Child Protection and Safeguarding at the British School in Colombo
The British School in Colombo is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff, parents, visitors and volunteers to share this commitment. Every pupil should feel safe and protected from any form of abuse which, in this policy, means any kind of neglect, non-accidental physical injury, sexual exploitation or emotional ill-treatment.
If you have any concerns about the safety or wellbeing of a BSC student, please email [email protected] (Senior School) or [email protected] (Junior School)
The School will take all reasonable measures to:
- Ensure that safe recruitment is practiced by thoroughly checking the suitability of staff and volunteers (including staff employed by another organisation) to work with children and young people. All international staff must provide an International Child Protection Certificate,
- Protect each pupil from any form of abuse, whether from an adult or another pupil.
- Be alert to signs of abuse both in the School and from outside.
- Deal appropriately with every suspicion or complaint of abuse.
- Design and operate procedures which promote this policy.
- Design and operate procedures which, so far as possible, ensure that teachers and others who are innocent are not prejudiced by false allegations.
- Support children who have been abused.
- Be alert to the medical needs of children with medical conditions.
- Operate robust and sensible health & safety procedures.
- Take all practicable steps to ensure that School premises are as secure as circumstances permit.
- Operate clear and supportive policies on drugs, alcohol and substance misuse.
- Consider and develop procedures to deal with any other safeguarding issues which may be specific to individual children in our school or in our local area.
Every complaint or suspicion of abuse from within or outside the School will be investigated by the school.
Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy
Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy
Visitor Safeguarding Guidelines
- Commitment to Safeguarding - All visitors are expected to share the school's commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people.
- Identification and Sign-In - Please ensure you sign in at the office and wear your visitor's badge prominently at all times for staff to easily identify you as an authorised guest.
- No unobserved Contact - To protect both yourself and our students, you must not engage in any one-to-one interactions with student/s.
- No Unauthorised Photography - Visitors are strictly prohibited from taking photographs or videos of students to ensure their privacy and protection.
- Mobile Phone Usage - Please refrain from using mobile phones in restricted areas and areas where students are present.
- Professional Boundaries - Maintain formal boundaries by avoiding suggestive or discriminatory comments.
- Sharing of Information - Do not exchange private contact information with students.
- Duty to Report - If you have any concerns regarding a child's safety or wellbeing, you have a responsibility to report this to one of our Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) via email.
*Junior School: [email protected]
*Senior School: [email protected]
- Safeguarding Team - Your report will be treated seriously and acted upon immediately by our trained Safeguarding Team.
- Confidentiality - Any information regarding safeguarding concerns will be handled with the utmost confidentiality and shared only with the designated staff members on a need-to-know basis.
Safeguarding is Everyone's Responsibility!
A Digital Copy can be found here.
Child Protection Team
- Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL)
- Hannah Edgeworth (JS)
- Sylvana Marjan (SS)
- Deputy DSLs
- Thomas Greenwood (SS)
- Kathryn Edwards (JS)
- Carol Foster (JS)
- Mahum Kidwai (SS)
- Anne Ranasinghe (SS)
- Tony Dean (SS)
- Thisara Fernando (SS)
Reporting a Concern
If you have any concerns about the safety or wellbeing of a student at BSC, please do not hesitate to speak with the Principal or one of the Designated Staff members listed above.
