At Barton Church of England (VA) Primary, we take our Safeguarding responsibilities very seriously. This means that we ensure that everyone working in our school has successfully completed the necessary clearances to enable them to work with children. All our staff receive mandatory annual training and are committed to safeguarding children and young people at risk of harm.
Our Designated Safeguarding Lead is Mrs Julie Martin, Headteacher. Our Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead is Mrs Sandra Adderley. Our Safeguarding Team has additional training in child protection and safeguarding.
Our Safeguarding Governors are Mrs Caroline Parsons and Mrs Cathy Martin.
Please contact us if you are:
We are all expected to share any concerns we have about staff conduct around children with the Headteacher. As in all schools, if there are concerns about the conduct of the Head, then these should be shared with the Chair of Governors. The staff ‘Whistleblowing Policy’ has been discussed and adopted and all staff have access to this document.
We follow the Cambridgeshire Local Authority's Child Protection Procedures and the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board local guidance and we have systems in place to share concerns regarding children’s welfare with the designated person, with parents and with relevant external agencies. Part of our legal duty to safeguard our children may require us to consult specifically with, and take advice from, the Police or Children's Social Care, should the need arise. 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. 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.
LA Safeguarding and Child Protection Statement
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.
By working closely together as a staff and with our partner agencies, we firmly believe that we will continue to offer a safe learning environment for all our children.
Please take the time to read our policies and do not hesitate to contact the school should you have any questions about the very serious issue.
Employment
As part of our commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children at Barton Church of England (VA) Primary School, we ensure that our employment policies comply with the requirements of the Keeping Children Safe in Education legislation.
Prevent Strategy
As part of Barton Church of England (VA) Primary School’s commitment to safeguarding and child protection we fully support the government's Prevent Strategy, and take guidance from Teaching Approaches to help build resilience to extremism.
The Prevent strategy is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists, or supporting terrorism, fundamentalism or extremist behaviours. It:
The PREVENT lead at Barton Church of England (VA) Primary School is Mrs Julie Martin, Headteacher.
E-Safety
E-Safety is an important part of keeping children safe at Barton Church of England (VA) Primary School. We have extensive security measures in place in school to help safeguard pupils from potential dangers or unsuitable material. E-Safety is taught to all pupils explaining and demonstrating how to stay safe and behave appropriately online.
We can only be successful in keeping children safe online if we work with parents to ensure the e-Safety message is consistent. It is important that parents speak to their children about how they can keep safe and behave appropriately online.
It’s essential to be realistic - banning the internet or technology will not work and it often makes a child less likely to report a problem. Education around safe use is essential.