Safeguarding

Leadership Safeguarding Statement

The Executive Headteacher, Mrs Cathy Blatchford and Our Lady and St Patrick Primary School governors recognise the importance of its ministry work with children and young people in need of protection and its responsibility to protect everyone entrusted to our care.

This school is committed to the safeguarding of children and ensuring their well-being.
Specifically:

We recognise that we all have a responsibility to help prevent the physical, sexual, emotional abuse and neglect of its pupils and to report any such abuse that we discover or suspect.
We believe every child should be valued, safe and happy. We want to make sure that children we have contact with know this and are empowered to tell us if they are suffering harm.
All children and young people have the right to be treated with respect, to be listened to and to be protected from all forms of abuse.
We recognise the personal dignity and rights of pupils, and staff, and will ensure all our policies and procedures reflect this.
We undertake to exercise proper care in the appointment and selection of all those who will work with children.

We are committed to:

Following the requirements for UK legislation in relation to safeguarding children and good practice recommendations.
Respecting the rights of children as described in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Implementing the requirements of legislation in regard to people with disabilities.
Ensuring that workers adhere to the agreed procedures of our safeguarding policy.
Keeping up to date with national and local developments relating to safeguarding.
Following any local authority guidelines in relation to safeguarding children and adults in need of protection.
Supporting the safeguarding personnel in their work and in any action they may need to take in order to protect children/vulnerable adults.
Ensuring that everyone agrees to abide by these recommendations and the guidelines established by this place of worship/organisation.
Supporting parents and families
Nurturing, protecting and safeguarding of children and young people
Supporting, resourcing, training, monitoring and providing supervision to all those who undertake this work.
Supporting all in the school affected by abuse.

We recognise:

Children’s Services (or equivalent) has lead responsibility for investigating all allegations or suspicions of abuse where there are concerns about a child. Adult Social Care (or equivalent) has lead responsibility for investigating all allegations or suspicions of abuse where there are concerns about a vulnerable adult.
Where an allegation suggests that a criminal offence may have been committed then the police should be contacted as a matter of urgency.
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.

We will review this statement and our policy and procedures annually.

If you have any concerns for a child or vulnerable adult then please do speak to one of the following:

Mrs Rachel O'Sullivan - Designated Safeguarding Lead

Miss Kim Wathen - Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

Mrs Cathy Blatchford - Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead and Executive Headteacher

Mrs Sally Emmerton - Deputy Safeguarding lead

Mrs Larraine Coulter– Governor responsible for Safeguarding

Please note that allegations against adults, or complaints should always be raised with the Head Teacher (Miss Lowry) in the first instance. Should anyone need to contact our Chair of Governors in order to raise an allegation, or make a complaint they should write to Mrs Larraine Coulter, c/o Our Lady & St Patrick's Catholic Primary School.

At this school we use CPOMs as our system for recording information that we consider to be safeguarding information. As a parent you are entitled to see this information and may request to do so.

Further information about the programme can be found here -

https://www.cpoms.co.uk/privacy-statement/

CAST Safeguarding Policy September 2023_OLSP.docx (2).pdf

Keeping_children_safe_in_education_2023.pdf

What_to_do_if_you_re_worried_a_child_is_being_abused.pdf

Walking to School Policy.pdf

Our Lady and St Patrick's School is committed to safeguarding and promoting welfare of children and young people and requires all staff and volunteers to share and demonstrate this commitment in every aspect of their work.

We are an Operation Encompass school

Operation Encompass is a police and education early information sharing partnership enabling schools to offer immediate support for children and young people experiencing domestic abuse. Information is shared by the police with a school's trained Key Adult (DSL) prior to the start of the next school day after officers have attended a domestic abuse incident thus enabling appropriate support to be given, dependent upon the needs and wishes of the child.

Children experiencing domestic abuse are negatively impacted by this exposure; domestic abuse has been identified as an Adverse Childhood Experience and can lead to emotional, physical and psychological harm. Operation Encompass aims to mitigate this harm by enabling immediate support, making a child's day better and giving them a better tomorrow.

Operation Encompass believes that children are victims of domestic abuse in their own right and should be acknowledged as such.

Medicines
Please let the Head Teacher know of any medical or home circumstances affecting your child which may require special consideration. Our policy is that teachers are not permitted to administer medicines which have not been prescribed by a doctor. Medicine forms for prescribed medicines are available from the office or you can access electronic copy via the 'Parent's Links' tab on the website.
Children with asthma may keep an inhaler in class.

Concerns
If you have concerns or worries about your child in school, the staff would like to know about them. They will take your concerns seriously, investigate and give you a response. Worries or misunderstandings are usually quickly resolved. Your child's class teacher is normally the best person to speak to. They are generally available at the end of each day.

The Head Teacher is also available should you wish to speak with her. We hope that good communication between home and school will mean the need to make a complaint will not arise. However, if you believe something is seriously wrong, your view will be considered. There are set procedures to ensure complaints are handled fairly. The Governing Body's Complaints Policy is available in the school office. The first person to contact in most cases is the class teacher.

Online Safety at home

Install antivirus software, secure your internet connection and use Parental Control functions for computers, mobile phones and games consoles to block unsuitable content or contact from unknown people. Research different parental control software and tools available for your home and select the tools which are most suitable to you, your child and the technology in your home.

Visit: www.internetmatters.org and www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-and-resources/a-parents-guide for safety information and advice about parental controls on consoles and devices and how to report concerns. (links below)

Make sure you read any parental guidance and safety recommendations (including age requirements – most popular social networking sites and apps are only for users aged 13+) for any apps or websites before allowing your child to use them.

Always remember that parental control tools are not always 100% effective and sometimes unsuitable content can get past them, so don’t rely on them alone to protect your child.

Safe internet guide

Internet guidance for parents and carers

Listen

Take an active interest in your child’s life online and talk openly with them about the things they do. Talk to your child and ask them to show or even teach you how they use the internet, learn which websites or tools they like to use and why. Learning together with your child can often open opportunities to discuss safe behaviour online.

To start a conversation with your child you could tell them that you understand that some young people share images and videos online and that you’re interested to know what they think about it and how they think they can keep themselves safe.

Dialogue – keep talking

Ensure that your child knows that once a picture, video or comment is sent or posted online, then it can be very difficult to remove as other people can forward it and share it with others, without them even knowing.

www.childnet.com and www.thinkuknow.co.uk has some really useful tips and ideas for parents/carers about starting conversations about online safety

Always ensure your child knows how to report and block people online who may send nasty or inappropriate messages or content. Encourage your child not to retaliate or reply to cyberbullying and to keep any evidence.

Make sure your child knows it’s important that they tell an adult they trust if anything happens online that makes them feel scared, worried or uncomfortable.

Remember, the internet is an essential part of young people’s lives and provides them with tremendous opportunities. The vast majority use it without coming to any harm so it’s essential to be realistic: banning the internet or websites often will not work and it can make a child feel less able to report a problem or concern, so education around safe use is essential.

Child net support

Internet safety guidance for parents and children