Safeguarding Information
Our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy is available for parents to view in the policy section of our website by following the link here.
Safeguarding is the ‘golden thread’ running through the ethos and culture of our school and in all that we do
"Schools and colleges and their staff are an important part of the wider safeguarding system for children. This system is described in the statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children.
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families has a role to play. In order to fulfil this responsibility effectively, all practitioners should make sure their approach is child-centred. This means that they should consider, at all times, what is in the best interests of the child." (Keeping Children Safe in Education)
At Crawford Village, we are acutely aware of the importance of ‘Keeping Children Safe In Education', and take notice of, and adhere to all the national and local policies and guidance in regard to Safeguarding Children and Young People. We also extend this to staff and visitors to our school. Please see the KCSIE document in the files section below.
We are fully committed to safeguarding and promoting the safety and welfare of children at all times. We expect all staff, governors and volunteers to share this commitment, and training, monitoring and reporting procedures are in place to ensure this commitment is realised. (School Commitment Declaration)
We aim to provide a safe environment that is conducive to learning. We also aim to identify children who are suffering or likely to suffer significant harm, and take appropriate action to keep them safe in school and at home when required.
As a school, we ensure that safeguarding and child protection are at the forefront of all that we do and are part of the whole school policy and procedures. We view safeguarding not just as 'words' but as the all important actions we take to keep all those in our care safe.
Adults in our school take all welfare concerns seriously and encourage children and young people to talk to us about anything that worries them.
As a school, we follow and adhere to Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) where it is stated: 'Good safeguarding requires a continuing commitment from governing bodies, proprietors, and all staff to ensure the safety and welfare of children is embedded in all of the organisation’s processes and procedures, and consequentially enshrined in its ethos.'
At Crawford Village, safeguarding is the golden thread that permeates throughout all that we do both socially and academically and it an important part of our school ethos and culture. There is a whole-school approach to safeguarding and all staff and governors at the school recognise their statutory role and responsibility to read Part 1 and Annex A of the document below (Keeping Children Safe in Education). The school is compliant with this reading.
Training: The school is fully compliant with the Safeguarding training requirements.
We will always act in the best interest of the child. Below are the documents the school adheres to:
Crawford Village Primary School pupils are taught about safeguarding, including online, through various teaching and learning opportunities, as part of providing a broad and balanced curriculum. Children are taught to recognise when they are at risk and how to get help when they need it. Please refer to the relevant safeguarding policies.
General Safeguarding Role and Responsibilities
The Board of Governors and staff of Crawford Village Primary School fully recognise their statutory responsibilities and duties placed upon them to have arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of all pupils at the school. We recognise that all staff, including volunteers, have a full and active part to play in protecting pupils from harm.
The Headteacher and staff promote a culture of safeguarding that is the ‘golden thread’ running through all that we do to provide a safe, caring, positive, and stimulating environment where pupils can learn and which promotes the social, physical and emotional wellbeing of each individual pupil. We have developed a ‘child-friendly’ safeguarding policy for the children to develop an understanding of what it all means to them:
GET HELP AND ADVICE ON A WIDE RANGE OF ISSUES
ChildLine is a private and confidential service for children and any young person up to the age of nineteen. You can contact a ChildLine counsellor about anything, no problem is too big or too small.
CALL FREE ON 0800 1111
This very important page and additional information links below outline how we put ‘Safety and Security First at Crawford Village’ and has direct links to the relevant pages on our school website and gives an overview of our school procedures. This page will be updated as/when information changes.
Useful Safeguarding Information for Parents
At Crawford Village Primary School, we adhere to the Department for Education's statutory publication entitled "Keeping Children Safe In Education" (KCSiE). In this document is is stated:
"Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families has a role to play. In order to fulfil this responsibility effectively, all practitioners should make sure their approach is child-centred. This means that they should consider, at all times, what is in the best interests of the child."
Our Headteacher, staff and governors work to ensure that safeguarding, and all that it entails as outlined in KCSiE, is demonstrated as part of our positive school culture and ethos and is an important part of our school's everyday life.
Part of this culture also involves keeping parents and carers informed of the policy and procedures we have in place as well as signposting them to relevant websites and external agencies for information and support.
The links below are signposts to support parents and carers.
NSPCC
The general parent support page from the NSPCC has a wealth of information to support many issues
Talk PANTS and Pantosaurus is a fantastic NSPCC resource to support children. Talk PANTS helps children understand that their body belongs to them, and they should tell someone they trust if anything makes them feel upset or worried.
Government
Advice to parents and carers on keeping children safe from abuse and harm is a government website and brings together sources of information about the main risks children may be particularly vulnerable to during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and signposts you to help and support available.
LADO: Local Authority Designated Officer
Opration Encompass
Our school is part of a project, which is run between Lancashire Local Authority, schools and Lancashire Constabulary. The project, called Operation Encompass, has been designed to provide early reporting of any domestic abuse incidents that occur outside school, which might have an impact on a child in school. This is communicated through a secure email to school following an incident.
The project ensures that at least one member of the school staff, known as the Key Adult, is available to liaise with children's services and the police and to use the information that has been shared, in confidence.
In this way, we aim to support each child who has been involved in, or witnessed, a domestic abuse incident. The Key Adult at Crawford Village Primary School is the headteacher, Debra Eaton.
If she receives an Encompass notification she will make sure that a person the child trusts is available to help - if the child needs this. Most of the time this support is silent; keeping a careful eye on him or her and making sure the child has a calm school day. The confidential information is ordinarily not shared with all staff, just an agreement on how to help, if needed.
All schools have a duty to share any information with other organisations if they feel a child is at risk of being hurt. The Key Adult may contact other organisations.
The sharing of information from the police allows the school to be ready to help your child straight away, and it means that parents are aware that the Key Adult knows that something has happened. Parents can come and talk to our Key Adult. The Key Adult can point you towards other people that can help.
Our aim is to support children and their families.
Safeguarding children and young people is everyone’s responsibility.
Should you have any concerns about a child you can use any of the contacts below :
Designated Safeguarding Officers
Headteacher
Mrs Debra Eaton: [email protected]
Designated Safeguarding Lead
Mrs Debra Eaton: [email protected]
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Miss Anna Davies: [email protected]
Designated Governor for Safeguarding and Child Protection
Dr Chris Lomas: [email protected]
Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO)
Tim Booth / Shane Penn / Donna Green - 01772 536694