Our children’s safety is of paramount importance. When children are feeling safe and happy in their environment, this is when they thrive.
At the British College of Brazil, every member of staff is responsible for the safeguarding of students and are trained to recognise and report any concerns about a member of its community. So what exactly does safeguarding mean?
Nord Anglia Education defines safeguarding as:
protecting children from abuse and maltreatment
preventing harm to children’s health or development
ensuring children grow up with the provision of safe and effective care
taking action to enable all children and young people to have the best outcomes.
In simpler terms, safeguarding is all of the measures we put in place to protect children from physical and emotional harm, ultimately promoting their well-being. Some examples of these measures are explained below:
Policies
We have a number of policies in place that support a safeguarding vigilant environment including anti-bullying, e-safety and, of course, the safeguarding policy itself (available on the school website). The policies are shared with and followed by all members of BCB staff.
Training
Every member of staff employed by Nord Anglia Education is required to complete an introduction to safeguarding course available through Nord Anglia’s learning platform ‘Nord Anglia University’. Further to this, safeguarding training is included in the induction programme at the beginning of each academic year with further training planned throughout the year.
Safer recruitment
In order to ensure BCB are employing the right staff, references are always sought from previous employers and criminal records checks requested. The safeguarding policy as well as other key policies are read and a compliance form is signed. Mandatory training is completed by all members of staff before they begin official employment.
Curriculum
Our PSHE curriculum ensures that our students understand how to care for themselves. They are taught that their well-being is important and what they can do to have good well-being. The students learn about how they can keep themselves and others safe and what they should do if they have a concern or something is making them uncomfortable. Since the pandemic, there has been a greater focus on online safety and this has been integrated into both our PSHE and ICT curriculum.
Access into school
We have strict procedures in place regarding entrance into our school. Our doormen follow these procedures so that only authorised people can access our school. Any visitor to the school has to show their ID and sign in with our doormen stating their reason for the visit. They are then presented with a visitor badge and accompanied by a member of staff for the duration of their visit.
A physically safe environment
Our Health and Safety team works closely with the Operations team to ensure that BCB’s building and facilities are safe, clean and in good condition. All Operations staff are trained to recognise and report potential dangers they see and our maintenance team are proactive in acting on concerns. Our cleaning staff work tirelessly each day disinfecting classrooms and public areas each morning, in the middle of the day and after school.
Above are just some of the measures we have in place to ensure our students and staff are kept safe. We want all of our students to feel safe and secure when they come to school and for our parents to know that they are in the best hands whilst they are with us. Our priority at BCB is that our students are safe and happy and therefore thrive.
