern in schools.

FGM is child abuse and a form of violence against women and girls, and therefore it is dealt with as part of existing child and adult safeguarding/protection structures, policies and procedures. It is illegal in the UK to subject a child to female genital mutilation (FGM) or to take a child abroad to undergo the procedure – Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003. Despite the harm it causes, FGM practising communities consider it normal to protect their cultural identity. The age at which girls are subject to FGM varies greatly from shortly after birth to any time up to adulthood. The average age is 10 to 12 years.

Cherstey High School take FGM very seriously and are alerted to the following key indicators:

  • A child’s family comes from a community that is known to practise FGM.
  • A child may talk about a long holiday to a country where the practice is prevalent.
  • A child may confide that she is to have a ‘special procedure’ or to attend a special occasion.
  • A child may request help from a teacher or another adult.

Any female child born to a woman or has a sister who has been subjected to FGM will be considered to be at risk, as much as other female children in the extended family. Any information or concern that a child is at risk of FGM will result in a child protection referral to Children’s Social Care.

The new mandatory reporting duty for FGM under the Serious Crime Act 2015, requires teachers in England and Wales to report known cases of FGM in under 18-year-olds to the police. Please Click Here for Guidelines on Mandatory ReportingPlease Click Here For Further Guidance

Call the FGM helpline if you're worried a child is at risk of, or has had, FGM. It's free, anonymous and they are available 24/7. Call them on 0800 028 3550, or email them at fgmhelp@nspcc.org.uk

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School
Ambassadors

Ms Lalli

Ms Lalli

Assistant Headteacher
Students are polite, respectful and show curiosity to learn. We support learning, enabling students to reach their full potential.   
Student

Student

Year 7
I felt welcomed by my tutor, Head of Year and Assistant Headteacher when I joined from my primary school.
Student

Student

Year 11
This is more than a school, this is our CHS Family!
Mr Ball

Mr Ball

PE Teacher
I am proud to teach at a school that values and loves every child for who they are. Here at Chertsey High School we look to develop children holistically and I couldn't imagine a better place to do it.
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