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Safeguarding

At Newborough Church of England Primary School, we take safeguarding seriously. 
We have 4 Designated Safeguardings Leads who deal with any concerns raised about a child's wellbeing:

  • Mrs Paterson (Designated Safeguarding Lead)
  • Miss Moat (Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead)
  • Mrs Hewitt (Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead)
  • Mrs Bacon (Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead)

Our governor with safeguarding responsibilities is:

Mrs Ashworth        

Under section 175 of the Education Act 2002 (as amended), *the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014, the Non-Maintained Special Schools (England) Regulations 2015, and the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 (as amended) to have arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

We will endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued.

The school will therefore be alert to signs of abuse and neglect and will follow the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Safeguarding Children Partnership Board’s procedures to ensure that children receive appropriate and effective support and protection.

Parents/carers should know that the law requires all school staff to pass on information which gives rise to a concern about a child’s welfare, including risk from neglect, physical, emotional or sexual abuse. Parents/carers should know that records of safeguarding concerns may be kept about their child. They should be informed that school staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with them including referrals to other agencies.

Local procedures state that “Consent should always be sought from an adult with parental responsibility for the child/young person before passing information about them to Children’s Social Care, unless seeking consent would place the child at risk of significant harm or may lead to the loss of evidence for example destroying evidence of a crime or influencing a child about a disclosure made.”  This includes allowing them to share information without consent, if it is not possible to gain consent, if it cannot be reasonably expected that a professional gains consent, or if to gain consent would place a child at risk.

Where there is a need to share special category personal data, the Data Protection Act 2018 contains ‘safeguarding of children and individuals at risk’ as a processing condition that allows professionals to share information.

In accordance with legislation and local Information Sharing protocols, we will ensure that information is shared securely and sensitively.  Information will only be shared with other services where it is deemed necessary and proportionate to ensure that children and young people are safe and receive the right service. In all circumstances, the safety of the child will be the paramount concern.

Schools will contact Children’s Social Care when they have reasonable cause to suspect a child may be suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. Occasionally, concerns are passed on which are later shown to be unfounded.  Parents/carers will appreciate that the member of staff in the school with responsibility for child protection (known as the Designated Safeguarding Lead or Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead) was carrying out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acting in the best interests of all children.

Under Section 3 (5) of the Children Act 1989, any person who has care of a child “may….do what is reasonable in all the circumstances of the case for the purpose of safeguarding promoting the child’s welfare”.  This means that on rare occasions, a school may need to “hold” a child in school whilst Social Care and the Police investigate any concerns further.

The Prevent Duty

Section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 places a duty on schools prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.

This is known as the Prevent Strategy, which aims to reduce the threat to the UK from terrorism by stopping people from becoming radicalised, supporting terrorism, or becoming terrorists.

As a school therefore, we have to ensure we understand any risks of radicalisation and take steps to minimise any such risks.

We have a wide range of policies relating to keeping children safe and promoting their welfare. In addition, we teach a broad and balanced curriculum which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils and prepares them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life. This includes promoting community cohesion and British values. Our curriculum ensures children learn right from wrong, mix and share with other children and value other’s views, know about similarities and differences between themselves and others, and challenge negative attitudes and stereotypes.

For further details about how we are fulfilling our duties under the Prevent strategy, please see our Action Plan.