Safeguarding Advice
Little Thetford CofE Primary School understands the vital importance of safeguarding and child protection. We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We ensure that effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support families, children and staff at school. The school follows the DEMAT safeguarding and child protection policy.
Safeguarding at Little Thetford
Please click below to view our current Safeguarding Policy.
“Little Thetford CE Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff, visitors and volunteers to share this commitment”
Our Safeguarding Team:
The link Governors for Safeguarding is Alex Todd.
The Designated Safeguarding Lead is Sarah Durrant, Headteacher
Daniel Disney, Assistant Headteacher is the Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead.
Under section 175 of the Education Act 2002, Little Thetford CE Primary School has 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.
Useful Links and Resources:
Childline – www.childline.org.uk Tel: 0800111
NSPCC – www.nspcc.org.uk
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Safeguarding Partnership Board
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mental Health Support for Children and Young People
Prevent
What is the Prevent Strategy?
The Prevent strategy is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. It:
- responds to the ideological challenge we face from terrorism and aspects of extremism, and the threat we face from those who promote these views
- provides practical help to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensure they are given appropriate advice and support
- works with a wide range of sectors (including education, criminal justice, faith, charities, online and health)
The Prevent Duty
Little Thetford CE Primary School is fully committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all its pupils. Mrs Durrant (Headteacher) is the school's designated Prevent Lead. As a school we recognise that safeguarding against radicalisation is no different from safeguarding against any other vulnerability.
All staff are expected to uphold and promote the fundamental principles of British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect, and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.
On 1 July 2015 the Prevent duty (section 26) of The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 came into force. This duty places the responsibility on local authorities to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.
As part of Little Thetford School's commitment to safeguarding and child protection we fully support the government's Prevent Strategy.
E-Safety- Keeping safe on the Internet.
What is E-Safety?
E-safety is the safe use of information systems and electronic communications, including the internet, mobile phones and games consoles. It is important that children and young people understand the benefits, risks and responsibilities of using information technology.
Using the Internet safely at home
Whilst many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer filtering systems to help you safeguard your child at home, it remains surprisingly easy for children to access inappropriate material including unsuitable texts, pictures and movies. Parents are advised to set the security levels within Internet browsers with this in mind. Locating the computer or tablet in a family area, not a bedroom, will enable you to supervise children as they use the Internet. However, don’t deny your child the opportunity to learn from the wide variety of material and games available on the Internet. Instead, set some simple rules for keeping them safe and make sure they understand the importance of these rules.
Simple rules for keeping your child safe
- Ask permission before using the Internet
- Only use websites you have chosen together or a child friendly search engine.
- Only email people they know (why not consider setting up an address book?)
- Ask permission before opening an email sent by someone they don’t know
- Do not use Internet chat rooms
- Do not use their real name when using games on the Internet (create a nick name)
- Never give out a home address, phone or mobile number
- Never tell someone where they go to school
- Never arrange to meet someone they have ‘met’ on the Internet
- Only use a webcam with people they know
- Ask them to tell you immediately if they see anything they are unhappy with.
Using these rules
Go through the rules with your child and pin them up near the computer. It is also a good idea to regularly check the Internet sites your child is visiting e.g. by clicking on History and Favourites. Please reassure your child that you want to keep them safe rather than take Internet access away from them.
Talking to your children about staying safe online
We regularly use our PSHE lessons to remind your children about the importance of staying safe online. You can use some of the resources below to continue the conversation.
With the internet so accessible it’s important that young people can surf safely. With that in mind, we’ve put together a handful of the best sites that have content both for young people and for their teachers and parents or carers.
Zip it, block it, flag it
To help your enjoy the internet safely, the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) has developed the Click Clever, Click Safe code which has useful information for young people and for parents.
Kid Smart
Other websites of interest include Childnet’s Kid Smart, where young people can play games and test their internet safety, and teachers and parents can find all sorts of useful resources.
CBBC Stay Safe
Then there’s the BBC’s CBBC Stay Safe website which has a wealth of information and useful links presented in a friendly and interactive way.
Think U Know
The Think UKnow website is also worth taking a look at, with separate sites for 5-7, 8-10, 11-16 year olds, as well as parents and teachers.