October 2022
Dear parents/ carer
I would like to take the opportunity to introduce some of the key staff who work in the safeguarding team at Erdington Academy. There is myself, Mr Halstead, I am the Assistant Principal and oversee the safeguarding and wellbeing of students. To help me in this role there is Mr Davies, Mrs Sharp and Mrs Guarini all of whom are trained safeguarding officers in school. In addition to this core team, the academy appointed last year Miss Harvey who is a family support worker, allocated to students and families at the school. There is also a dedicated pastoral team who are there to help and support with student safety and behaviour. If you need any help, guidance or support then please contact one of the team. We are here to help in any way we can so that all our students get the best outcomes from their education at Erdington Academy. We realise that sometimes life throws up challenges for young people and families and we will endeavour to offer the best level of support we can.
A big part of our school curriculum is focused on keeping all children safe and happy. This term in PSHE lessons students in year 7 will be studying topics around social behaviour including friendship and anti-bullying. Students in year 8 will be studying about issues in society such as prejudice and discrimination. Students in year 9 will be studying Mental Health and Wellbeing. Students in year 10 will be studying about the dangers of gangs and anti-social behaviour in the community and students in year 11 will be studying about their post 16 options after leaving Erdington Academy.
In addition to these programmes of study, students in year 10 had guest outside speakers who came in to deliver a session around the dangers of criminal exploitation and county lines. This is when students can be targeted away from school in the community by urban street gangs and can be vulnerable to being groomed into crime. Sadly, this does happen in our area, and we want to make students aware of how they can be targeted and how to keep themselves safe by recognising the signs of danger. The guest speakers came in from Barnardo’s and from Birmingham Children’s Trust. They delivered a thought-provoking presentation to students that included real life examples of where young people had fallen victim to this type of crime. The students listened attentively and asked some well thought out questions about the dangers of criminal exploitation.
In line with keeping all our students safe, The Academy works with West Midlands Police around the dangers of knife crime. The Academy has a zero tolerance on bladed items on site. To help promote this safe environment, again this year, we will be running a police knife arch at various
times in the year and with different year groups. We passionately believe that when students feel safe and are in a safe and caring environment then they will flourish in all aspects of their learning.
If you require any further guidance and support in any area of safety and wellbeing of students at Erdington Academy, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Kind Regards
Mr J Halstead
Assistant Principal
