At The Mill Academy, we recognise our moral and legal duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of all our pupils. We are committed to providing a safe, welcoming environment where every child feels respected, valued, and protected.

All of our staff receive regular training so that they can recognise the signs of abuse or neglect and follow the correct procedures to ensure children receive the right support, protection, and justice. Our work follows the statutory guidance set out in Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025.
Click here to read the guidance.

Our safeguarding team:

• Designated Safeguarding Leads: Miss Clayton and Mrs Beckett

• Deputy Safeguarding Leads: Mrs Trickett, Miss Maybury, Mrs Clapham, and Mrs Spensley

• Local Committee Member for Safeguarding: L. Wylie

If you have any concerns or questions about safeguarding, you can contact a member of the safeguarding team at 01226 286510.

If you are concerned about the safety or welfare of your child, or a child you know, please act immediately.

Click here for Barnsley Social Care Guidance

What we will do if we have a concern about your child:

If we are concerned that your child may be at risk of abuse or neglect, we must follow the agreed safeguarding procedures. The procedures have been written to protect all pupils. They comply with our statutory responsibilities and are designed to support pupils, families and staff. The procedures are based on the principle that the welfare of the child is the most important consideration.

In almost all circumstances, we will talk to you about our concerns and we will also tell you if we feel we must refer our concerns to Children’s Social Care. If we think that talking to you first might in some way increase the risk to your child, we will report our concerns to Children’s Social Care and take advice from them.

All child-protection records are kept separate from your child’s general school file. The only members of staff who have access to the records are those who need to know about the concerns in order to protect and support your child.

Child protection is a very sensitive issue and it raises many questions and a range of strong emotions. We will do everything we can do to support our students and you can be assured that any action we take will be in the best interests of your child.