Safeguarding

Safeguarding our children is a key priority for us as it is for all schools. We ensure that our children are kept safe in many ways:

By ensuring that our premises is in good condition and secure for our children.

By ensuring that our children have clear guidelines on safe and appropriate behaviours.

By ensuring that our children abide by our Rights and Responsibilities, specifically: “I have the responsibility to keep myself and others safe and healthy”.

By actively promoting and facilitating activities to develop children’s healthy lifestyles including: running the mile a day, organising active games and forest schools at lunchtimes and play times, having plentiful play equipment and adventure playgrounds at playtimes, growing our own fruit and vegetables and cooking them in our school kitchen.

By proactively educating the children about keeping safe in many contexts: day to day, road safety, water safety, online safety, etc.

By ensuring that risk assessments are carried out, adhered to and amended as necessary as working documents for any potentially hazardous activities and all visits.

By forging good work relationships with parents so we can work together to safeguard our children.

By recording any concerns that we have about individual children and sharing these with staff and parents/carers as necessary.

By ensuring that staff are fully informed and trained on safeguarding with full training at least annually, regular updates and induction for new staff.

By accessing support for children and their families where necessary by working closely with other agencies. (See Early Help information below).

By sharing information as necessary and receiving information from Encompass (Encompass is a joint police and education initiative where the police contact school in the event of any domestic events affecting a child in our school).

By promoting British Values and following the Prevent strategy to ensure that our children are protected from all forms of radicalisation.

By passing on safeguarding records to secondary schools.

Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs)

Our DSL is Nicki Bradbury (Head) and our back up DSLs are Vicky Perry (Deputy Head) and Rebecca Starr (SENDCo). If you have any safeguarding concerns about any child in our school, please speak to a DSL about your concerns. All school staff and volunteers report any concerns to the DSL for them to action.

Online Safety

We teach explicit lessons on how to stay safe online at the start of each term in all classes and the issue is revisited frequently within any lessons where the internet is used, through assemblies and PSHE lessons. The children obviously access the internet frequently outside of school. It is becoming more and more challenging to monitor and control what your children see and experience online but this is clearly a vital aspect of keeping your child safe.

The following websites offer practical tips on how to address internet safety with your child. We also invite parents to seek advice from school on this topic.

Parents and Carers

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/

Mental Health and Wellbeing

We take the mental health and wellbeing of our children, staff and families seriously and, where there are concerns or issues for individuals or families, we are able to do referrals for Early Help support. We receive information from the Lancashire’s NHS mental health service about local support and events and this is passed onto parents for their information. We are always available to discuss concerns you may have about your children and their mental health. We have yoga club and mindfulness club for the children to participate in and incorporate aspects of both of these to assist the children in managing emotions and their own mental health. We use resources from the Yogi group and will be hosting a Yogi wellbeing day for all of the children soon. https://www.theyogigroup.com/

The following document details what’s on locally linked with SEND, mental health and general wellbeing.

See Lancaster and Morecambe Early Help website for regualr updates and further information:

https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/children-education-families/early-years-childcare-and-family-support/family-support/children-and-family-wellbeing-service/lancaster-children-and-family-wellbeing-services/

Also, see the local NHS website for more information https://www.lscft.nhs.uk/services/mental-health

Operation Encompass

Along with all Lancashire schools, we are part of Operation Encompass. This means that if the police attend a domestic incident where children are resident or present, we receive a notification from the police and then the Early Help team giving details of the incident in order that we are better prepared to support the child and family and ensure that the child is safe. https://www.operationencompass.org/

Prevent

Staff and governors are trained in Prevent. This is to ensure that we keep our children safe from the threat of radicalisation of any form be that on political or religious grounds.

In our recent safeguarding audit by the Local Authority, the following observations were made:

“It was clear how much energy and passion she (Nicki Bradbury) has to drive the school forward and ensure it is the best it can be to meet to needs of their children and families…..and, although there aren’t currently a lot of safeguarding issues, it remains a priority.”

“Staff’s knowledge and understanding of their role are apparent and they talked in depth about various aspects of safeguarding and are very clear on challenge and whistleblowing……All staff were very clear on how available and approachable the DSL/ Safeguarding Team are and communication is good. Staff feel their wellbeing is a priority, the Head notices staff are busy and offers support, they feel the senior leaders are approachable should they have any concerns.”

“It was lovely to meet some of the children and listen to their voice: this was a real strength of the audit…. It was clear work has gone into teaching the children about bullying and they clearly felt safe and know who to go to with any worries. They felt confident that their worries would be taken seriously and dealt with by staff. It is clear that the children’s voice is heard throughout school.”

“During the audit, it was clear that safeguarding is effective, compliant and child-centred with a good reflective attitude and communication.”