Safeguarding & Child Protection
Safeguarding & Child Protection
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as:
• Providing help and support to meet the needs of children as soon as problems emerge.
• Protecting children from maltreatment, whether this occurs inside or outside the home, including online.
• Preventing impairment of children's mental and physical health or development.
• Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care.
• Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Every member of staff has a role to play in identifying concerns, sharing information appropriately and taking prompt action to keep children safe. Child protection is one part of safeguarding and refers to the activity undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering, or are likely to suffer, significant harm.
Safeguarding extends far beyond child protection. It includes early help, attendance, mental health and wellbeing, online safety, behaviour and anti-bullying work, medical needs and healthcare plans, site security, educational visits, contextual safeguarding, protecting children from abuse and exploitation, and creating a culture in which every child feels safe, supported and able to thrive.
Willingdon Community School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare and safety of all students 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. The school works in partnership with the East Sussex Safeguarding Children Partnership (ESSCP) and operates in accordance with the local thresholds and procedures outlined in the Pan Sussex Child Protection and Safeguarding Procedures Manual.
Any concerns are passed through the members of staff who are trained as ‘Designated Safeguarding Leads’ (DSL) in school in compliance with the ‘sharing of information’ guidance.
The school’s Safeguarding Team is led by Miss Ali Walters ( Co Head of School and Designated Safeguarding Lead) who is supported by Miss Vicky Bishop (Deputy DSL and School Welfare Officer) and Mrs Lorraine Lamberton (Deputy DSL and School Welfare Officer)
We take our safeguarding responsibilities extremely seriously here at Willingdon Community School and have a large number of staff who are DSL trained.
This includes all members of the Senior Leadership Team:
Mrs Emily May
Mrs Nadene Townsend-Smith,
Ms Louisa McKie
Mr Jason Dubas-Fisher
Mr Tom Cain
In addition, we have the following who are Heads of Year:
Mr Dale Scowen
Mr Lee Gordon
Mrs Les Naylor
We also have Mrs Ollie Barber (AAH/SENCO), Mrs Zoe Kemp (Deputy Head of Dept - SENCO), Mrs Nicola Holden (Attendance Manager), Mrs Cathy Codling (SEND Department) and Miss Lauren Clark (PSL/ School Counsellor).
The school adheres to the following core Department for Education (DfE) statutory safeguarding guidance and duties:
• Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2026
• Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026
• The Prevent Duty Guidance (updated 2023)
• Working Together to Improve School Attendance (Statutory Guidance)
• Children Missing Education (CME) 2016
All staff are trained annually in safeguarding and received regular updates from the team. Core safeguarding staff complete more regular training around a wide range of safeguarding issues.
The school will, in most circumstances, endeavour to discuss all concerns with parents about their children. However, there may be exceptional circumstances when the school will discuss concerns with Children’s Services and/or the Police without parental knowledge (in accordance with Child Protection procedures, which focus solely on the best interests of the child). The school will, of course, always aim to maintain a positive relationship with all parents.
Willingdon Community School Safeguarding Team can be reached via the safeguarding@willingdonschool.org.uk email address or alternatively talk2us@willingdonschool.org.uk There will be a member of the Safeguarding Team monitoring these email addresses each day of the year.
If you wish to speak to a member of the team in person, please contact the school office on 01323 485254.
Please also see our Student Mental Health Page
Advice and Support for Parents
The following organisations and phone numbers can provide help if you should need it. The school safeguarding team are always happy to help and advise you where we can. We can be contacted via Reception or the talk2us email.
Directory of Family Support Services 2025-2026
Young Minds - https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/for-parents
Barnardo’s - Coronavirus advice for parents | Barnardo's
Police - 101 (Emergency 999)
SPOA - 01323 464222 (to contact Children’s Services)
Domestic Abuse - The Portal: www.theportal.org.uk Helpline: 0300 323 9985
CAMHS - Hailsham - 01323 446070
Eastbourne Foodbank - 01323 409925
ChatHealth East Sussex - Chathealth confidential texting service for young people aged 11-19 will operate as normal. Young people can text the school health team about any concerns or health issues on 07507 332473. The number is monitored Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
If you are worried about someone close expressing extreme views or hatred: https://actearly.uk/
We know that anyone can reach crisis point, particularly over the last year, & as such may be in need of some short term support from the Foodbank, particularly over the summer break.
Willingdon Community School are now able to issue e-vouchers. If you would like to receive a Foodbank e-voucher to be used in any Foodbank, please do email us at talk2us@willingdonschool.org.uk.