St
Giles Church of England Primary School
Safeguarding and Child Protection
The link above will take you to Derbyshire's Starting Point referral page. For Online Safety issues, inclduing reporting to tech companies, see our Online Safety page (in Parents section).
Overview and who’s who
Keeping children safe and protecting them from harm is the most important thing we do as a school. If children are not safe, they cannot flourish, form effective relationships with adults or their peers, or achieve their full potential in life. We therefore take our responsibilities in this area with the utmost seriousness.
All staff and governors are trained in Child Protection and Safeguarding, and this is updated regularly. Some senior staff are trained to a higher level; the key roles in the school are:
Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL): Matt Loader (Headteacher)
Deputy DSL: Rachel Binney (Sendco)
In their absence, the following staff are also trained to this level:
Amelia Stanley (Head of School)
The Lead Governor for Safeguarding is Christine Holmes-Elener (Chair of Governors)
The Lead Governor for Behaviour and Anti-Bullying is Christine Holmes-Elener (Chair of Governors)
What is safeguarding and child protection?
Safeguarding is a term which is broader than ‘child protection’ and relates to the action taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. It includes action against bullying, including cyberbullying and online safety, treating all children equally regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality or beliefs, preventing impairment of health and development, ensuring that all children are effectively cared for, and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.
Child protection relates to system-wide procedures for keeping children safe. This includes staff training and awareness, liaison with other agencies (e.g. Early Help Team, Social Care, the police), safer recruitment (including rigorous vetting and background checks on appointed staff), and protecting children from issues such as domestic violence, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, children missing from education, child sexual exploitation, racism, extremism and so on.
Specifically, child protection focuses mainly on four categories of abuse: physical, sexual, emotional and neglect. Neglect, physical and sexual abuse will also include emotional abuse, but this can be a category on its own. For definitions, see our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy.
What to do if you are concerned about a child
If you have any concerns about a child, including in relation to any of the areas above (especially the four categories of abuse), you can call Derbyshire Social Care (Starting Point) on 01629-533190. Alternatively, you may speak to your child’s teacher or one of the adults named above. All information will be treated confidentially, and we will not reveal your name to any other parent. Staff are trained to pass information on to the DSLs mentioned above, and there are clear forms and procedures within school for doing this. The DSLs will then discuss the issue and decide on what course of action to take, which may include a referral to e.g. social care. Unless we think that this will result in immediate danger to the child in question, we would also at this point liaise with and inform the parents of the child, although any referral to us will remain anonymous.
Staff Training
After appropriate background checks (e.g. enhanced DBS), all staff receive induction training in safeguarding. Staff must read a variety of documents, and leaders ensure that they have understood the information and a document is signed to confirm this. All adults who work in school have their details kept on the ‘Single Central Record’, which is managed by the School Business Manager, Julie Adams, and checked by the Headteacher and Link Governor for Safeguarding. Staff receive training around being vigilant to forms of harm and abuse, and understand which procedures to follow if they suspect that this may have happened. All records are kept securely by the DSL, and the school uses an online system for this called CPOMS (Child Protection Online Management System).
The DSL completes regular safeguarding audits, and shares the outcomes with governors and the Trust, taking actions for any areas identified. There are many school policies for safeguarding, some of which are included in the policies section of this website.
Site Security
All staff and visiting adults sign in to school and wear identification tags. The outer doors and gates are locked, and a fob system is in operation for access to the building. The site supervisor conducts perimeter checks every morning, and ensures that the site is secure. The school has risk assessed the premises, and children are not allowed to enter the school via the car park unless accompanied by an adult. All stakeholders are encouraged to use the pedestrian gate entrances whenever these are unlocked.
Curriculum
Regular visitors come to teach the children about aspects of personal safety (e.g. fire service, health, police), and children are kept informed via whole school assemblies of how to stay safe and what to do if certain situations occur (e.g. cyberbullying). Teachers also give age-appropriate messages via PSHE lessons and class worship every week.
Early Help
Our Sendco, and Teaching Assistants, run social and emotional interventions for individuals and groups, including at break times. Any child who is experiencing difficulties at any point in their lives, within or beyond school, can speak to the Sendco, their teacher or any other trusted adult in school.
We also provide Early Help support for families - please read our statement on this below:
Local schools have pooled funding to provide Early Help Team support. This team liaises closely with our Inclusion Team, offers drop-in sessions in school for parents/carers, and provides support for pupils referred by school who meet thresholds. Dates for this can be found on our Home Page (Diary Dates).
For further information, please see the policies tab under ‘Our School’, or come and speak to one of us.
Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy
Safeguarding within the Curriculum
