At Cockshutt, our Child centred Safeguarding Board is called Safety Squad!  

The History of Safeguarding Boards

"A culture of listening to children and young people and taking account of their wishes and feelings, both in individual decisions and the development of services". (Working Together 2023)​

• To give pupils a voice​ and have their lived experience heard and validated

• To develop a culture of openness and honesty​

• To upskill pupils and develop their confidence

• To involve pupils in keeping themselves safe 

• To support pupils to share information with other children in an age appropriate way

• To enable children to understand their rights​

"This child centred approach is fundamental to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of every child. A child centred approach means keeping the child in focus" (Establishing a safeguarding board for children and students​ - Sian Deane Severn Training Alliance)

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OUR NEW SAFETY SQUAD  -

Meeting 20th January 2026 

We discussed - Staying Safe in School

List 3 Actions you do that make your family and friends feel happy and safe. 

List 3 Actions that make people feel unhappy or unsafe. 

How do you feel when you are happy/unhappy or safe/unsafe? 

List people you can tell if you feel unhappy or unsafe. 

The children all felt motivated, proud and relaxed when they are safe and happy. 

They said humour and being kind is an action they do to make others feel happy.  The children said they feel safe when things are dealt with quickly.   

All mentioned feeling a little unsafe due to the low level wall alongside church.

All felt unsafe and unhappy when in loud and rough spaces. 

All agreed that tidy and organised spaces helped them to feel safe and happy to learn. 

All felt a little unhappy when other children distracted them in a lesson or spoiled a game.  We reflected on this and discussed how being part of a community like school, helps us learn that being respectful and tolerant towards others is an important part of life in and out of school. 

We agreed to meet once per term.

Actions - Decide on Safety Squad Mascot.  Do survey of school grounds. Share concerns about wall height.

Safety Squad Meeting -  17th March 2026 

Action from previous meeting - Safety Squad Mascot and safety audit of the playground including wall.

FM suggested the dragon toy as the mascot.  All children agreed the cuddly dragon would be their mascot, as he is red, strong and breathes fire! KA sketched the dragon in flight. 

Ben checked out the playground and daily mile track for any safety issues. 

Mrs Baker is currently working on making changes to the wall height alongside the church.

We discussed having a voice in school.

The children all felt being listened to was very important. We agreed listening and being listened to was part of feeling secure and respected in school.

All enjoy the monday mile, and daily mile, Forest School and being outside generally, saying they like having time to talk with friends after the weekend, and like chatting with staff in an informal setting. 

Children raised a question about what would happen if there was an emergency on the playground, meaning they all had to go inside very quickly.

Mrs Hedley said they would enter via the nearest door. Safety Squad would be important role models and Buddies on the playground.

Badges or Caps?  Baseball style caps would be more visible on the playground, and would encourage other children to wear their hats during the summer.  Badges tend to fall off and get lost.

Actions –    

Share emergency safety procedures for whole school.  

Decide on colour of caps.

Discuss with staff the idea of Safety Squad being playground Buddies also.

Update - 

Children voted for black caps.  These are currently being sourced.

All children are aware of safety procedures.