Safeguarding

Safeguarding Statement for Parents

Our school ensures children learn in a safe, caring and enriching environment. Children are taught how to keep themselves safe, to develop positive and healthy relationships, how to avoid situations where they might be at risk including by being exploited.

School also has a statutory responsibility to share any concerns it might have about a child in need of protection with other agencies and in particular police, health and children’s services. School is not able to investigate child protection concerns but have a legal duty to refer them. In most instances, the school will be able to inform parents/carers of its need to make a referral. However, sometimes school is advised by children’s services or police that the parent/carer cannot be informed whilst they investigate the matter. We understand the anxiety parents/carers understandably feel when they are not told about any concerns from the outset. The school follows legislation that aims to act in the interests of the child.

The school will always seek to work in partnership with parents and other agencies to ensure the best possible outcomes for the child and family.

Our Safeguarding Team

The Designated Safeguarding Lead in our school is our Assistant Headteacher and Inclusion Manager, Mr. S. Fitzsimmons. Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads are Mrs. F. Roper, Headteacher, Mr. D. Paton, Deputy Headteacher and Mrs. L. Walls our Family Liaison Officer with responsibility for safeguarding.  

Mrs. L. Walls has specific responsibilities for safeguarding and child protection. She works closely with staff and other agencies to ensure the best possible care and support for vulnerable pupils and their families. 

There are four main aspects to our work in safeguarding and protecting
our pupils:

Prevention: 

We work hard to create a positive school atmosphere where pupils feel safe and secure. We provide high-quality teaching and pastoral support and we ensure that our pupils know what to do if they ever feel worried or unsafe. 

Protection: 

We ensure that all staff are appropriately recruited, trained and supported which enables them to respond to safeguarding concerns in an appropriate and sensitive manner.

Support: 

Staff are fully supported in their work to provide the highest quality care and support for all pupils. Particular support is given to pupils who are considered to be vulnerable. 

Action: 

All adults working in our school receive training and support which assists them in making informed, timely and relevant decisions and taking appropriate action to ensure all pupils are safe and have the best outcomes.

Anti-Bullying

Everyone at Arnot St Mary CofE Primary School has the right to feel welcome, secure and happy. Bullying of any sort prevents this from happening and goes against the ethos of our school. 

When bullying does occur, victims must feel confident enough to seek the help of an adult to help resolve this. We actively challenge attitudes about bullying behaviour and work hard to create a
values-based ethos in our school. As a result, incidents of bullying are extremely rare.

Children in schools can often have 'fall outs' either in their classrooms or on the playground. This is not bullying. Bullying is the repetitive, intentional hurting of one person or group, by another person or group, when the relationship involves an imbalance of power.

Curriculum

Our curriculum places high value upon developing our pupils socially and emotionally as well as academically. We ensure that it includes opportunities for Personal, Social and Health Education to equip pupils with the skills to keep themselves safe.

Online Safety

We recognise the importance of technology in our pupils' lives and the potential that it offers with regards to teaching and learning. However, we also acknowledge the potential dangers to children and we are fully committed to working with pupils and parents to minimise this danger. Please see our Online Safety section on the website for further information.

The Prevent Strategy

We want all our children to live in a safe and loving environment so that they can grow up to become happy, confident adults. You will already know that your children can be vulnerable to risks both inside and outside the the home, and will have taken steps to protect them so they can grow, learn and develop to their fullest potential.

From July 2015, all schools are subject to a duty under the section 26 of the Counter-terrorism and Security act 2015 to safeguard children from radicalisation and extremism. This means that we have the same duty to protect children from extremist and violent views as we do to protect them from drugs and physical abuse. 

Operation Encompass

Our school participates in a police led initiative called Operation Encompass. This is a partnership between schools and the police that helps schools to better support any child where a domestic incident has been reported to police from their home.  

Following a domestic incident, the police will make contact with the child's school and will communicate relevant information to a nominated, fully trained member of the safeguarding team. This will ensure that as a school we are able to use the information that has been shared, in confidence, to support the child(ren) in our care. It also provides an opportunity for school to offer support to the the whole family. 

The following link explains indicators of abuse and what you should do to report your concerns.

DfE 'Tackle Child Abuse' campaign

Tackle Child Abuse Campaign