Safeguarding
SAFEGUARDING
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is of paramount importance at St Aidan's and is everyone’s responsibility.
It is the responsibility of every member of staff, volunteer and regular visitor to work in a way that will safeguard and promote the welfare of all of the pupils at this school. This includes the responsibility to provide a safe environment in which children can learn.
We recognise that staff at our school play a particularly important role as they are in a position to identify concerns early and provide help for children to prevent concerns from escalating. All staff are advised to maintain an attitude of ‘it could happen here’ where safeguarding is concerned. When concerned about the welfare of a child, staff members must always act in the best interests of the child.
Our school will establish and maintain an ethos where children feel secure, are encouraged to talk, are listened to and feel safe. Children will be able to talk freely to any member of staff at our school if they are worried or concerned about something.
All staff and regular visitors will, through training and induction, know how to recognise indicators of concern, how to respond to a disclosure from a child and how to record and report this information. We will not make promises to any child and we will not keep secrets. Every child will know what the adult will have to do with any information they have chosen to disclose.
Throughout our curriculum we will provide activities and opportunities for children to develop the skills they need to identify risks and stay safe. This will also be extended to include material that will encourage our children to develop essential life skills.
At all times we will work in partnership and endeavour to establish effective working relationships with parents, carers and colleagues from other agencies in line with Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023) and Local Safeguarding Partners’ Procedures.
St Aidan's Catholic Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We actively support the Government’s Prevent Agenda to counter radicalism and extremism.
We listen to our pupils and take seriously what they tell us. All school staff are trained in Child Protection, and children are made aware of the adults they can talk to if they have any concerns. Staff are trained to look out for signs of physical/emotional harm or neglect and are required to report these to the Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL).
Designated Safeguarding Lead: Ms R Lalor (Acting Headteacher)
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead: Mrs C Marsh (SENDCo)
The Designated teacher for Looked After Children and previously Looked After Children (LAC) is Ms R Lalor
PHOTOGRAPHS AND VIDEOS
Whilst lots of parents and carers really enjoy seeing photos and videos of their children’s school life, we are very mindful of our duty of care towards all our pupils. We take the issue of safeguarding very seriously and this includes the use of photographic and video images. Some of our children, for serious safeguarding reasons, must not have their photograph published publicly.
Any photographs or videos taken by parents, carers and relatives at school productions, sports days or other events are for the enjoyment of individual families. They must not be used in any way that could potentially place a child at risk. This would include publishing images in any form of print or on the internet including social networking sites. This is emphasised before concerts and shows etc.
OPERATION ENCOMPASS
Our school is part of Operation Encompass which is a national scheme that operates jointly between schools and police forces.
Operation Encompass is the reporting to schools, prior to the start of the next school day, when a child or young person has experienced domestic abuse.
As a school we have ensured that members of our staff, known as Key Adults, have been trained in the Operation Encompass procedures allowing us to then use the information that has been shared, in confidence, to support the children in our care.
The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 identifies children who experience domestic abuse as victims of domestic abuse in their own right.
We are keen to offer the best support possible to all our pupils and we believe this will be extremely beneficial for all those involved.
St Aidan's Key Adults are Ms R Lalor and Mrs C Marsh
PREVENT
What is the Prevent strategy ?
Prevent is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming radicalised - terrorists or supporting terrorist or extremist causes.
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?
The Department for Education’s (DfE's) ‘Prevent’ duty states that we must:
“safeguard children and young people in England from extremists and extremist views in school and in out of school hours learning and stop young people from becoming radicalised or acting on extreme views.”
From 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 and violent views the same way we protect them from drugs or gang violence.
Importantly, St Aidan’s can provide a safe place for pupils to discuss these issues so they better understand how to protect themselves.
What does this mean in practice?
Many of the things we already do in school to help children become positive, happy members of society, promoting our Mission to ‘Come In and Learn With Jesus; Go Out and Serve With Love’ also contribute to the Prevent strategy.
These include:
· Exploring other cultures and religions and promoting diversity.
· Challenging prejudices and racist comments
· Developing critical thinking skills and a strong, positive self -identity.
· Promoting the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils through our weekly Statements To Live By and Celebration of The Word, 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 and terrorist material, or by vetting visitors who come into schools.
Different schools will carry out the Prevent duty in different ways, depending on the age of the children and the needs of the community.
Where to go for more information?
