Home Page

Safeguarding

Safeguarding Team

Debbie Grindrod (Headteacher) Designated Safeguarding Lead

Laura Eddowes (SENDCo) Designated Safeguarding Lead

Vic Ellinson (Pastoral Lead and Family Liaison) Designated Safeguarding Lead

Claire Wardle (EYFS Lead) Designated Early Years Designated Safeguarding Lead

Donnielle Bennett-Williams (After School Club)

Nominated Governor Responsible for Safeguarding

Mrs Morag Ranson

Termly meetings are held between the Safeguarding Governor and the Headteacher. At all Full Governor Meetings an overview of Safeguarding across the school is given.

Contact Numbers

For urgent Child Protection / Safeguarding advice:

Please call Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub on 0161 217 6028

the phone line is open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays
outside of these hours, call the above number and you will be directed to the Emergency Duty Team

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.

Safeguarding children and child protection guidance and legislation applies to all children up to the age of 18.

What is Child Protection?

Child Protection is part of Safeguarding and promoting welfare. It refers to the activity that is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering, or are likely to suffer, significant harm.

Please take time to read through the school policy.

Staff Understanding of Safeguarding and Child Protection

All staff must read and sign Part 1 of Keeping children Safe in Education 2023 and all staff receive annual training. In addition, Safeguarding and Child Protection is discussed at staff meetings, briefings and other meetings. The Head attends termly safeguard network meetings with the Local Authority where serious case reviews are discussed and actions taken.

How does school record disclosures and incidents

School has a secure, electronic system called CPOMS for recording all incidents and disclosures. It is the market leader in monitoring Safeguarding and is used extensively across the county.

Child Friendly Safeguarding leaflets

Supply Staff

Before supply staff are allowed to cover classes, all safeguarding checks (DBS) are completed and staff must read and sign the safeguarding file given to them in the office.

Parents and Volunteers

All Parents and Volunteers must have read and signed the Volunteer / Parent Agreement Form before they start a placement at St. George's CE Primary School. Badges must be work at all times

There is also an Agreement Form for Parents / Carers on School Trips in order to ensure certain procedures that must be adhered to for the safety and protection of children, parents and staff.

Security

The school prides itself on being a safe and friendly place for pupils, staff and visitors to come and learn. Therefore, we place a strong emphasis on site security and procedures.

We use the clocks near the playground to tell us what time to ring the bell. If you arrive after the bell has rung, this means you are late. If your child arrives after the bell has rung, they are late and must sign in at the school office.

If you are late, please go to the school entrance on The Avenue, where you will be signed in, before going to class.
If you forget any belongings at home including packed lunches or PE bags, please send a message via Dojo to the class teacher. To help keep everyone safe in school, the Admin Team can’t take it to your class.

Please help to ensure the children arrive at school on time so they do not miss valuable learning.
Parents/Carers are asked to provide class teachers with a list of adults whom have permission to collect your child at home time. Staff members will not allow your child to leave with anyone else, so it is vital this list is kept up to date.

If you are visiting our school, whilst on our premises, you must observe the following:

All staff and visitors must enter through the entrance on The Avenue via the school office.
All visitors, including volunteers, must report to the school office before entering the school to sign in and be given a visitor’s badge from the Inventory System. All visitors must sign out at the end of their visit.
All visitors to the school must wear their badge.
Please do not enter the school unless escorted by a member of staff or by prior arrangement.
Please do not open doors leading onto secure school premises.
If your visit involves working independently with the children you will be asked to produce a current enhanced DBS certificate.
Your safety and wellbeing during your visit are important to us. As a visitor you have a legal duty to care for the Health and Safety of yourself and others.
If the Fire Alarm should sound please leave the building by the nearest exit and proceed to the assembly point. DO NOT RE-ENTER THE BUILDING until you are told it is safe to do so.
We operate a NO SMOKING POLICY which we ask you to respect.
Staff have the right, and are encouraged, to question anyone on the school premises who they do not recognise.
Visitors can expect to be treated with respect by our staff; in turn we ask that you be polite and respectful whilst on our premises.
Anyone behaving in an aggressive or disrespectful manner will be asked to leave immediately. Persistent offenders will be banned from the premises.

