Under section 175 of the Education Act 2002 we are required to have arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
We will endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued.
The school will therefore be alert to signs of abuse and neglect and will follow the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Safeguarding Children Partnership Board’s procedures to ensure that children receive appropriate and effective support and protection.
Parents/carers should know that the law 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 and exploitation. Parents/carers should know that records of safeguarding concerns may be kept about their child. They should be informed that school staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with them including referrals to other agencies.
Local procedures state that “Consent should always be sought from an adult with parental responsibility for the child/young person before passing information about them to Children’s Social Care, unless seeking consent would place the child at risk of significant harm or may lead to the loss of evidence for example destroying evidence of a crime or influencing a child about a disclosure made.” This includes allowing them to share information without consent, if it is not possible to gain consent, if it cannot be reasonably expected that a professional gains consent, or if to gain consent would place a child at risk.
Where there is a need to share special category personal data, the Data Protection Act 2018 contains ‘safeguarding of children and individuals at risk’ as a processing condition that allows professionals to share information.
In accordance with legislation and local Information Sharing protocols, we will ensure that information is shared securely and sensitively. Information will only be shared with other services where it is deemed necessary and proportionate to ensure that children and young people are safe and receive the right service. In all circumstances, the safety of the child will be the paramount concern.
Schools will contact 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 shown to be unfounded. Parents/carers will appreciate that the members of staff in the school with responsibility for child protection (known as the Designated Safeguarding Lead or Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead) were carrying out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acting in the best interests of all children.
Holding power
Under Section 3 (5) of the Children Act 1989, any person who has care of a child “may….do what is reasonable in all the circumstances of the case for the purpose of safeguarding promoting the child’s welfare”. This means that on rare occasions, a school may need to “hold” a child in school whilst Social Care and the Police investigate any concerns further.
The CPS Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy sets out how the school’s governing body discharges its statutory responsibilities relating to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children who are the pupils at the school. This policy applies to all staff, paid and unpaid, working in the school including governors. It is consistent with the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) procedures.
Concerned parents/carers may also contact the school and its governors. In addition to this parents can also seek advice at any time from the NSPCC helpline- help@nspcc.org.uk or 0808 800 5000. Next steps might involve undertaking an early help assessment or making a referral directly to children's social care/the police.The Designated Safeguarding Lead for the school is Mr James Kilsby (Headteacher).
- Mrs Rebecca Cole (Deputy Headteacher)
- Mrs Richard Moore (Deputy Headteacher/ Inclusion Lead)
- Mrs Lisa Dhese ( Assistant INCO)
- Mrs Suzanne Laston (Family Support Worker)
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. The definitions of the four categories of abuse are attached (see p11 Keeping Children Safe in Education))
- SUPPORTING VULNERABLE CHILDREN, those who may have been abused or witnessed violence towards others
- PREVENTING UNSUITABLE PEOPLE WORKING WITH CHILDREN
HM Government has published guidance for authorities, including schools, on their responsibilities under the ‘Counter-Terrorism and Security Act’, which came into effect on 1 July 2015. Under the Act, schools and other authorities have a duty to “have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”.
All staff have been made aware of our duty of care under this guidance and Mr James Kilsby is our trained 'Prevent Lead'.