Sarum St Paul's CofE (VA) Primary School
Safeguarding
Children and young people have a fundamental right to be protected from harm. Families have a right to expect schools to provide a safe and secure environment. Safeguarding is the responsibility of all adults and especially those working or volunteering with children.
As a church school we recognise that every child is loved and valued by God and our actions as a school should reflect this. Our school aims to help protect the children in its care by working consistently and appropriately with all agencies to reduce risk and promote the welfare of children.
Child protection means the protection of children from:
- Exploitation
- Physical, sexual or emotional abuse, and
- Neglect
Safeguarding children is defined in Working together to safeguard children as:
- protecting children from maltreatment
- preventing impairment of children’s health or development
- ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
- taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes
Our school has a senior member of staff who is responsible for child protection matters affecting pupils at the school the (‘Designated Safeguarding Lead or DSL'). We also have a Child Protection Policy which explains how our school deals with child protection concerns, including allegations about the behaviour of members of staff. A copy of this can be viewed on our Policy page.
Our Designated Safeguarding Lead is Mrs E Weavers
(Miss Z Mitchell on a Thursday during 2024 due to Miss Martindale's maternity leave)
Our Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead is Miss A Martindale, Mrs J Field, Miss Z Mitchell, Mrs J Beales or Mrs Debbie Newman
Our Child Protection Governor is Mrs C Chitty
'The culture of safeguarding appears to be robust. Staff demonstrate persistence: for example, staff routinely inquire about reasons for children's absence and whether they are authorised. There is evident professional curiosity, reflecting a culture where professional disagreement and challenge are encouraged by school leaders.'
Local Authority Safeguarding Audit - May 2024
'Staff work closely with a number of families and the school's reputation in the community as a supportive school contributes to high parental engagement. The head has fostered durable relationships, and parents feel comfortable sharing their concerns with the school.'
Local Authority Safeguarding Audit - May 2024
If you have a concern about a child
If you have a concern about a child, in the first instance please contact our Designated Safeguarding Lead (Mrs Weavers / Miss Mitchell on a Thursday). If you do not feel able to pass this concern onto a school member, you can contact our safeguarding governor (Mrs Caroline Chitty) on chair@sarum-st-pauls.wilts.sch.uk
If you are concerned about a child and you do not feel able to contact the school's designated safeguarding lead or safeguarding governor, you cancontact Wiltshire's Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) on 0300 4560 108 (out of hours 0300 4560 100).
Alternatively, the NSPCC are there to listen, offer advice and support and can take the next steps if a child's in danger. Their telephone lines are open Monday to Friday 8am – 10pm or 9am – 6pm at the weekends. You can contact online or by email 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Call 0808 800 5000 or email help@nspcc.org.uk
If you're worried about a child, it can be hard to know what to do. The NSPCC has got information and advice on different types of child abuse, how to spot the signs and what you can do to help keep children safe. Click here for more information.
Safeguarding Vulnerable People Partnership Flowcharts - updated April 2024
Useful Safeguarding Information
Please see our weekly newsletter for our safeguarding feature and regular updates.
Child on Child abuse
All children have a right to attend school and learn in a safe environment. All child on child abuse is unacceptable and will be taken seriously. In addition, we have a zero-tolerance approach and will respond to all reports and concerns of child on child sexual violence and sexual harassment, including those that have happened outside of the school, and/or online.
Staff recognise that while both boys and girls can abuse their peers, it is more likely that girls will be victims and boys instigators of such abuse. Child on child r abuse is not tolerated, passed off as “banter” or seen as “part of growing up”. The different forms of child on child abuse is likely to include, but not limited to:
- bullying (including cyber bullying, prejudice-based and discriminatory bullying)
- abuse in intimate personal relationships between peers
- physical abuse which can include hitting, kicking, shaking, biting, hair pulling or otherwise causing physical harm
- ‘upskirting’ or any picture taken under a person’s clothing without their permission or them knowing to obtain sexual gratification or cause humiliation, distress or alarm.
- causing someone to engage in sexual activity without consent
- initiation/hazing type violence and rituals.
- consensual and non-consensual sharing of nudes and semi-nude images and/or videos (also known as sexting)
- sexual violence and sexual harassment between children, as defined by Sexual offences act 2003 which considers rape, assault by penetration and sexual assault, all types of sexual violence. Sexual violence and sexual harassment can be between two children, or a group of children and can occur online and offline.
Consequently, child on child abuse is dealt with as a safeguarding issue, recorded as such and not managed through the systems set out in the school behaviour policy. Any pupil who may have been victimised and/or displayed such harmful behaviours, along with any other child affected by child on child abuse, will be supported through the school’s pastoral system and the support will be regularly monitored and reviewed. We will address inappropriate behaviour (even if it appears to be relatively innocuous) as this can be an important intervention that may help prevent problematic, abusive and/or violent behaviour in the future. We acknowledge that even if there are no reported cases of child on child abuse, such abuse may still be taking place and is simply not being reported. Staff maintain an attitude of ‘it could happen here’ where safeguarding is concerned.
We minimise the risk of child on child abuse by providing:
- a relevant, effective curriculum, that helps children to develop their understanding of acceptable behaviours, healthy relationships and keeping themselves safe. The curriculum is updated to reflect changes in legislation, and the mandatory teaching of Relationship Education, Relationship and Sex Education and Health Education
- established/publicised systems for pupils to raise concerns with staff, knowing they will be listened to, supported and valued, and that the issues they raise will be taken seriously
- training to all staff so they understand that peer on peer abuse can happen and are trained to be alert to any behaviours that could cause concern
- a clear procedure for all staff to report all incidents as a safeguarding concern to the school D/DSL.
