Laurel Avenue Community Primary School aims to create and maintain a safe learning environment where all children and adults feel safe, secure and valued and know they will be listened to and taken seriously. Our school takes seriously its role to promote safeguarding, implementing policies, practices and procedures which promote safeguarding and the emotional and physical well-being of children, young people and staff. We believe that we all have the right to be happy, to be safe and to learn; we all have the responsibility to make this happen.

 

What is safeguarding?

It might be difficult to accept, but every child can be hurt, put at risk of harm or abused, regardless of their age, gender, religion or ethnicity.

 

We will ensure that:

• the welfare of all children remains paramount;
• all children whatever their age, culture, disability, gender, language, racial origin, religious beliefs and/ or sexual identity have the right to be protected from harm;
• all suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately;
• all staff and volunteers working at our school have a responsibility to report concerns to the  designated leads for Safeguarding: Ms Davison, Mrs Walters and Mrs Lawson.

 

Our school believes in effective communication with parents/carers. We welcome parent/carer views and concerns about the welfare of their children and use this feedback to regularly review our practices.  Parental views are obtained in the following ways: questionnaires, parents’ evenings, family learning events.

 

We keep parents/carers informed about important and topical issues, including child protection elements of safeguarding, in the following ways: Newsletters, letters home, website, Marvellous Me App, training/ information sessions e.g. e-safety, anti-bullying.

 

We aim to have good working relationships with parents/carers and to work in partnership through transparency and honesty. However, we do not forget that the child’s needs and welfare are our paramount concern, thus obtaining consent to take matters further is not always appropriate.

 

With regard to Safeguarding legislation and government guidance we are committed to:

• providing an environment in which children feel safe, secure, valued and respected, confident to talk openly and sure of being listened to;
• ensuring staff and visitors are vetted, informed & trained;
• providing suitable support and guidance so that children feel confident to approach appropriate adults;
• using the curriculum to provide positive, life affirming learning experiences and opportunities for increasing self-awareness, self-esteem, assertiveness and decision making;
• working with parents and carers, promoting links and supporting families to ensure the welfare of all children which may involve other agencies;
• keeping the premises safe, pleasant and fit for purpose;
• ensuring safe activities and environments outside school.

 

Members of Staff Responsible

We are all responsible for ensuring that each child remains safe, however the Designated Leads for Safeguarding are Ms Davison, Mrs Walters Mrs Tew and Mrs Lawson.

Our Safeguarding Governor is Mrs Cottrell.

 

Safer Recruitment

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 ‘whistle-blowing’ are in line with current policy.

 

Staff Training

All staff are:

• trained in child protection issues and they are aware of the procedures to follow;
• encouraged to be vigilant in order to maintain the safety of our children;
• given a copy of ‘Behaviour Guidelines for Staff and Volunteers’ and are directed to the document ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’, updated every year. This applies to volunteers too.

keeping children safe in education september 2023

online safety policy 2023

low level concerns POLICY 2023

Child Protection with Safeguarding Policy

All staff have an up-to-date understanding of safeguarding children issues and are able to implement the safeguarding children policy and procedure appropriately.

Policies are in line with current guidance and procedures.

 

Staff are able to respond appropriately to any:

• significant changes in children’s behaviour;
• deterioration in their general well-being;
• unexplained bruising, marks or signs of possible abuse;
• signs of neglect;
• comments children make which give cause for concern.

 

All staff are aware of the need to maintain privacy and confidentiality.

 

Information Sharing

We have an obligation to obtain necessary information from parents in advance of a child being admitted to school, including:

• emergency contact numbers;
• the child’s special dietary requirements, preferences or food allergies the child may have;
• the child’s special health requirements;
• information about who has legal contact with the child; and who has parental responsibility for the child.

 

Written parental permission is requested, at the time of the child’s admission to the provision, to the seeking of any necessary emergency medical advice or treatment in the future.

 

Parents and carers must inform us about any changes to these details.

 

We take confidentiality very seriously. Any information which we hold is treated as confidential and shared on a ‘need-to-know’ basis.

 

Links with External Agencies

Because our first concern must be the well-being of your child, there may be occasions when we have to consult other agencies before we contact you. The procedures we have to follow have been laid down in accordance with the local authority child protection procedures.

 

We are fortunate to be supported by a range of external agencies which can be called upon to support the work we do in school. These include School Nurse, Health Practitioners, Educational Psychology, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, Social Services and Specialists in supporting Special Educational Needs.

 

Reporting Concerns or Complaints

Further to the above procedures, we have in place a complaints policy. This enables children, staff and parents/carers to report anything they feel is of concern.

 

Concerns should be raised in the following order.

To the Class Teacher. Then, if there is no resolution;

To the Headteacher. Then, if there is no resolution;

To the Chair of Governors. Then, if there is no resolution;

To the Local Authority.                                                                 

 

Contact details are available from the school office.

 

Review of Policy and Practice

In order to ensure that best practice is maintained, our policies are reviewed at least regularly to incorporate the latest statutory guidance emerge.

If you would like more information on safeguarding, please contact the school for all our policies or view our policies section on our website.

School Policies

If you would like to download the information in this section please click the document below:

Laurel Avenue Communiy Primary School Safeguarding information