Our Designated Safeguarding Leads for Child Protection (DSL) are Mrs Birmingham, Mrs Hall and Mr Fitzpatrick.

St. Edmund's Catholic Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all our children and expects all staff, parents and volunteers to share this commitment.

We have a number of policies and procedures in place that contribute to our safeguarding commitment, including our Child Protection Policy which can be found below.

Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies when there are concerns about a child's welfare.  We will ensure that any concerns we have about a pupil are discussed with his or her parents first, unless we have reason to believe that this would be contrary to the child's welfare.

The school works tirelessly to identify those children who require extra support.  We feel that there can be emotional and social barriers to learning and we work to remove these barriers by identifying those children who need 'Early Help'.  Support is given through school-based support, the 'Thrive Approach', or through outside agencies such as Child Family Well-Being Service which provides parents' courses, children support groups and children's mental health support.  We also have links with a mental health service 'Compass Bloom' who provides support for those with mental health difficulties. As a school, we try to support families so that they do not reach crisis point which could then lead to Social Services being involved.

Safeguarding Policies

Operation Encompass

There are currently no procedures for reporting Domestic Abuse incidents to schools which means that our children are left without the support and nurture that they need when they need it most. Operation Encompass has been created to address this so that by 9.00am on the next school day the school’s Key Adult will be informed that the child or young person has been involved, heard or witnessed a domestic incident. This knowledge, given to schools through Operation Encompass, allows the provision of immediate early intervention through silent or overt support dependent upon the needs and wishes of the child.

 

Encompass website https://www.operationencompass.org

The Operation Encompass Key Adult is Mrs Birmingham

Prevent Duty

Preventing Radicalisation in School

Building resilience in our young people and the promotion of fundamental British Values is at the heart of preventing radicalisation. We do this by providing a safe place in which pupils can discuss issues, and we aim to give them the knowledge and confidence to tackle extremist beliefs and ideologies.

Our prevent duty is carried out under the Counter-Terroism and Security Act 2015 which legally requires us to take steps to prevent pupils being drawn into terroism.  We take this duty seriously and carry out the four main actions responsibly, namely; risk assessment, working in partnership, staff training and IT policies.  If we assess a child as at risk, then we will refer to the Channel Programme, which focuses on providing support at an early stage to people who are identified as being vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism.

Staff and governors have received training to familarise them with the Prevent Duty. In terms of internet safety, we ensure that suitable filters are in place to keep children away from extremist materials, in line with Lancashire guidelines.

We recognise that we play a vital role in keeping children safe from harm, including from the risks of radicalisation and extremism, and in promoting the welfare of children wtihin our care.

What we do if we have a concern

If we have a concern about a particular pupil we will follow the school's safeguarding procedures, including the concern wth the school's safeguarding lead and were deemed necessary, with children's social care. In Prevent priority areas, the Local Authority will have a Prevent Lead who can also provide support and advice.

A referral can be made to Channel (multi-agency support) by using the referral form found in the Safeguarding Policies section.

We may also contact the local police force or dial 101 (the non-emergency number).  They can talk to us in confidence about concerns and help us to gain access to support and advice.

The Department for Education has a dedicated telephone helpline (020 7340 7264) to enable staff, parents and governors to raise concerns about extremism directly. Concerns can also be raised via email to counter.extremism@education.gsi.gov.uk.  Please note that the telephone line is not intended for use in an emergency, such as a child being at immediate risk of harm or a security incident.  In an emergency we follow our emergency procedures.

 

The online world offers amazing opportunities but also brings elements of potential risk and for parents & carers, making sense of the online world can appear to be an enormous challenge. Unlike previous generations, the online environment is an integral part of children’s lives and therefore we can no longer consider their well-being or safety without also considering their relationship to technology. However, staying safe online is fundamentally about behaviours rather than the technology itself and if approached from this perspective, we can begin to gain confidence to support our children. 

The illustration below provides some useful tips for parents and carers when discussing the online environment with children.

In addition, Lancashire Safeguarding Children Board are pleased to announce the addition of an Online Safeguarding section to the LSCB website.  

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