Safeguarding Information

Nothing is more important to us than the safety and welfare of our pupils.  We take rigorous steps to ensure that children stay safe and do not come to any harm.  We work closely with parents/carers and a range of professional external agencies in order to secure this.

If you have any concerns, no matter how small they may seem, about the safety or welfare of any child, please contact the school's Designated Safeguarding Lead or Deputy Safeguarding Leads.  Please see details below.

Under the Education Act 2002 (section 175), schools must "make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children". We will endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued.  The school will therefore be alert to signs of abuse, radicalisation and neglect and will follow the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) procedures to ensure that children receive appropriate and effective support and protection.

Parents/carers should know that the law requires all the school staff to pass on information which gives rise to a concern about a child's welfare, including risk from neglect, physical, emotional and sexual abuse.  Parents/carers should know that records of safeguarding concerns may be kept about their child.  They should be informed that the school staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with them including referrals to other agencies.

Local procedures state that, "Consent should always be sought from an adult with parental responsibility for the child/young person before passing information about them to Children's Social Care, unless seeking consent would place the child at risk of significant harm or may lead to the loss of evidence, for example, destroying evidence of a crime or influencing a child about a disclosure made."  This includes allowing them to share information without consent, if it is not possible to gain consent, if it cannot be reasonably expected that a professional gains consent, or if to gain consent would place a child at risk.  Where there is a need to share special category personal data, the Data Protection Act 2018 contains ' safeguarding of children and individuals at risk' as a processing condition that allows professionals to share information.

In accordance with legislation and local information sharing protocols, we will ensure that information is shared securely and sensitively.  Information will only be shared with other services where it is deemed necessary and proportionate to ensure that children and young people are safe and receive the right service.  In all circumstances, the safety of the child will be the paramount concern.

Schools will contact Children's Social Care when they have reasonable cause to suspect a child may be suffering or likely to suffer significant harm.  Occasionally, concerns are passed on which later shown to be unfounded.  Parents/carers will appreciate that the member of staff in the school with responsibility for child protection was carrying out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acting in the best interests of all children.  

Under Section 3 (5) of the Children Act 1989, any person who has care of a child "may...do what is reasonable in all the circumstances of the case for the purpose of safeguarding promoting the child's welfare".  This means that on rare occasions, schools may ned to "hold" a child in school whilst Social Care and the Police investigate any concerns further.