Leighton Primary School Safeguarding Procedures

Leighton Primary School fully recognise the responsibility it has under section 157/175 of the Education Act 2002 to have arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

This responsibility is more fully explained in the statutory guidance for schools and colleges ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (September 2019).  All staff are aware of their duties and responsibilities under part one of this document, which are set out below.

All of our staff have read the above document together with ‘Annex A’ of ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ and ‘What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused: Advice for practitioners’

Through their day-to-day contact with pupils and direct work with families all staff in school have a responsibility to:

• Identify concerns early to prevent them from escalating;
• Provide a safe environment in which children can learn;
• Identify children who may benefit from early help;
• Know what to do if a child tells them he/she is being abused or neglected;
• Follow the referral process if they have a concern.

These are the four main elements:

PREVENTION through the teaching and pastoral support offered to pupils and the creation and maintenance of a whole school protective ethos;

PROCEDURES for identifying and reporting cases, or suspected cases, of abuse.  The definitions of the four categories of abuse are attached (see Appendix A);

SUPPORTING CHILDREN particularly those who may have been abused or witnessed violence towards others;

PREVENTING UNSUITABLE PEOPLE WORKING WITH CHILDREN

Processes are followed to ensure that those who are unsuitable to work with children are not employed

• DDSL - Amy Woolner (Headteacher)
• DDSL - Vicky Geldart (Assistant Head)
• DDSL - Kirsten Bilby (SENDco)