Online Safety

St. George's CE Primary School recognises the benefits and opportunities which new technologies offer to teaching and learning. We encourage the use of technology in order to enhance skills and promote achievement. However, the accessible and global nature of the internet and variety of technologies available mean that we are also aware of potential risks and challenges associated with such use.

In school we have not only the Local Authority filtering and blocking but also 'Forensic Monitoring' which ensures no harmful or unauthorised content can be accessed by staff and pupils.

Online safety is part of our curriculum with support given by the Youth Offending Service for talks for older pupils on sending abusive information via digital platforms.

Concerns should be reported to:

https://www.ceop.police.uk/Safety-Centre/

Support for parents can be found at:

https://stockport.onlinesafetyhub.uk/

The Prevent Duty

The PREVENT approach at St. George's is very much part of our curriculum, culture and processes. We see it as an integral aspect in promoting the safeguarding and well-being of our children. Mrs Grindrod is our PREVENT Lead and coordinates this work as part of her responsibility for Safeguarding. She is the Single Point of Contact (SPOC) and can be contacted on 0161 480 8657 if you wish to report any concerns.

What is the Prevent strategy?

Prevent is a government strategy designed to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorist or extremist causes. At Yew Tree, we also consider believe that this work extends to supporting children's thinking skills so that they grow up without developing extreme views.

The Prevent strategy covers all types of terrorism and extremism, including the extreme right wing, violent Islamist groups and other causes.

How does the Prevent strategy apply to schools?

Since July 2015 all schools (as well as other organisations) have had a duty to safeguard children from radicalisation and extremism.

This means we have a responsibility to protect children from extremist, extreme or violent views in the same way as we protect them from drugs or gang violence. This is part of our wider efforts to safeguard children and protect them from harm.

Importantly, as an educational setting, we can provide a safe place for pupils to discuss these issues so they better understand how to protect themselves. We believe it is important for children to have an environment in which they feel safe to discuss challenging views.

What does this mean in practice?

Many of the things we already do in school to help children become positive, happy members of society also contribute to the Prevent strategy.

These include:

Exploring other cultures and religions and promoting diversity
Challenging prejudices (behaviour which contradicts any aspect of Equality Law)
Developing thinking skills and a strong, positive self-identity
Promoting the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils, as well as British values such as democracy

We will also protect children from the risk of radicalisation, for example by using filters on the internet to make sure they can’t access extremist, extreme or terrorist material, or by vetting visitors who come into school to work with pupils.

Different schools will carry out the Prevent duty in different ways, depending on the age of the children and the needs of the community.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Prevent relate to British values?

Schools have been required to promote British values since 2014, and this will continue to be part of our response to the Prevent strategy.

British values include:

Democracy
The rule of law
Individual liberty and mutual respect
Tolerance of different faiths and beliefs

Isn’t my child too young to learn about extremism?

The Prevent strategy is not simply about discussing extremism itself, which may not be appropriate for younger children. It is also about teaching children values such as tolerance and mutual respect.

The school will make sure any discussions are suitable for the age and maturity of the children involved.

Is extremism really a risk in our area?

Extremism can take many forms, including political, religious and misogynistic extremism. Some of these may be a bigger threat in our area than others.

We will give children the skills to protect them from any extremist views they may encounter, now or later in their lives.

KEY TERMS

Extremism – vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values such as democracy, the rule of law and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs
Ideology – a set of beliefs
Terrorism – a violent action against people or property, designed to create fear and advance a political, religious or ideological cause
Radicalisation – the process by which a person comes to support extremist behaviour

To report online material promoting terrorism or extremism, use the link below:

https://www.gov.uk/report-terrorism