Nothing is more important to us than the safety and welfare of our pupils. We take rigorous steps to ensure that children stay safe and do not come to any harm. We work closely with parents / carers and a range of professional external agencies in order to secure this.

If you have any concerns, no matter how small they may seem, about the safety or welfare of any child, please contact the school's Designated Safeguarding Lead Siobhan Rouse (Headteacher), Ms Janette Evely or Ms Katherine Cobbold.

Under the Education Act 2002 (section 175/157), schools must “make arrangements 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 Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) 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. The school should make parents/carers aware that records of welfare 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. However, in situations where the child is suspected to be at risk of harm, the law says that schools may take advice from other agencies without informing parents/carers.

In accordance with 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.

Schools will seek advice from 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 Designated Person) 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, schools or 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 or 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.

Please read our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy below.

PREVENT

Awareness of Prevent Agenda

• Prevent is 1 of the 4 elements of ‘CONTEST’, the government’s counter-terrorism strategy. The 4 elements are: Pursue, Protect, Prepare and Prevent. It aims to stop people becoming terrorists, including through grooming or supporting terrorism.
• The Prevent strategy responds to the ideological challenge we face from terrorism and aspects of extremism, and the threat we face from those who promote these views.

• It provides practical help to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensure they are given appropriate advice and support.
• It works with a wide range of sectors (including education, criminal justice, faith, charities, online and health) where there are risks of radicalisation.
• It covers all forms of terrorism, including far right extremism and some aspects of non-violent extremism.

Vision

Harston and Newton Primary School will follow the principles outlined in the DfE advice. The school will:

• Raise awareness within school of the threat from extremist groups and the risks for young people.
• Provide information to staff about what can cause extremism, about preventative actions taking place locally and nationally and where we can get additional information and advice.
• Make a positive contribution to empowering children to create communities that are more resilient to extremism and protecting the wellbeing of particular pupils or groups who may be vulnerable to being drawn into violent extremist activity.
• Provide advice on managing risks and responding to incidents locally, nationally or internationally that might have an impact on the school community.

INTERNET SAFETY FOR CHILDREN

Please copy and paste the URL below for a guide to broadband parental controls and internet safety for children. This guide is compiled by GoCompare.

https://www.gocompare.com/broadband/parental-controls/