Safeguarding Children is one of the most important roles our school fulfils.  Safeguarding encompasses 'Child Protection' but is much broader than just that. Safeguarding is the responsibility of all adults in our school building and is linked to our overall culture, ethos and the principles by which we operate.  Safeguarding is an integral part of everyday life at our school and is underpinned by a range of policies, procedures and curriculum developed with the best interests of our children at their heart and the ambition that school is a safe place for all children and young people to be. 

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

Below are some of the Statutory Guidance documents produced to support schools in safeguarding pupils and some of the policies that we at St. Mary's have adopted to support our work in this area.  There are many more policies that support our safeguarding work and these can be found on the policies page of our website.