Our Safeguarding Commitment
NIA Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy
Here at Northampton International Academy we believe that safeguarding our students is a top priority, and as part of this have adopted the motto 'safeguarding is everybody's responsibility'.
We have heavily invested in our safeguarding team with a Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL) allocated to each year group.
All of our DDSLs are non-teaching, therefore they can allocate all of their time to protecting and safeguarding the learners in their care.
Our safeguarding team meets weekly to ensure all safeguarding matters are addressed and dealt with in a timely manner to ensure we meet current guidelines, and they also work closely with outside agencies such as MASH (Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub), Northamptonshire Police, school nursing, youth support and many more.
If you have any safeguarding queries or concerns please email niasafeguarding@nia.emat.uk or call 01604 212811 (option 5).
NIA Safeguarding Team
- Matt Lee – DSL/Deputy Head Teacher
- Kayleigh Lavelle – Safeguarding and Attendance Manager
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads
- Primary Phase – Amy Frankham
- Year 7 – Lucie Fernes
- Year 8 – David Kapenda
- Year 9 – Debbie Clarke
- Year 10 – Meg Hames-Goodey
- Year 11 – Grace Sharpe
- Post 16 – Debbie Burgess
Primary safeguarding leads poster
Secondary safeguarding leads poster
All team members can be contacted via firstname.surname@nia.emat.uk
All our SLT, Heads of Year, Pastoral Leads, SENDCos and Attendance team are also safeguarding trained to best support our learners.
EMAT Safeguarding Commitment
The Everyone’s Invited campaign has rightly served to focus our minds on the need to continue to work together to protect children.
We, at EMAT, believe that schools play a crucial role in teaching pupils about sex and relationships, equality and diversity and modern citizenship as well as preparing them for the modern world. This is enacted through each school’s culture, its curriculum, and all policies. We aim to give all pupils and staff a voice to enable them to act in a protective manner towards themselves and others. This includes developing a robust whistleblowing culture as well as fostering a culture of integrity and mutual respect.
We recognise that we have the responsibility of tackling sexual violence and harassment, instilling values in our stakeholders and encourage all to be driven by their strong moral compass. Like so much of education, our work must complement that undertaken by parents and carers so that young people receive a consistent message, and they can go about their lives free from harassment and abuse.
All of our schools will continue to engage with their stakeholders, listen to their concerns and signpost necessary support and provision within and beyond its schools. We ask that anyone who has experienced such behaviour, or who is suffering because of it, to report it to an appropriate adult either in the school or within the EMAT team so they can be supported, and steps can be taken to address the issue.
A dedicated NSPCC helpline is now available to support anyone who has experienced sexual abuse in educational settings or has concerns about someone or the issues raised. The dedicated NSPCC helpline number is 0800 136 663 or by emailing help@nspcc.org.uk.
Staff members can also seek support from Employee’s Assist on 08000 305 182.
If you are troubled about possible wrongdoing at work, please don’t keep it to yourself. Our Whistleblowing Policy is there to reassure you that it is safe and acceptable to speak up and to enable you to raise any concern you may have at an early stage and in the right way. If you feel unable to raise the matter with your manager, for whatever reason, please raise the matter with:
EMAT Governance & Compliance – governance@emat.uk
EMAT HR – hrqueries@emat.uk
Governor lead for safeguarding - Andrew Hill governance@emat.uk
If you are unsure about raising a concern you can get free and independent advice from Protect helpline on 020 3117 2520 or by emailing whistle@protect-advice.org.uk.
