Safeguarding
Keeping students safe, supported and heard
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. At Co Adventurers St Thomas, we listen to students, take concerns seriously and act when a child may need help or protection.
If you are worried about your own safety or someone else’s, please speak to our safeguarding team. You do not need to be certain that something is wrong before sharing a concern.
How to raise a concern
You can speak to our designated safeguarding lead or deputy in person, or ask a trusted member of staff to help you contact them.
Ian Harvey
Deputy designated safeguarding lead (DDSL)
Please contact Ian through the school office:
office@coadventurersstthomas.co.uk
When emailing the office, include “St Thomas safeguarding concern” in the subject line.
We will listen and explain what happens next. Information may need to be shared with appropriate professionals to help keep a child safe.
Urgent concerns and help outside school hours
If a child or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999.
To report a concern directly to Devon Children’s Front Door, call 0345 155 1071. Lines are open Monday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm, and Friday, 9am to 4pm.
Outside those hours, including weekends and bank holidays, contact the Emergency Duty Service on 0345 6000 388.
For an urgent concern, use these telephone routes rather than waiting for a reply from the school.
Our Triangle of Safety
Each student is supported to identify three trusted adults at Co Adventurers St Thomas. These are their “Safe Faces”: people they can approach when they feel worried, upset or unsafe, or need help.
We introduce the Triangle of Safety during transition and induction, reviewing it as relationships develop or staffing changes. If a Safe Face is unavailable, another familiar adult provides support.
This approach helps students understand who they can turn to. Concerns raised through a Safe Face are handled through the school’s safeguarding procedures.
- Triangle of Safety guideAvailable on request
Safeguarding through learning
Students learn about staying safe through the curriculum, mentoring and everyday conversations. Teaching responds to their age, communication needs and readiness.
Topics include personal boundaries and respectful relationships, alongside online safety and recognising unsafe situations. We help students practise asking for support in ways that work for them.
Concerns about an adult
Concerns about a member of staff, volunteer or another adult working with children should be reported to the headteacher, Vanessa Briggs.
If the concern is about the headteacher, contact the proprietor, David Slater, at d.slater@coadventurers.org and Devon’s Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO).
If the concern is about the proprietor, contact the LADO directly.
Devon LADO telephone: 01392 384964
If a child is in immediate danger, call 999.
Our safeguarding policy
Our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy explains the school’s responsibilities and how we respond to concerns.
- Safeguarding and Child Protection PolicyAvailable on request
- Safeguarding posterAvailable on request
Documents will be available to download here. For a free copy now, email office@coadventurersstthomas.co.uk.