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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New Safety Squad – Meeting 20th January 2026 

We discussed - Staying Safe  

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 unhappy or unsafe? 

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

The children all described humour and being kind as an action they do to make others feel happy and safe.   

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 at least once per half term.

Actions - Decide on Safety Squad Mascot.  Do survey of school grounds.

Safety Squad Meeting -  17th March 2026 

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

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. 

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

All felt safe on the daily mile, at Forest School and on the track generally. This was reported to Ben who also inspected the track and hedges.

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. 

Actions –    

Shared lockdown safety procedures for whole school, in the event of needing to go in to school from the playground/field.