Safeguarding at Hillmorton
Safeguarding children is of paramount importance to us at Hillmorton Primary School and is the responsibility of every adult within our school community. If you have any concerns about the welfare of any child in our school, please do not hesitate to speak to one of our Designated Safeguarding Leads.
Safeguarding is an umbrella term and covers many more aspects than just child protection.
Child Protection is protecting children from identified risks – originally focused on abuse at home now a wider concept to include bullying, abuse through new technologies etc
Safeguarding extends child protection to include preventing harm and promoting the well being of children.
Safeguarding is:
- Protecting children from maltreatment
- Preventing impairment of a child’s health or development
- Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provisions of safe and effective care
- Create opportunities to enable children to have optimum life chances in adulthood.
(2004 Children’s Act)
School Policy
Hillmorton Primary School recognises the responsibility it has under Section 175 of the Education Act 2002 and the requirements of the 'Safeguarding Children in Education' to have arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
Through their day-to-day contact with pupils and direct work with families, staff at the school have a crucial role to play in noticing indicators of possible abuse or neglect and referring them to the appropriate agency, normally the appropriate Children’s Team (Social Care).
‘Under the Education Act 2002 (Section 175 for maintained schools), schools must make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Parents/carers should know that the law (Children Act 1989) requires all school staff to pass on information which gives rise to a concern about a child’s welfare, including risk from neglect, physical, emotional or sexual abuse. Staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with the parent/carer and discuss the need to make a referral to Children’s Social Care if that is considered necessary. This will only be done where such discussion will not place the child at increased risk of significant harm or cause undue delay. The school will seek advice from Children’s Social Care when they have reasonable cause to suspect a child may be suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. Occasionally, concerns are passed on which are later found to be unfounded. Parents/carers will appreciate that the school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead carries out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acts in the best interests of all children.’
This Policy sets out how the school’s Governing Body discharges its statutory responsibilities relating to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children who are pupils at the school.
There are four main elements to our Policy:
- Prevention through the teaching and pastoral support offered to pupils and the creation and maintenance of a whole school protective ethos.
- Procedures for identifying and reporting cases, or suspected cases, of abuse.
- Support to pupils who may have been abused.
- Preventing unsuitable people working with children through safer recruitment practices
Our Policy applies to all staff and volunteers working in the school (education support services). Teaching assistants, mid-day supervisors, secretaries as well as teachers can be the first point of disclosure for a child. Concerned parents may also contact school Governors.
Online Safety
CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection) is an organisation run by the NCA (National Crime Agency), and is therefore government run. They are tasked with keeping children (and adults) safe while online. As well as offering many resources to educate children in this area, they are also somewhere where safety concerns can be raised if required.
We teach the children in KS2 about this ‘report’ feature (while encouraging them to speak to an adult and complete it together wherever possible) and have included a link to it below so that parents can familiarise themselves with it too. You will also see the link on various social networking and messaging websites.
Prevent
Prevent is one of four work strands which make up the government‘s counter-terrorism strategy – CONTEST. The aim of CONTEST is to reduce the risk to the UK and its interests overseas from terrorism.
- Pursue – focuses on detecting, investigating and disrupting terrorist threats to the UK and our interests overseas.
- Protect – aims to reduce the vulnerability of the UK and UK interests overseas to terrorist attack. This includes aviation security for both cargo and passengers.
- Prepare – aims to minimise the impact of any attack, manage any incidence of an ongoing attack and recover quickly and effectively
- Prevent – aims to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism
As the preventative strand of CONTEST, Prevent will:-
- Respond to the ideological challenge of terrorism and the threat faced by the UK from those who promote it
- Prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensure they are given appropriate advice and support
- Work with a wide range of sectors (including education, criminal justice, faith, charities, the internet and health) where there are risks of radicalisation which need to be addressed
As part of Hillmorton Primary School’s ongoing safeguarding and child protection duties we are fully behind the government’s Prevent Strategy. All staff receive regular WRAP training from an accredited PREVENT Facilitator on what Prevent is about and how to deal with any issues they may see inside or outside school.
Protective Behaviours
We teach about Protective Behaviours to all children.
This scheme of work is incorporated into our Relationships and Health Education (RHE) lessons. The scheme is entitled 'Taking Care' and aims to give children age appropriate strategies for talking about their feelings and in particular their own personal safety and well-being.
Protective Behaviours is a practical down to earth approach to personal safety. It is a process that encourages self-empowerment and brings with it the skills to raise self-esteem and to help avoid being victimised. This is achieved by helping individuals to recognise and trust their intuitive feelings (Early Warning Signs) and to develop strategies for self-protection. The Protective Behaviours process encourages an adventurous approach to life that satisfies the need for fun and excitement without violence and fear.
Further information on the Protective Behaviours (Taking Care) curriculum can be found on their website: https://www.protectivebehaviours.org/ or click the links below to access some information booklets for parents:
Parent Booklet: We All Have the Right to Feel Safe
What to do if you have a safeguarding concern?
If you have a safeguarding concern regarding a child/family in school, please speak to one of the designated safeguarding leads by phone, email or in person using the usual school contact details.
If you have an immediate safeguarding concern outside of school hours, or wish to make an anonymous referral please contact:
Children and Families Front Door (Previously MASH - Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub) 01926 414144
https://www.safeguardingwarwickshire.co.uk/report-it
Rugby Children's Team 01926 413389
For family support please contact:
Family Support Worker Helpline: 01926 412412
Family Information Service: 01926 742274
In the case of a serious safeguarding concern please dial 999. If you are subject to domestic abuse and unable to talk on the line, dial 55 and the authorities will be sent.
For information on the range of service available to support, click on the link below: