Safeguarding and Child Protection

St Andrew’s C of E Primary School

Growing Learners to Live in God’s World

“God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. We are not complete without him"

Psalm 73:26

St. Andrew’s Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We believe that we all have the right to be happy, to be safe and to learn. We all have the responsibility to make this happen.

We have a number of policies and procedures in place that contribute to our safeguarding commitment, including our Child Protection Policy which can be viewed below.

Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies when there are concerns about a child’s welfare. If a child makes a disclosure, we have a duty of care to inform the Integrated Front Door (IFD) who will then advise on our next steps. We will ensure that our concerns about our pupils are discussed with his/her parents/carers unless we have been advised against this by the IFD.

Within the school, all staff are trained in safeguarding matters and receive regular updates to their initial training. Our Designated Safeguarding Leads are:

Jennifer Wise

Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)

Rachel Mulliss

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

(DDSL)

Lizzie Cooper

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

(DDSL)

Jo Burdfield

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

(DDSL)

Donna Wilson

Safeguarding Governor

Riz Ahmed

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

(DDSL)

Jen Durban Jackson

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

(DDSL)

Rosie Charman

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

(DDSL)

Lillie Collins

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

(DDSL)

All staff and volunteers working with children in our school are required to have a satisfactory enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. We follow the guidance as set out by West Sussex Safeguarding Children Board (WSSCB) and take full account of any changes in local or national guidance.

If you are worried about a child's safety please do not hesitate to contact one of the Designated Safeguard Leads above on 01293 529006.

If you see something outside of school that causes you to worry about the safety of a child, you contact Children's Services on 01403 209966.

If you think a child is in immediate danger, you should call the police on 999.

Prevent Duty

Prevent is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorist or extremist causes. The Prevent strategy covers all types of terrorism and extremism, including political and religious extremism. From July 2015, all schools (as well as other organisations) have a duty to safeguard children from radicalisation and extremism. This means that the school has a responsibility to protect children from extremist and violent views.

Protecting children from the risk of radicalisation should be seen as part of the schools’ wider safeguarding duties. Radicalisation refers to the process by which a person comes to support terrorism and forms of extremism. There is no single way of identifying an individual who is likely to be susceptible to an extremist ideology. As with managing other safeguarding risks, schools should be alert to changes in children’s behaviour that could indicate that they are in need of protection.

Many of the things we already do in school to help children become positive, happy members of society also contribute to the Prevent Strategy. These include:

Exploring other cultures and religions and promoting diversity
Challenging prejudices and racist comments
Developing critical thinking skills and a strong, positive self-identity
Promoting the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils, as well as British values such as democracy.

The school will ensue that the application of the Prevent Duty is suitable for the age and maturity of the children involved.

If you require any further information regarding the Prevent Strategy, please contact the school. The following sources may also be useful for further information:

Revised prevent duty guidance for England and Wales, HM Government Prevent Strategy

Prevent Duty Guidance Frequently asked questions, Prevent for Schools

Prevent for Schools

What is Prevent? Let’s Talk About It

What is Prevent?