Safeguarding and Child Protection
Who is responsible for Safeguarding and Child Protection?
Ms Leach, Ms Kay, Mrs Morley and Miss Gilsenan have specific responsibility for Safeguarding and Child Protection in school.
Designated Safeguarding Lead: Ms. K Leach/ Mrs. K Morley
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads: Ms N Kay and Miss K Gilsenan
Contact details: 01332 345997 / safeguarding@stchads.derby.sch.uk
DDAT Designated Safeguarding Officer: Heather Hogg
Email: heather.hogg@ddat.org.uk
Safeguarding Link Governor: Mr A Repesa
Email: (through the Clerk to Governors) pam-miles123@outlook.com
Designated Teacher for Looked After/previously Looked After Children: Ms. K Leach/ Mrs. K. Morley
Looked After Children (LAC) Link Governor: Mr A Repesa
Designated Lead for Mental Health: Ms. K Leach
Designated Lead for Attendance: Mrs K Morley
A copy of our Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy can be found here.
Child Protection
Child protection is defined as safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children by:
- Protecting children from maltreatment
- Preventing impairment of children's health or development
- Ensuring children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
- Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes
Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. All adults working in, or on behalf of the school have a responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and prevent radicalisation and extremism. This includes;
- Responsibility to provide a safe environment in which children can learn.
- Creating a culture of vigilance where we always act in the best interests of the child.
- Taking all welfare concerns seriously and encouraging children to talk to us about anything that worries them.
- To identify children who may be in need of extra/early help, have complex or serious needs or who are suffering, or are likely to suffer significant harm. All staff then have a responsibility to take appropriate action, working with services as needed.
Safeguarding arrangements in our school are underpinned by the two key principles:
- Everyone who comes in to contact with children and their families has a role to play in safeguarding children. All Governors, Trustees, staff, supply staff, trainees and volunteers have a responsibility and role to identify concerns, share information appropriately and take prompt action. Staff members will maintain an attitude of “it could happen here” where safeguarding is concerned.
- When concerned about the welfare of a child, staff will always act in the best interests of the child. The school operates a child centred approach taking into account children’s views and voices. The child’s wishes and feelings will be taken into account when determining what action to take and services to provide to protect individual children through ensuring there are systems in place for children to express their views and give feedback.
Anything that makes you feel uncomfortable is always worth sharing. The welfare and safety of children is of paramount importance. If you have concerns over a child's safety or welfare, please tell a member of our safeguarding team. We have a dedicated email for all safeguarding concerns: safeguading@stchads.derby.sch.uk (this email is checked by the safeguarding team during non-term time).
There are many organisations, charities and support groups who can offer safeguarding and child protection help and guidance for families.
Please click on the images below to access their websites.
Key Local Safeguarding Contacts
- Children's Socail Care Initial Contact Team (for urgent referrals): 01332 641172
- Careline (out of hours service): 01332 956606
- Derbyshire Police: 999 for emergencies of 101 for non-emergencies
- Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) mandatory reportting via the police: 101
- Prevent Team (Council House): 01332 293111
- Education Welfare / Local Authority Children Missing Education Officer: 01332 641448
- Pear Tree Police: 03451 233333
- Public Health Nurse: 01332 888030
Key National Contacts
- NSPCC: 0808 800 5000 help@nspcc.org.uk text: 88858
- Childline: 0800 1111
- UK Safer Internet Centre: 0844 3814772 helpline@saferinternet.org.uk
- Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP): 0870 000 3344
- Domestic Violence Helpline: 0808 2000 247
What is the Prevent Duty?
The aim of the Prevent Duty is to reduce the threat to the UK from terrorism by preventing people of all ages from being drawn into terrorist activity. As part of a school's wider safeguarding duty, schools are responsible for protecting children from the risk of radicalisation. The Prevent duty requires school staff to be able to identify children who are vulnerable to radicalisation and to know how to respond to this.
Ms. Leach is the designated Prevent Lead in school and Ms. Kay is the Deputy Designated Prevent Lead.
All our staff have completed training on the Prevent Duty and how to recognise and report signs of extremism and radicalisation. Further information on the Prevent Duty can be found here.
Child Safety
We take the safety of your children very seriously. The school is responsible for the safety of your child during the hours of schooling. No child will be allowed to leave the school grounds during the school day. If it is necessary for your child leave during the day, personal contact with the school must be made in advance. Your child will need to be collected from the main entrance and signed out. Children will not be allowed to leave the premises during the day unaccompanied by a known adult. During inductions, you will be asked to provide the full names of all adults collecting your child at the end of the school day. Children will not be allowed to leave with any adults not named on our school system. Please notify the school office if a new adult is collecting your child at the end of the school day.
We do not have a car park so we kindly ask that everybody parks respectfully and safely when dropping off/picking up children from school. We ask parents who drive to and from school to adhere to all signs and road markings, especially near the main entrance gate on Gordon Road.
First Aid
If your child suffers a minor injury in school e.g. grazed knee, we will administer first aid and record the details. We will send a note home to inform you of the injury. If your child has a more serious accident or is ill in school, we will contact you immediately. It is vital that we have up to date emergency contact information. The school and its employees are not allowed to administer any medicine to children unless written consent is given by the parent/carer or is part of and Individual Health Care Plan.
The School Nurse visits school to carry out medicals, vision and screening tests with parental permission. The School Nurse will also see parents on request if required. Occasionally the school may approach a parent to ask permission for the nurse to see a child outside of the regular visits.