Safeguarding
Safeguarding Statement
Sutton Courtenay CofE Primary is committed to all aspects of safeguarding. We believe that all children have the right to be protected from abuse and harm. The Governing Body takes seriously its responsibility under section 11 of the Children Act and duties under 'working together' to safeguard and promote the welfare of children; to work together with other agencies to ensure adequate arrangements exist within our setting to identify, and support those children who are suffering harm or are likely to suffer harm.
"Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear". Nelson Mandela, Former President of South Africa
Our school provides a safe, caring, positive and stimulating environment that promotes the social, physical and moral development of the individual child free from discrimination or bullying where children can learn and develop happily.
We undertake rigorous checks on all staff and volunteers who work in our school and maintain a central record documenting these. Staff involved in recruitment and selection of employees are trained in safer recruitment, and all of our staff undertake in-house Child Protection training.
Our School Safeguarding Team
Our school has designated safeguarding leads who will provide support to our staff members to carry out their safeguarding duties and who will liaise closely with other services such as children’s social care.
If you have any concerns about a child relating to safeguarding, please get in touch with one of our Safeguarding Leads immediately by contacting the school directly on 01235 848333 or by email headteacher@sutton-courtenay.school or dsl@sutton-courtenay.school.
Designated Safeguarding Lead
Raluca Chende, Headteacher
Deputy- Designated Safeguarding Leads
Lizette de Bruyn, Deputy Headteacher Laura Sykes, SENCO Lyndsay Whittington, HSLW
The school’s Safeguarding Governor is Helen Wheeler. She can be contacted via email at HWheeler_gov@sutton-courtenay.school.
Child Protection / Safeguarding Policy
Safeguarding at Sutton Courtenay School
If you have any concerns regarding the safety or welfare of a child, please speak to any member of our Safeguarding Team.
If you are unable to speak to a member of our Designated Safeguarding Team at school and have a safeguarding concern, please contact the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) directly who will be able to advise you.
If you have any concerns outside of school hours regarding the welfare of a child, please call Oxfordshire County Council's Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) on 0345 050 7666. If you have an urgent concern for a child, call 999 or 101.
As part of our role to safeguard pupils, please be aware that, like all schools, we have a duty to share information with other agencies where there are any concerns about the safety or well-being of a child.
Cause for Concern
Our first priority is your child’s welfare and we are required to take any reasonable action to ensure the safety of our pupils. However, there may be occasions when we have reason to be concerned that a child may be subject to ill-treatment, neglect or other forms of abuse. We will ensure that our concerns about a child are discussed with his/her parents first, unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child’s welfare. In this case, we are obliged to follow our Safeguarding and Child Protection procedures established by the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Partnership and inform Social Care of the concern.
We work extremely closely with the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Partnership to access training and support.
If you are worried about a child's safety, please do not hesitate to contact Raluca Chende (Headteacher/DSL), Lizette de Bruyn (Deputy Headteacher/DDSL), Laura Sykes (SENCO/DDSL) or Lyndsay Whittington (HSLW/DDSL) straight away.
What is safeguarding?
Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm.
Safeguarding means:
- 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 part of the safeguarding process. It focuses on protecting individual children identified as suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. This includes child protection procedures which detail how to respond to concerns about a child.
Safeguarding children and child protection guidance and legislation applies to all children up to the age of 18. Comprehensive child safety guide | NSPCC
USEFUL INFORMATION FOR PARENTS
NSPCC Learn the underwear rule.
Click the link to open information by the NSPCC about how to talk to your child in simple language about keeping safe from abuse. It's called Talk Pants And You've Got It Covered. Talk PANTS: Conversation to help keep children safe | NSPCC
Educate Against Hate
This a tool for parents and schools to help protect children from the risk of radicalisation. You can access the site here. Educate Against Hate - Prevent Radicalisation & Extremism
Prevent duty training: Learn how to support people vulnerable to radicalisation
This training service is for people working in sectors covered by the Prevent duty, such as education, health, local authorities, police, prisons, probation and youth justice. Prevent duty – Educate Against Hate
Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Partnership
Home - Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children PartnershipOxfordshire Domestic Abuse Advice
Oxfordshire Support Services - Reducing the RiskDomestic abuse support services | A2Dominion
Keeping Children Safe in Education which is statutory guidance for schools and colleges.
All school policies relating to the safeguarding of pupils are available for further reference on the school website. Paper copies can be requested from the school office.
External Agencies
|
Education Safeguarding Advisory Team/ Local Authority Designated Officers (LADOs) |
01865 810603 |
|
Locality Community Support Service (LCSS) worker |
lauren.grayburn@oxfordshire.gov.uk 01865 328122 07732826028 |
|
Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) |
0345 050 7666 |
|
Out of hours Emergency Duty Team (EDT) |
0800 833408 |
|
Police |
101 or in emergencies 999 |