- Read our St Aidan's Prevent Strategy Document and the Educate Against Hate information booklet for parents attached below.
- Contact the school office. If you have any questions or concerns about the Prevent strategy and what it means for your child please do not hesitate to contact us.
- You will find more information about spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and British values on our website and in our school newsletters each week.
ACT Early
ACT Early - Counter Terrorism Policing safeguarding website
THE impact of Covid-19, social isolation and a rise in hateful extremism online is creating a ‘perfect storm’ which is making more young people vulnerable to radicalisation and other forms of grooming.
But parents, friends and families can now get specialist support to stop their loved ones being drawn into harmful activities or groups, with the launch of ACT Early - a new dedicated safeguarding website and advice line from the specialists at Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP).
This resource will provide advice, guidance and support for anyone who is concerned that someone they know may be at risk from being radicalised by terrorists or extremist content online.
North Tyneside Prevent
If you're worried about someone being drawn into extremism or terrorism or you are unsure what to do, you can contact the council’s Emergency Planning and Community Safety Team via emergencyplanning@northtyneside.gov.uk
Police
In an emergency where your own or others' safety is at risk call 999 or 101 in non-emergency.
Anti-Terrorist Hotline
If you are concerned about a person may do something to harm themselves and/or other people, you can call the Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321
You can also report any illegal terrorist information, pictures, videos found on the internet through the Government's website.
ONLINE SAFETY GUIDANCE FOR PARENTS
Click For Online Safety Guide For Parents
NSPCC - Speak Out. Stay Safe. Autumn 2024
NSPCC’s Speak out. Stay safe. Programme
For information. A parents letter will be sent home during October 2024.
I am pleased to inform you that we are participating in the NSPCC’s Speak out. Stay safe. Programme this term. Speak out. Stay safe. is a programme for children aged 5-11 which aims to help children understand abuse in all its forms and to recognise the signs of abuse. Children are taught to speak out if they are worried, either to a safe adult or Childline.
This child friendly programme is aligned with the curriculum and consists of age appropriate virtual assemblies and supporting classroom based activities which we have reviewed, alongside NSPCC volunteer led face to face workshops for children aged 6-7 and 9-11. The content is delivered in an engaging and interactive way with the help of the NSPCC mascot Buddy.
Parents and carers are asked to let school know if their child may have experienced anything (in the past or happening now) which may mean they need extra support before, during or after taking part in this programme.
If you would like to know more about the Speak out. Stay safe. programme visit www.nspcc.org.uk/speakout.
Feedback survey for pupils aged 7-11
The NSPCC would like to gather feedback from pupils aged between 7-11 about the Speak out. Stay safe. programme to gauge their learning. This will be voluntary and children can still take part in the programme if they don’t take part in the survey.
- All survey questions are multiple choice and focussed on the programme.
- The survey is anonymous and confidential. However, if in the process of completing the survey, a teacher becomes concerned for a pupil’s welfare (e.g., through something a pupil says) we will follow our school’s safeguarding procedures.
- If you have agreed that your child can take part in the survey but your child changes their mind on the day, that is also okay.
Additional NSPCC resources for families to help keep children safe
The NSPCC have shared some important information below on wider NSPCC resources and support to help keep children safe.
Parent/Carer support Take a look at information, support, advice and activities from NSPCC for parent and carers. | Activities to extend learning at home Take part in games and activities at home to help children learn about speaking out and staying safe. www.nspcc.org.uk/activities
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Online Safety Hub For information on a range of different online safety topics including gaming, social media, sharing images, parental controls and more.
| Childline – under 12’s Childline have an accessible website with advice, support, games and activities. Children can change the language, enlarge text and also listen to the content. www.childline.org.uk/buddy (5-7) www.childline.org.uk/kids (7-11)
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Talk PANTS with your children Talk PANTS is a simple conversation to help keep children safe from sexual abuse. From P through to S, each letter of PANTS provides simple but important messages. Download the free resources at www.nspcc.org.uk/pants.
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Please contact school if you have any further questions.
Useful documents
Acorns - Supporting Families
Acorns provide a range of therapeutic recovery services for families impacted by domestic abuse. They deliver one to one work from their 2 premises in North Shields as well as a range of community and educational settings. They also offer First Response crisis support for young people age 11+.
Please see the links below for further information. If you require any assistance with referrals or support please contact Ms Lalor or Mrs Marsh or Mrs England.
