Safeguarding

The Governors and staff at Corby Glen Community Primary School are committed to providing a safe and secure environment for children, staff and visitors, promoting a climate where children and adults will feel confident about sharing any concerns which they may have about their own safety or the well-being of others.

Reporting Concerns

If you have any concerns, no matter how small they may seem,

about the safety or welfare of any child in our school, please contact:

What is Safeguarding?

Safeguarding is the policies and practices that schools and Governing Bodies employ to keep children safe and promote their wellbeing. This means everything from the security of the buildings, to the safe recruitment of staff and everything in between. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) defines it as:

•  Protecting children from abuse and maltreatment
•  Preventing harm to children’s health or development
•  Ensuring children grow up with the provision of safe and effective care
•  Taking action to enable all children and young people to have the best  outcomes

Child Protection is only one aspect of Safeguarding and is a term used to describe the activity that is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering or likely to suffer significant harm.

What Are Schools Expected To Do?

Schools must comply with the current safeguarding guidance from the Department for Education, called Keeping Children Safe in Education. This means, for example:

• Having a designated safeguarding lead (DSL), who is trained to support staff, contribute to assessing children and liaise with other agencies.
• Having a child protection policy, and procedures covering specific safeguarding issues 
• Ensuring that adults working in the school are safe to work with children, by carrying out background checks (through the Disclosure and Barring Service) and having someone on interview panels who is trained in ‘safer recruitment’
• Ensuring that all staff receive safeguarding and child protection training, and that this is regularly updated

What Does Safeguarding Look Like In Our School?

We have a responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all our children. If we have concerns about the welfare of a child we have a responsibility to take action and will always act in the best interest of the child. We also have a legal duty to work alongside other agencies with any child protection enquiries.

• We ensure that Governors, staff and volunteers fulfil statutory requirements in respect of safeguarding and promoting the welfare and well-being of all pupils.
• We support a culture of safeguarding, building resilience and a collective responsibility for the safety and well-being of others.
• We work constructively with partner agencies to ensure timely and appropriate support for vulnerable children and their families.
• We teach pupils about safeguarding issues, including how to respond to concerns, in lessons on personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education

• Any child that reports a concern will be listened to with respect and their concerns will supported and our safeguarding procedures will be followed

• We protect information about pupils and only share it appropriately
• We track concerns about pupils confidentially
• We ensure that Corby Glen Community Primary School meets the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Partnership's standards and use safer recruitment practices as a means to deter and prevent unsafe adults from abusing positions of trust.

Key Terms

Abuse: abuse is a form of maltreatment of a child. Somebody may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting harm or by failing to act to prevent harm.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check: a certificate of checks carried out on those working with children and vulnerable people. Those who work regularly with children require a more in-depth DBS check.

Safer Recruitment: recruiting staff using thorough checks on their suitability to work with children, including the right to work in the UK, and mental and physical fitness to carry out their responsibilities.

The Designated Safeguarding Lead is Julia Waites - the Headteacher and the Deputy Designated Lead is Amanda Treacy. Please refer any immediate concerns regarding the welfare or safety of any child in our school community to these members of staff in the first instance.

Operation Encompass

In December 2019 we became an Operation Encompass School, becoming part of a national scheme which runs jointly between all schools and the police.

Operation Encompass is the reporting to schools, prior to the start of the next school day, when a child or young person has experienced, any domestic abuse.

Operation Encompass will ensure that a member of the school's staff – the Designated Safeguarding Lead, is trained to allow them to liaise with the police and to use the information that has been shared, in confidence, while ensuring that the school is able to make provision for possible difficulties experienced by children, or their families, who have recently experienced a domestic abuse incident.

We are keen to offer the best support possible to all our pupils and we believe this will be extremely beneficial for all those involved.

This information shared with the school is already covered in the schools’ existing privacy notice. For further information in relation to how personal data in relation to yourself and your child(ren) is processed, please refer to Lincolnshire Police’s privacy notice which can be found on their website here:

https://www.lincs.police.uk/resource-library/data-protection/privacy-notice/.