Safeguarding

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children is our highest priority at Brockton C of E Primary school. We believe that:

• All children have the right to protection from all types of abuse, neglect, exploitation and/or harm.
• Everyone has a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, to keep them safe and to practice in a way that protects them.

It is never acceptable for a child or young person to experience any form of abuse or neglect. We are never complacent and realise that abuse and neglect can happen anywhere, and it can happen here. Protecting our pupils is everyone’s responsibility, and we work diligently with parents, carers, and external agencies to ensure the highest standards of safeguarding are upheld.

Explore the sections below to find out more about how we implement and embed our safeguarding measures.

Policies and procedures

You can read our safeguarding and child protection policy here.We have a number of other policies and procedures that complement and implement our safeguarding commitment:

Staff responsibility and training

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is Mrs Marilyn Hunt (Executive Headteacher) . Our Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads (DDSL) for Brockton are:

Our Safeguarding Governors (Mrs Carole Fenton and Mrs Laura Furniss) are responsible for leading on the governance oversight of safeguarding arrangements. This includes regularly meeting with the Designated Safeguarding Leads and reporting back to the Governing Body.

All staff (including governors, administrative, and support staff) are expected to adhere to the policies, processes and systems that support safeguarding at Brockton C of E Primary School. All staff undertake safeguarding training as part of their induction and have

refresher training each year including any changes to the Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance.

If we believe a child or young person is, or may be, at risk

All safeguarding concerns are reported to the Designated Safeguarding Lead as soon as they are recognised and after the initial response to the child and others. Staff record all safeguarding concerns using CPOMS (Child Protection Online Management System) including a detailed description of the concern, information about how the concern was followed up and raised, and any actions take, decisions reached and the outcome.

Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies when there are concerns about a child’s welfare, following the Department for Education’s latest guidance. We will ensure that our concerns about our pupils are discussed with parents/carers first unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child’s welfare.

If you believe a child or young person is, or may be, at risk

Safeguarding children and young people is everyone’s responsibility. If you have a safeguarding concern about a child in our school, please raise it with our Designated Safeguarding Lead (Mrs Marilyn Hunt).

If you do not wish to speak to the school, or if you want to raise a concern outside of school hours contact the Shropshire First Point of Contact service on 0345 678 9021 and tell them your concerns. You can also use this number to report concerns about the behaviour of a member of staff or volunteer.

If you need to report concerns out of office hours contact the Emergency Social Work Team on 0345 678 9040 selecting Option 1. Alternatively, you can report your concerns online to the NSPCC via their website.
If a child is in immediate danger call 999 immediately.

For the very latest information and advice about safeguarding children visit the Shropshire Safeguarding Community Partnership website.

Photographs and Videos

Whilst lots of parents and carers really enjoy seeing photos and videos of their children’s school life, we are mindful of our duty of care towards all our pupils. We take the issue of safeguarding very seriously and this includes the use of photographic and video images.

Any photographs or videos taken by parents, carers and relatives at school productions, sports days or other events are for the enjoyment of individual families. They must not be used in any way that could potentially place a child at risk. This would include publishing images in any form of print or on the internet including social networking sites. This is emphasised before concerts and shows etc and where practical a record of parents and relatives taking photographs or videos is made.

We understand that in exceptional circumstances a parent or carer may not wish their child to be photographed or videoed in this way. If this is the case, then please contact the headteacher to discuss how this can be best achieved.

Occasionally, the local press will be invited to take photographs of school events and special achievements. We like to use photographs of our children on our website, in school documents, for parent information meetings, and in newsletters. If you do not wish photographs of your child to be used for these purposes, then please contact the Headteacher.

Prevent

We actively support the Government’s Prevent Agenda to counter radicalism and extremism. We teach children to value diversity, respect others, and think critically about the information they encounter. Through our curriculum, assemblies, and safeguarding procedures, we work to protect pupils from extremism and radicalisation while fostering the British values (link to British Values webpage) of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect.

It can be hard to know what to do if you’re worried someone close is expressing extreme views or hatred, which could lead to them harming themselves or others. Should you have any concerns about a child at Brockton C of E Primary School please speak to a member of school staff immediately.