Safeguarding

Ridgeway Education Trust Safeguarding Framework, 2023-2026

Ridgeway Education Trust is a trust rooted in strong shared values of inclusivity, high standards and respectful relationships. These relationships are underpinned by a deep care for the wellbeing of our young people, and a commitment to ensuring that all children and young people in its schools are safe, protected from harm and able to thrive. Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families has a role to play within this. We believe that “true safeguarding excellence has to be measured by outcomes: our greater understanding of safeguarding concerns leads to better resolutions for the children and families concerned” (from Safeguarding at Scale, CST, 2023).

Local Authorities retain overarching statutory responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people in their area. Alongside this, and as outlined in the Academies Handbook 2024, Trust Boards of Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) have a duty to:

Safeguard and promote the welfare of children;

Have regard to any statutory guidance on safeguarding, issued by the Secretary of State;

Ensure the suitability of staff, supply staff, volunteers and contractors.

Given that, in a MAT, these core duties are fulfilled by trustees, we acknowledge that safeguarding in a school within a trust differs from safeguarding in a single school. The RET Safeguarding Framework outlines roles, responsibilities and key processes around safeguarding to ensure these are clearly defined and well understood by all stakeholders, resulting in improved procedures and stronger support – and outcomes - for children across all Ridgeway Education Trust schools; this should be read alongside this Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy for more details about how responsibilities for safeguarding are delegated in our trust.

Each school's safeguarding and child protection policy contains important information, which you can access below.