Safeguarding & Child Protection at Southminster C of E Primary School
We take the well-being of our pupils seriously at Southminster CofE Primary and are fully committed to the safeguarding and welfare of all the children in our care.
If you have a safeguarding/child protection concern, please contact one of the below Safeguarding Leaders
The latest edition of the government’s guidance ‘Working together to safeguard children’ (HM Government July 2018) states that all organisations have a statutory responsibility to safeguard children and promote their welfare. It outlines that 'Effective safeguarding arrangements in every local area should be underpinned by two principles:’
- Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility: for services to be effective each professional and organisation should play their full part.
- A child-centred approach for services to be effective, they should be based on a clear understanding of the needs and views of children.’
We are duty bound to follow the guidance outlined in ‘Making Arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children’ (Department of education and skills 2007) and the ‘Keeping children safe in Education’ document (DFE 2018).
All staff at Southminster CofE have signed to say that they have received and read Part 1 and Annex A of the aforementioned document, which you can find by following the link above.
We have adopted a culture of vigilance in the school, and outlined below is a representation of the various features that create a safer environment within our organisation:
Safer recruitment
Robust Staff induction
Clear policies
Regular staff training
Strong pupil voice
Broad and balanced curriculum
Supervision of lead staff
Managing allegations
Features of a Safer and open Culture
- An open culture; no secrets
- Safeguarding and abuse are discussed openly; A belief that ‘it could happen here’
- Clear procedures for reporting concerns
- Support for children and adults who do raise concerns and a commitment to take action
- A code of conduct that makes clear what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour
- Policies and procedures that are put into practice
- Good induction and use of probationary periods
- A full commitment to safeguarding and an ongoing culture of vigilance
- Safeguarding is core, not an add-on
- Increasing awareness through regular training and discussion
- Everyone has a basic awareness of safeguarding and abuse
- Commitment to safeguarding is publicised
- There is a nominated child protection/safeguarding lead person
- Ensure people know what to do with concerns
- To be clear on how concerns are dealt with
Taking concerns seriously:
- Offer support to all involved
- Deal with immediate danger to the child
- Explore to clarify concern
- Report to and liaise with other agencies
- Do not ignore
- Clear whistle blowing policy in place
Setting acceptable standards of behaviour
Why setting standards of behaviour are important:
- Boundaries and expectations of roles
- No assumptions that people know what expected behaviour is
- Risk of interpretation without clear standards
- To protect adults by giving clarity on what they can and cannot do
- To protect children by showing them what behaviour is acceptable and unacceptable from adults
- To clarify expectations of children and what is and not acceptable behaviour on their part
A Code of Conduct:
- Sets out what is good and appropriate behaviour between adults and children
- Is not exhaustive
- Is concerned with key behaviours in relation to children, young people and their families
- Applies to all adults, paid and unpaid
Induction, probationary periods and supervision and management
- Induction: set clear standards and expectations for ALL new staff, not just people new to the profession;
- Cover key policies and obtain signed declarations from all staff, volunteers, and governors which secure all individuals agreement to comply with all relevant policies, procedures and statutory guidance
- Probationary period: closely monitor new recruits; deal with issues early on
- Supervision and management: be aware of what people are doing; look for signs of inappropriate relationships or behaviour with children, and deal with them promptly
Terrorism
In light of the recent terror attacks in England, and the frequent media attention to these, it is understandable that children could become anxious and ask questions that are difficult to answer. If you need advice on how to discuss the impact of acts of terrorism with your child in order to support them, the following websites are just two that have been recommended by Andrew Hill, Specialist Safeguarding Consultant:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/13865002
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-we-do/news-opinion/supporting-children-worried-about-terrorism/