The DSL will follow local and national guidance when there has been a report of sexual violence and harassment between children. This will include liaising with other professionals to develop robust risk assessments and multi-agency safety planning with appropriate specialist targeted work for pupils who are identified as posing a potential risk to other children. This is done using a Contextual Safeguarding approach to ensure assessments consider risks posed by any wider environmental factors present in a child’s life.
The NSPCC has a dedicated helpline 0800 136 663 to provide children who are victims of sexual abuse in schools with appropriate support and advice. The helpline also provides support to parents and professionals.
NSPCC
As a school we follow the NSPCC's 'Speak out Stay safe.' programme. The programme is delivered by trained NSPCC staff and volunteers and teachers are present throughout the assembly so everyone's familiar with the topics covered after the visit. They hold an assembly presentation for children aged 5-11 (with the help of Buddy the speech bubble) followed by a 1 hour classroom workshop for children in years 5/6, workshops are also offered to parents.
The Speak out Stay safe assembly helps children understand about different types of abuse so that they can get help if or when they need it. This includes talking about neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and bullying. The assembly helps children to identify a trusted adult they can speak to if they are worried about themselves or a friend. They also learn about Childline, and how the service can support them.
The programme links directly to the curriculum, helping schools meet their statutory requirements.
Our school was invited to take part in a news report for the 'That's TV Salisbury' channel to share the great work of the NSPCC, click on the link below to watch:
Parent Survey
We regularly collect feedback from parents and carers to monitor safeguarding. When asked 'Does your child feel safe at school?', we received the following responses:
| Yes | No | Unsure | |
| 2024 | 93% | 2% | 4% |
| 2022 | 96% | 1% | 2 (due to anxieties) |
| 2021 | 96% | 1% | 3% (due to anxieties) |
| 2020 | n/a - modified questionnaire due to Covid-19 / home learning | n/a | n/a |
| 2019 | 100% | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 97% | 3% | 0 |
Pupil Voice
Our School Council help monitor how safe children feel at our school, here our the results from a pupil survey:
What does being safe mean?
|
Year R |
Not being scared, not feeling alone, not sad, not getting lost, like you are feeling at home |
|
Year 1 |
Being looked after, being safe with your grown up and staying with them |
|
Year 2 |
Being supported and feeling ok where I am, not looking at stuff you don’t like, not having strangers in school, being kind, being healthy |
|
Year 3 |
The opposite of danger, you are ok, not targeted, no one is putting pressure on you |
|
Year 4 |
Protected, looking after each other, having friends |
|
Year 5 |
Playing sensibly online and not sharing information online, checking out the risks and for danger, keeping an eye on one another |
|
Year 6 |
Not in threat or danger, when you feel protected and comfortable in your situation, feels nothing bad will happen, being in a safe environment |
When asked why they feel safe, they gave the following answers:
- There are teachers and they're kind to you.
- Your friends make you feel safe.
- There is so much love at school
- The grownups protect you if there is a fire, we have to get out of the building
- We can tell a teacher our worries
- Teachers care for us
- There are lots of grown ups around to protect us
- I'm not lonely
- We have a fence around the school
- Adults are reassuring and have experienced life and can help us and answer questions
We asked children if there was anywhere in school they didn't feel say, their answered included:
- The bathroom when alone
- The bottom of the field where strangers could talk to you
- Behind the mobile
Actions from the survey:
- Establish an outside reflection area for children to go for calm activities at break / lunch
- Ensure all classrooms have a worry monster (or equivalent) and are regularly reminded how to use / access it
- Replace all wooden fencing (this is a phased approach, stage 1 completed in Autumn 2021)
Contact Details
Please keep us updated of any changes to your contact details and those of the named contacts on your child’s records. As a safeguarding requirement we hold at least two contacts per child on our SIMS system.
If your child is regularly collected by a family member or friend and they are not on your child’s record, please do pass their details to Mrs Cookson so we are able to contact them if they are late in collecting your child.
Useful Information
Key Documents:
Child Protection Leaflet 2022-23
Safeguarding Information for Parents/Carers (circulated with weekly newsletters)
15 apps parents should know about...
What children need to know about online bullying
7 questions to help parents talk about online safety
Setting up New Devices for Children
What Parents and Carers need to know about WhatsApp
What Parents and Carers need to know about YouTube
What Parents and Carers need to know about Roblox
What Parents and Carers need to know about TikTok
What Parents and Carers need to know about Pokemon Go
Supporting Children with Upsetting Content
Private Fostering
NHS Food Scanner App
The government has recently launched its new Better Health campaign which includes a new NHS Food Scanner app to help parents make healthier food choices for their children.
The new app works by allowing families to scan product barcodes on food items to generate a healthier suggestion as an alternative. It’s hoped it will encourage more families to swap unhealthy options in their diets and give them the knowledge they need to do so.
In addition, the app’s ‘Good Choice’ badge will highlight those foods that are in line with the government’s current dietary recommendations for added sugar, saturated fat and salt.
Once a snack item is scanned, the app will display its nutritional information using the familiar traffic light system, food swap recommendations, and also uses augmented reality to bring to life the sugar, fat or salt content of the scanned food.
CONTACT DETAILS
