Safeguarding

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff, volunteers, parents and children to share this commitment.

We are fully committed to ensuring that consistent, effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support families, children and staff at school. To ensure prompt communication between staff, we use My Concern - an online system that allows us to monitor safeguarding, well-being and pastoral issues. This enable swift communication between all parties in a secure way.

School Safeguarding Team

If you want to know more about our procedures, please speak to one of the following:

 A copy of our safeguarding policy can be found on our Policies page.

What to do if you have concerns about a child or family

Safeguarding is everybody's responsibility and we need to work together to protect children's wellbeing and keep them safe from harm.

If you are worried about a child in our school, please contact us and speak to one of our Designated Safeguarding Leads on 01733 252361. We will follow up your concerns confidentially and in line with our safeguarding policies.

Alternatively, please visit the Peterborough and Cambridgeshire Partnership Board website to report a concern online. 

If you would like further information about keeping your child safe, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) has lots of advice and guidance. Please see the links below.

What to do if you have concerns about an adult

When an allegation is made against a member of staff/volunteer or organisation using the school premises, it may be appropriate to refer this to the LADO for further guidance.

We have a policy on Safeguarding concerns or allegations made against adults which you can find on our Policies page. 

The LADO procedures are outlined on the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Safeguarding Board Partnership website. 

Local Authority Designated Officers can be contacted for allegations against all staff and volunteers via:

Resources

Safeguarding at our school

Under section 175 of the Education Act 2002 (as amended), *the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014, the Non-Maintained Special Schools (England) Regulations 2015, and the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 (as amended) to have arrangements in place 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 and neglect and will follow the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Safeguarding Children Partnership Board’s procedures to ensure that children receive appropriate and effective support and protection.

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. Parents/carers should know that records of safeguarding 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.

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 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 or Deputy 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, 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, a school may need to “hold” a child in school whilst Social Care and the Police investigate any concerns further.

The word ‘school’ is used throughout but this would include all educational settings e.g. Academies, Pupil Referral Units, Further Education establishments and Independent schools.

As a school, if we have any concerns regarding the safeguarding of a child, we may make a referral to Peterborough Children Social Care. We shall inform parents that a referral to Children's Social Care is being made unless this will put the child or family at further risk of significant harm.

Useful Documents for Parents/Carers

• Home or Out Alone Guide download_for_offline
  download_for_offlineHome or Out Alone Guide

Online Safety - useful links for parents/carers