The Safeguarding Team at Mascalls Academy
All staff and volunteers have a duty to keep students safe and to protect them. They must feel able to raise issues of concern and everyone must fully recognise their duty to do so particularly in terms of child protection.
Mr M Illsley – Designated Safeguarding Lead
Mrs H Fuller – Designated Safeguarding Lead (Earhart)
Miss N Dunne – Designated Safeguarding Lead (Luther King)
Miss L Morton – Designated Safeguarding Lead (Shackleton)
If you have any concern about a safeguarding issue please speak to the appropriate person or email safeguarding@mascallsacademy.org.uk
Report a Safeguarding Concern Out of Academy Hours
If you are concerned about a safeguarding matter which is outside of academy hours, then please contact the Police on 101 or Kent Social Services on 03000 411111 (Out of hours 03000 419191). If it is an emergency, then please contact 999.
As parents/ carers, you can also self-refer to a number of services and there is a wealth of free support you can access online or via the phone to support your child. Further guidance and advice is provided from a variety of services outlined on the following websites: Childline, NSPCC and CYPMHS.
Worried about a child?
If you believe that a child or young person is at IMMEDIATE risk, you should treat this as an emergency and call the academy, or call 999 to report your concerns to the police.
If you are a pupil, and you want to report a concern then please email Mrs Fuller for Earhart College, Miss Dunne for Luther King College, Miss Morton for Shackleton and Miss Shaw Kew for Sixth Form.
Alternatively please contact Shout (or text 85258) or Kooth. Both resources have been used by other Mascalls Academy students, and they have fed back that they are really helpful. Both provide you with a chance to text rather than talk at the first instance, and they have volunteers who can provide support to help with depression, anxiety, abuse, panic attacks, suicidal thoughts, self-harm, relationships problems and bullying.
Part of our duty as adults is to protect young people from abuse and neglect. We have a designated Child Protection Team who liaise with outside agencies and families in such situations. Further details can be found by reading our Safeguarding Policy on our Policies & Documents page.
Mascalls Academy Child Protection Policy
What is Online Safety?
Online Safety is being aware of the nature of the possible threats that you could encounter whilst engaging in activity through the Internet. These threats are grouped into 4 key categories(KCSIE 2021):
Content
‘Content: being exposed to illegal, inappropriate or harmful content, for example: pornography, fake news, racism, misogyny, self-harm, suicide, anti-Semitism, radicalisation and extremism’ (KCSIE 2021).
Contact
‘Contact: being subjected to harmful online interaction with other users; for example: peer to peer pressure, commercial advertising and adults posing as children or young adults with the intention to groom or exploit them for sexual, criminal, financial or other purposes’ (KCSIE 2021).
Conduct
‘Conduct: personal online behaviour that increases the likelihood of, or causes, harm; for example, making, sending and receiving explicit images (e.g consensual and non-consensual sharing of nudes and semi-nudes and/or pornography, sharing other explicit images and online bullying’ (KCSIE 2021).
Commerce
‘Commerce – risks such as online gambling, inappropriate advertising, phishing and or financial scams’ (KCSIE 2021).
LAT Online Safety Statement
We proudly announce that our academy has successfully achieved accreditation for our comprehensive commitment to promoting and teaching online safety. This accreditation reflects our dedication to ensuring that all aspects of online safety are embedded across our curriculum, staff training, leadership, and community engagement.
As part of the LAT Online Safety programme, our academy has demonstrated compliance with key requirements, including:
- Staff Training: All staff members have completed tailored online safety training, with additional, role-specific training provided for Designated Safeguarding Leads, principals, and governors.
- Curriculum Integration: Online safety education is systematically mapped across all year groups, meeting legal requirements. We actively promote digital citizenship through annual events such as Safer Internet Day and Digital Citizenship Week.
- Leadership and Technical Oversight: A 360-degree review of our online safety provision ensures continuous improvement. Online safety is embedded in safeguarding governance, monthly technical filter checks, and regular incident reviews using Safeguarding Lenz.
- Parental Engagement: We maintain a strong partnership with parents, offering resources, communication, and face-to-face workshops focused on online safety. We also gather parental feedback to inform our practices and priorities.
This accreditation is underpinned by robust tracking and monitoring, ensuring all required activities and standards are consistently met.
Our academy remains committed to fostering a safe and empowering digital environment for all members of our community. Together, we strive to build a culture of awareness, respect, and responsibility in the digital world.
For further information and resources, please visit the CEOP website or explore the safeguarding section of our website.
CEOP – Child Exploitation and Online Protection
CEOP helps any child or young person under the age of 18 who is being pressured, forced or tricked into taking part in sexual activity of any kind. This can be something that has taken place either online or in ‘the real world’, or both. The CEOP Safety Centre has clear information and advice on what can be reported to CEOP, the reporting process and what will happen if you do decide to make a report. You can visit the CEOP Safety Centre and make a report directly to CEOP by clicking the Click CEOP button.
If you are experiencing online bullying or something else online has worried you, please speak to an adult you trust, or you can talk to Childline at any time on 0800 1111 or visit their website.
National Online Safety
As an academy we are wholeheartedly invested in keeping our children safe online and ways in which to do this are frequently taught across all aspects of our curriculum, particularly in the computing and SMSCD schemes of learning.
Staff, students and parents also have access to the National Online Safety platform and are able to use the wealth of resources, training and information available to help keep each other safe online. There are parent guides on how to safely monitor and use multiple apps on children’s devices which are updated and added to weekly.
Please click on the image below to view as a PDF document.
