Safeguarding
Our Designated Safeguarding Lead is Mrs. Bickley (Headteacher).
Our Deputy Safeguarding Leads are Mrs Quinney (Assistant Head) and Mrs Ghuman (EYFS).
What is Safeguarding?
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children, we expect all our staff, volunteers and visitors to share in this commitment.
All members of staff have a statutory responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all pupils at all times.
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined in "Keeping children Safe in Education" as:
- protecting children from maltreatment
- preventing the impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development
- ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care, and
- taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.
Some common themes in Safeguarding include the following: Neglect, Emotional Abuse, Physical Abuse, Children Missing from Education, Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE), Bullying including Cyberbullying, Domestic Violence, Drugs, Fabricated or Induced Illness, Faith Abuse, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Forced Marriage, Gangs and Youth Violence, Mental Health, Preventing Radicalisation, Sexting and Trafficking.
Safeguarding children and child protection guidance and legislation applies to all children up to the age of 18.
Safeguarding is the responsibility of all adults, especially those working or volunteering with children.
We aim to help protect the children in its care by working consistently and appropriately with all relevant agencies to reduce risk and promote the welfare of children.
Child protection is part of safeguarding and promoting welfare. It refers to the activity which is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering, or at risk of suffering, significant harm.
Safeguarding encompasses more than just recognising and identifying children at risk from harm and taking action to prevent this.
Safeguarding has many other elements:
- Safer Recruitment - ensuring that everyone working in our school is suitably qualified and safe to do so;
- Safer Premises - this includes ensuring our school site is secure and safe and that children can be collected and dropped off at school safely;
- Online Safety - ensuring that children and parents know how to keep children safe online
- Risk Assessment - and school trips (including residential trips) and other activities are risk assessed to minimise risk and keep children safe;
- Curriculum - ensuring that we have a broad and balanced curriculum with activities that are fun and engaging, but safe;
- Partnership Working - working with other agencies to share information; and
- Attendance - ensuring that children have good education, all absences from school are accounted for and ensuring no children are missing from education.
Our school adheres to the following three DfE safeguarding documents:
- Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023
- Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025
- The Prevent Duty 2023
All staff receive annual Child Protection and Safeguarding update training and are aware of the procedures for passing on concerns within school.
St. Patrick’s Catholic Primary School is part of Operation Encompass.
Operation Encompass is a national police and education early intervention safeguarding partnership which supports children who experience Domestic Abuse. Operation Encompass is in place in every police force in England and Wales, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar. Children were recognised as victims of domestic abuse in their own right in the 2021 Domestic Abuse Act. Operation Encompass means that the police will share information with our school about all police attended Domestic Abuse incidents which involve any of our children PRIOR to the start of the next school day. The notification informs us about the context of the incident and includes the Voice of the Child. Once a Key Adult (DSL) and their deputy/ies (DDSLs) have attended either an Operation Encompass briefing or have completed the free National Online Operation Encompass Key Adult training they will cascade the principles of Operation Encompass to all other staff. All staff are encouraged undertake the online training.
The Operation Encompass notification is stored in line with all other confidential safeguarding and child protection information. The Key Adult /s have led training for all staff and Governors about Operation Encompass, the prevalence of Domestic Abuse and the impact of this abuse on children. As a school we have also discussed how we can support our children who are experiencing Domestic Abuse on a day-to-day basis and particularly following the Operation Encompass notification. We have used the free Operation Encompass Handbooks to inform our thinking. We are aware that we must do nothing that puts the child/ren or the non-abusing adult at risk. The Safeguarding Governor will report on Operation Encompass in the termly report to Governors. All information is anonymised for these reports. We have used the Operation Encompass Key Adult Responsibilities checklist to ensure that all appropriate actions have been taken by the school. When the Head Teacher, DSL or DDSLs leave the school and other staff are appointed, they will ensure that all Operation Encompass log in details are shared with the new Head Teacher /Key Adults and that the new member of staff will undertake the Operation Encompass online training
St. Patrick's Safeguarding Policy.