At The Fermain Academy, the safety and wellbeing of our students is our highest priority. We recognise that many of the young people who join us may have experienced difficulties in their previous education or wider lives, and we are committed to providing a safe, caring and inclusive environment in which every student can feel secure, valued and listened to.
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. All staff receive regular safeguarding training and are expected to remain vigilant to the needs of our students. We work closely with families, schools, the Local Authority and other professional agencies to identify concerns at the earliest opportunity and ensure that students receive the right support.
Our safeguarding approach goes beyond responding to concerns. We work proactively to help students understand how to keep themselves safe, develop positive relationships, make informed choices and recognise when they may need to seek help. We also recognise the importance of listening to our students and ensuring that they understand how to raise a concern and who they can talk to if they are worried about themselves or someone else.
Our pastoral and safeguarding teams work closely with students and staff to ensure that individual needs and vulnerabilities are understood and supported. Where concerns arise, we follow our established safeguarding procedures and work with the appropriate agencies to ensure that the right action is taken.
The Fermain Academy has a Designated Safeguarding Lead and a team of Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads who are available to provide support and advice. Our safeguarding arrangements are regularly reviewed to ensure that they reflect current statutory guidance and best practice.
Further information
We want safeguarding information to be accessible to everyone. Our Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy provides detailed information about our safeguarding arrangements, responsibilities and procedures.
Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy 2026
We have also developed a Student Friendly Safeguarding Guide, in collaboration with our School Council, to help students understand safeguarding, recognise when something might not be right and know where they can go for help and support.
Student Friendly Safeguarding Policy
If you have a safeguarding concern about a student at The Fermain Academy, please contact the school and ask to speak to a member of the safeguarding team
The school displays safeguarding posters throughout the building, and a safeguarding leaflet is located in the main reception for all visitors. Current versions of these documents are as follows:
Safeguarding Poster – Jan 2026 Update
Safeguarding Leaflet for Visitors Jan 26
All staff members at the school hold a Level Two Safeguarding Children qualification and are experienced in dealing with a variety of subject matters, in addition to this, all staff in April 2024 completed a full day Designated Safeguarding Lead course to further increase safeguarding capacity and expertise across the school.
