General Safeguarding Principles
Under the Education Act 2002 (section 175/157), schools must “make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children”. St Hilda's Church of England VC Primary School 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 and neglect and will follow the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board (NYSCB) procedures to ensure that children receive appropriate and effective support and protection.
Further information can be accessed using the link below
https://www.safeguardingchildren.co.uk/
Parents/carers should know that the law requires all school staff to pass on information which gives rise to a concern about a child’s welfare, including risk from neglect, physical, emotional or sexual abuse. The school should make parents/carers aware that records of welfare concerns may be kept about their child. They should be informed that school staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with them including referrals to other agencies. However, in situations where the child is suspected to be at risk of harm, the law says that schools may take advice from other agencies without informing parents/carers.
In accordance with 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.
The school will seek advice from North Yorkshire 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 are later shown to be unfounded. Parents/carers will appreciate that the member of staff in the school with responsibility for child protection (known as the Designated Safeguarding Lead) 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, schools or 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 or promoting the child’s welfare”. This means that on rare occasions, a school may need to “hold” a child in school whilst Social Care and the police investigate any concerns further.
The Designated Safeguarding Leader (DSL) with responsibility for child protection and safeguarding is our Head of School, Mrs Faye Dodds-Aston and our Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leader (DDSL) is Mrs Claire Lamb. You can contact our DSL and DDSL by emailing admin@st-hildascofe.n-yorks.sch.uk or by telephoning 01439 788357. Our safeguarding governor is Mrs Kim Colenso and can be contacted via the same email.
Linked Policies
Anti-Bullying Policy
Relationship and Behaviour Policy
Child Protection Policy
Online Safety
Linked National Guidance
Keeping Children Safe in Education
Working Together to Safeguard Children Inter-Agency Guidance
Useful Links:
Childline is there to give young people a voice when no one else is listening. Whatever problems or dangers they're facing, it is a place for them to turn to for support – any time of day or night. Childline is a free, private and confidential service where children and you people can talk about anything.
The online world is forever changing and in order to keep our children safe, we as adults must ensure that our knowledge and skills are current. We are an accredited National Online safety School and school will share resources to support parents keeping their children safe online. Parents can access training materials – please contact the school office for log in details.
This website has lots of information, advice and resources which can be used to help children stay safe online.
CEOP works with child protection partners across the UK and oversees to identify the main threats to children and coordinates activity against these threats to bring offenders to account, protecting children from harm online and offline.
Information and support for the safe use of the internet
North Yorkshire Safeguarding Site
The North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (NYSCP) provides advice and guidance to parents and carers on a variety of subjects, including bereavement, online safety and what to do if you are worried about a child.
https://www.safeguardingchildren.co.uk/parents-carers/
Childnet International
Childnet parents and carers page – information, advice and resources for parents and carers on a wide range of topics affecting children and young people online. They also have excellent resources about how to have a conversation about the online world with your child, how to set up parental controls, create a family agreement and what to do if you are worried about a child.
https://www.childnet.com/
NSPCC Net Aware
Information and guides for parents and carers about the social media platforms, apps and games that young people use. You can also sign up to the Online Safety Newsletter to help you stay up to date with the latest trends, or download the free Net Aware app.
NSPCC Share Aware
A series of 3 animations ‘I saw your willy’, ‘Lucy and the boy’, and ‘Mia’s story’, designed to prompt conversations between adults and children to keep them safe from online abuse. We use these videos in school but they are also ideal to share at home. The section also includes tips on how to start these kinds of conversations.
Internet Matters
A range of guides, videos and toolkits to help you to keep your child safe online. These include information about key issues that may be affecting children and young people on the internet, and what to do if you’re worried about anything you or your child has seen online.