A Safe Building For Safe Learning
Right from its conception our Academy has been designed with safety in mind.
The glass walls and wide corridors ensure that not only are students visible at all times but that they can move between lessons safely.
In line with this we have designed our curriculum to minimise movement around the Academy during the school day. Students only move faculties twice a day and largely work with other students from their own year group, thus reducing disruption and removing the opportunities for bullying between year groups.
Integral to this safety conscious design is a smart card swipe system that allows only students, staff and authorised visitors into the Academy. The system also acts as an automatic register so that we will immediately know whether a child has not attended. A text is then sent to the parent so that we can quickly discover the reason for a child's absence.
Students also use individual toilet cubicles (which are also shared by staff. The building was intentionally built without toilet blocks to eliminate the areas where bullying can take place.
The absence of a staffroom means that staff are working alongside students within the public areas and so are on hand at all times.
A comprehensive CCTV system also means that security is at a maximum. Entry to the site is only gained through a barrier at the main gate and access to the building is controlled via our reception desk.
Safer Schools Partnership - working with outside organisations to ensure our students safety
The Academy is part of the Safer Schools Partnership - a Northants Police led affiliation which focuses on supporting young people.
As part of this partnership the Academy has close links with the police, the local authorities and agencies to make sure that our students remain safe.
Being a member of the Safer Schools Partnership also means that the Academy has its own designated Police Community Support Officer who devotes his time and expertise to supporting relationships between our students, the Academy and the wider community.
Personal safety
Every effort is made so that any risks to a student's personal safety within the Academy environment are minimised.
To prevent incidents of bullying we have created individual toilet cubicles instead of toilet block and the Academy is also a cashless society - students top up their smart cards to pay for breakfast and lunch.
We also have an intensive pastoral care system, with a pastoral support officer assigned to each year group. Our PSOs are available all throughout the Academy day if students would like to speak about educational or personal matters.
There are also on site nurses who can talk to students about any health concerns they may be worried about.
And we are in the process of establishing a mentoring system that will involve older students mentoring the younger year groups.
Online/internet safety
At Corby Business Academy we take internet safety extremely seriously and have put in place a number of measures to ensure our students are as safe as possible when accessing the online world and are aware of the risks that using the internet may bring.
As part of our online safety procedures all computers within the Academy (including laptops) are blocked from inappropriate websites.
All students have also attended an assembly about online safety, which explained how to use Social Networking safely and which agencies to report any online abuse to.
As part of this safeguard it is also vital that our parents are aware of the possible dangers to which the internet may expose their children and so in line with this we have organised a Parents Safety I
nformation Event which will be held at the Academy on Wednesday, November 18.
Representatives from the Police, Fire Service and drugs awareness charity Solve It will deliver talks and provide information to
Parents and students are also asked to visit the link at www.thinkuknow.co.uk
This website contains invaluable information put together by CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection).
Road Safety
Due to the location of the Academy most students will arrive via the bus service or by means of parental transport.
To cater for those students staying to take part in Session 3 activities we provide two buses at 5pm and another at 5.45pm, so that they have a safe means of transport home.
We have put together the following guide for students who use the bus system to ensure they do so safely (link to pdf).
The roads within the Academy site also have a 10mph speed limit and we have installed speed humps along our main entrance route to reduce vehicle speed. There is also a zebra crossing outside the Academy entrance to ensure students can walk throughout the site safely.
Transport Safety Guide
