Safeguarding

Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families has a role to play in safeguarding children. This includes the staff at St Oswald’s. We are in a position to identify concerns early and provide help for children to prevent concerns from escalating.

Definition of Safeguarding

The definition used in the Children Act 2004 and in ‘Working together to safeguard children’. This can be summarised as:

Protecting children from maltreatment
Preventing impairment of children’s health or development
Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes

Safeguarding is not just about protecting children from deliberate harm. It relates to aspects of school life including:

Pupils’ health and safety
The use of reasonable force
Meeting the needs of pupils with medical conditions
Providing first aid
Educational visits
Providing intimate care
Online safety
School security

Safeguarding can involve a range of potential issues such as:

Bullying, including cyberbullying and prejudice-based bullying
Racist, disability, and homophobic or transphobic abuse
Radicalisation and extremist behaviour
Child sexual exploitation
Sexting
Substance misuse
Issues that may be specific to a local area or population, for example gang activity and youth violence
Particular issues affecting children including domestic violence, sexual exploitation, female genital mutilation and forced marriage

Children are encouraged to express and discuss their ideas, thoughts and feelings through a variety of activities and have access to a range of cultural opportunities which promote respect and empathy for others. As part of our Prevent duty under s.26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, we are aware of the importance of building children’s resilience to radicalisation by promoting fundamental British values and enabling them to challenge extremist views. Schools can build children’s resilience to radicalisation by providing a safe environment for debating controversial issues and helping children and young people understand how they can influence and participate in decision making.

We are all responsible for ensuring that each child remains safe; however, the ‘Designated Safeguarding Leads’ are as follows:

Our designated safeguarding lead is Mrs D. Wilson-Smith (Headteacher)

We have two deputy designated safeguarding leads:

Miss G. Preece (Inclusion Lead and Class Teacher)
Mrs C. Laddie (Nursery and Wraparound Manager)

Procedure

If a concern is raised regarding a child, the designated safeguarding lead is informed immediately and a record is made on CPOMS. The decision of the next step is then made and recorded.
If a concern is raised regarding a member of staff, this must be given to the Headteacher
If a concern is raised regarding the Headteacher, this must be given to the Chair of Governors
All of these concerns are taken very seriously and correct procedures are followed

Further information

If you would like further information on Safeguarding please read our Child Protection and Safeguarding policy, found on our policies page.

Visitors to our school

All visitors must sign into school and will be given a badge to identify them as a visitor.

Visitors are required to read the visitors information.

Recruitment at our school

The school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Any offer of employment is subject to receipt of a satisfactory DBS Enhanced Disclosure and a minimum of two satisfactory references.

We follow strict procedures to ensure that everyone who works with our children is vetted, keeping our children as safe as possible. Ongoing checks and ‘whistleblowing’ are in line with the current policy.

Mrs Wilson-Smith (Headteacher), Mrs Wass (Staff Governor), Dr Clarke (Foundation Governor) and Mrs Haswell (Nursery Manager) have completed Safer Recruitment Training.

All DBS checks are renewed on a regular cycle.

Reporting a Concern of Abuse or Neglect

If you suspect or believe a child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm, including any form of mistreatment or abuse, you should report your concerns.

Emergency

If a child is in immediate danger, you should contact the police by calling call 999.

Not an emergency

If there is no immediate danger, or you need advice or information, you should:

contact First Contact Service 03000 26 79 79
contact the NSPCC helpline 0808 800 5000

What happens when you ring First Contact Service?

First Contact are experienced children’s services professionals, who are trained to deal with sensitive issues. They will ask you a few short questions to find out how best to deal with your concern. They work closely with other professionals to make sure that action is taken and the right level of support can be given to the right people at the right time.