SAFEGUARDING & CHILD PROTECTION
SAFEGUARDING
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is of paramount importance and is everyone’s responsibility.
It is the responsibility of every member of staff, volunteer and regular visitor to work in a way that will safeguard and promote the welfare of all of the pupils at this school. This includes the responsibility to provide a safe environment in which children can learn
Ensuring that your child feels safe and secure at school is a key priority. All staff, both teaching and non-teaching, receive regular training to make sure they have an up-to-date knowledge of current safeguarding best practice in schools. This includes studying and learning from ‘serious case reviews’. Training is provided by Clennell Education Solutions and by our designated persons. Members of the Local Governing Committee and the Headteacher also receive regular ‘safer recruitment’ training to ensure the selection process to recruit new members of staff includes important safeguarding checks.
Throughout our curriculum we provide activities and opportunities for children to develop the skills they need to identify risks and stay safe. This will also be extended to include material that will encourage our children to develop essential life skills.
To read our Safeguarding & Child Protection Policy, please see the Policies page linked below:
DESIGNATED SAFEGUARDING LEADS
Our school has a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and a Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL) who take responsibility for safeguarding and child protection (including online safety). This is explicit in the role holder’s job description. They provide advice and support to other staff on child welfare and child protection matters, make referrals to external agencies and take part in strategy discussions and inter-agency meetings
St Mary's DSL - Mrs Colette Bland
St Mary's DDSL - Mrs Joanne MacDonald
STAYING SAFE ONLINE
We recognise the benefits of children engaging with the internet and on-line world, but we are also very aware of the ever-changing risks that this presents. This page contains information on the work we do to ensure that our children have a good knowledge and understanding of On-line Safety and our parents feel supported in keeping their children safe on-line.
SAFER RECRUITMENT
Safer Recruitment is a set of practices which we understand and comply fully with to help make sure our staff and volunteers are suitable to work with children and young people. It’s a vital part of creating a safe and positive environment and making a commitment to keep our children safe from harm. Once all Safeguarding checks have been made and staff are appointed, they engage with regular safeguarding training to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills to play their part in keeping our children safe.
ATTENDANCE
Attendance is an integral part of Safeguarding. Children who are in school every day have strong relationships with the adults who care for them. When relationships are strong children are more likely to talk to adults about their worries. Adults notice subtle changes in children's behaviour and presentation and can explore this through professional curiosity. Further information on how we manage and monitor attendance can be found here.
PREVENT
Prevent is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorist or extremist causes. The Prevent strategy covers all types of terrorism and extremism, including political and religious extremism. All schools are subject to a duty to ‘prevent people from being drawn into terrorism’. This is the Prevent Duty, which forms part of the school’s safeguarding obligations.
OPERATION ENCOMPASS
The purpose of Operation Encompass is to safeguard and support children and young people who have been involved in a domestic abuse incident. Following an incident at home, children may arrive at school distressed, upset and perhaps unprepared for the day.
North Tyneside Council, the police and nominated Key Adults in school will be working together to make sure that school staff are made aware of an incident early enough to support pupils in school.