Safe Guarding and Child Protection

SAFEGUARDING & CHILD PROTECTION POLICY

Hessle Mount School – Safeguarding / Child Protection Policy.

This policy was prepared with regard to the DCSF guidance – Child Protection and safer recruitment in education (DCSF 04217 -2006.

Children and young people have a fundamental right to be protected from harm. Children and young people have a right to expect schools to provide a safe and secure environment.

Any fears that children and young people bring into the classroom should not go unnoticed by staff.
It is a guiding principle of the law and child protection procedures that the safeguarding and welfare of the child must always be the first priority. The safeguarding of children and young people is a shared community responsibility. Failure to provide an effective response can have serious consequences for the child. Teachers and other education staff are in a unique position to identify and help safeguard and promote the welfare of all children within our care.

Hessle Mount School fully recognises its responsibilities for child protection.

Aims: We aim to provide a caring environment which will underpin the whole school aims and a curriculum where self-esteem can be nurtured and children empowered to protect themselves.
Our policy applies to all staff and volunteers working in the school. There are five main elements to our policy:

(1) Ensuring we practise safe recruitment in checking the suitability of staff and volunteers to work with children.
(2) Raising awareness of safeguarding issues and equipping children with the skills needed to keep them safe.
(3) Developing and then implementing procedures for identifying and reporting cases, or suspected significant harm as defined by the Children’ Act 1989 Section 31 (9)
(4) Supporting pupils who have been harmed in accordance with his/her agreed child protection plan.
(5) Establishing a safe environment in which children can learn and develop.

We recognise that because of the day to day contact with children, school staff are well placed to observe the outward signs of harm. The school will therefore:

(i) Establish and maintain an environment where children feel secure, are encouraged to talk, and are listened to.
(ii) Ensure children know that there are adults in the school whom they can approach if they are worried.
(iii) Include opportunities in the PSHE curriculum for children to develop the skills they need to recognise and stay safe from harm.

The school’s good behaviour policy encourages positive reinforcement of good behaviour leading children towards an understanding of ‘treat others as you would be treated’. Opportunity is given for children to voice their feelings and understand that it is right to say ‘No’ in certain situations. For example: Assemblies and circle times.During the school day the children are supervised at all times. Duty teachers and support assistants supervise them during playtimes, and mid-day supervisors care for them during the lunch break with the support of duty teachers.Parents and guardians should always collect and bring their children to school and we ask parents to inform the school if there is a change in this situation. All children are taken to their parents at the end of the day. The procedure is that the children line up against the wall and parents ’step forward’ to collect. The children are encouraged to say ’goodbye’ to their teacher as they join their parent.

All visitors to the school between 9.00am and 3.30pm, must come to the front door and be let in by a member of staff who will require the visitor to sign the visitors book with their time of arrival and departure. This excludes parents.

We will follow the procedures set out by the East Riding of Yorkshire Safeguarding Board and take account of the guidance issued by the Department for Schools, Children and Families (DCSF) to:

(a) Ensure we have a designated teacher for the Safeguarding of children who has received appropriate training and support for this role.
(b) Ensure we have a deputy responsible for this role
(c) Ensure every member of staff and volunteers knows the name of the designated people responsible for the safeguarding of children and their role
(d) Ensure all staff and volunteers understand their responsibilities in being alert to the signs of harm and responsibility for referring any concerns to the designated people responsible for child protection.
(e) Ensure that parents have an understanding of the responsibility placed on the school and staff for Safeguarding and Promoting welfare by setting out its obligations in the school prospectus.
(f) Notify the Local Authority Children’s Social Care teams if there is an unexplained absence of more than two days of a pupil who is on the child Protection plan.
(g) Develop effective links with relevant agencies and co-operate as required with their enquiries regarding child protection matters including attendance at case conferences, as defined in the Children Act 2004.
(h) Keep written records of concerns about children, even where there is no need to refer the matter immediately.
(i) Ensure all records are kept securely, separate from the main pupil files, and in a locked location.
(j) Develop and then follow procedures where an allegation is made against a member of staff or volunteer.
(k) Ensure safe recruitment practices are always followed.

We recognise that children who have been harmed may find it difficult to develop a sense of self worth. They may feel helplessness, humiliation and some sense of blame. The school may be the only stable, secure and predictable element in the lives of children at risk. When at school their behaviour may be challenging and defiant or they may be withdrawn. The school will endeavour to support the pupil through:

The content of the curriculum.
The school ethos which promotes a positive, supportive and secure environment and gives pupils a sense of being valued.
The school behaviour policy which is aimed at supporting vulnerable pupils in the school.
The school will ensure that the pupil knows that some behaviour is unacceptable but they are valued and not to blame for any abuse which has occurred.
Liaison with other agencies that support the pupil such as social services, Child and Adult Mental Health Service, education welfare service and educational psychology service.
Ensuring that, where a pupil with a child protection plan leaves, their information is transferred to the new school immediately and that the child’s social worker is informed.

The designated child protection officer is Miss S Cutting.

This policy was agreed May 2011 and will be reviewed May 2012.