Safeguarding children is of paramount importance to us at Northlands Primary School.  If you have any concerns about the welfare of any child in our school, please do not hesitate to speak to one of our Designated Safeguarding Leads.

At Northlands our Designated Safeguarding Leaders are as follows: 

The hierarchy above sets out how a safeguarding concern may be escalated so that appropriate action can be taken although it is the responsibility of everyone in school to report safeguarding concerns. 

Sometimes a safeguarding concern may be referred to Warwickshire's Integrated Front Door so that further specialist advice can be sought. In some cases a family might be offered Early help from our Pastoral Lead, Mrs Alford. These interventions provide support for families and signpost parents to specialist training. 

What is safeguarding and why is it so important in schools?

Safeguarding is an umbrella term and covers many more aspects than just child protection. Child Protection is protecting children from identified risks – originally focused on abuse at home-it is now a wider concept to include bullying, abuse through new technologies as well as other things (please see policies attached for more information. Indeed, safeguarding extends child protection to include preventing harm and promoting the well being of children.

Safeguarding is:

• Protecting children from maltreatment
• Preventing impairment of a child’s health or development
• Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provisions of safe and effective care
• Create opportunities to enable children to have optimum life chances in adulthood.

(2004 Children’s Act)

Northlands recognises the responsibility it has under Section 175 of the Education Act 2002 and the requirements of the 'Safeguarding Children in Education' to have arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

Through their day-to-day contact with pupils and direct work with families, staff at the school have a crucial role to play in noticing indicators of possible abuse or neglect and referring them to the appropriate agency, normally the appropriate Children’s Team (Social Care).

What is the school's duty to safeguarding children in school? 

Under the Education Act 2002 (Section 175 for maintained schools), schools must make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Parents and carers should know that the law (Children Act 1989) 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.  Staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with the parent and carer and discuss the need to make a referral to Children’s Social Care if that is considered necessary.  This will only be done where such discussion will not place the child at increased risk of significant harm or cause undue delay.  The school will seek advice from Children’s 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 found to be unfounded.  Parents and carers will appreciate that the school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead carries out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acts in the best interests of all children.’

How is this embodied in policy?

Our school safeguarding policy (found on this website under KEY INFORMATION / Statutory policies / Safeguarding Policy) sets out how the school’s Governing Body and staff discharges its statutory responsibilities relating to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children who are pupils at the school.

Our Policy applies to all staff and volunteers working in the school (education support services).  Teaching assistants, mid-day supervisors, secretaries as well as teachers can be the first point of disclosure for a child.  Concerned parents may also contact school Governors.

How does our duty apply to online safety?

We teach our children about online safety throughout the school as a matter of course and we also create bespoke training in response to any concerns that are raised. We strongly encourage parents to ensure their children do not access sites beyond their age limit and we encourage parents not to leave their child unattended on the internet. We have a dedicated online safety lead: Mrs Smith. 

What is Prevent and how do we support it in our school?

Prevent is one of four work strands which make up the government‘s counter-terrorism strategy – CONTEST. The aim of CONTEST is to reduce the risk to the UK and its interests overseas from terrorism.

• Pursue – focuses on detecting, investigating and disrupting terrorist threats to the UK and our interests overseas.
• Protect – aims to reduce the vulnerability of the UK and UK interests overseas to terrorist attack. This includes aviation security for both cargo and passengers.
• Prepare – aims to minimise the impact of any attack, manage any incidence of an ongoing attack and recover quickly and effectively
• Prevent – aims to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism

As the preventative strand of CONTEST, Prevent will:-

• Respond to the ideological challenge of terrorism and the threat faced by the UK from those who promote it
• Prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensure they are given appropriate advice and support
• Work with a wide range of sectors (including education, criminal justice, faith, charities, the internet and health) where there are risks of radicalisation which need to be addressed

As part of Northlands' ongoing safeguarding and child protection duties we are fully behind the government’s Prevent Strategy. All staff receive regular training on what Prevent is about and how to deal with any issues they may see inside or outside school.

What are Protective Behaviours?

This is a scheme of work which our school follows to support children's safeguarding further. It aims to give children age appropriate strategies for talking about their feelings and in particular their own personal safety and well-being. Protective Behaviours is a practical down to earth approach to personal safety. It is a process that encourages self-empowerment and brings with it the skills to raise self-esteem and to help avoid being victimised. This is achieved by helping individuals to recognise and trust their intuitive feelings (Early Warning Signs) and to develop strategies for self-protection. The Protective Behaviours process encourages an adventurous approach to life that satisfies the need for fun and excitement without violence and fear.

Further information on the Protective Behaviours (Taking Care) curriculum can be found on their website: https://www.protectivebehaviours.org/ or click the links below to access some information booklets for parents:

Parent Booklet: We All Have the Right to Feel Safe

Practical Advice for Keeping Children Safe

'Let's Talk' Magazine

What can you do if you have a safeguarding concern? 

If you have a safeguarding concern regarding a child/family in school, please speak to one of the designated safeguarding leads by phone, email or in person using the usual school contact details.

If you have an immediate safeguarding concern outside of school hours, or wish to make an anonymous referral please contact:
MASH (Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub) 01926 414144

https://www.safeguardingwarwickshire.co.uk/report-it

Rugby Children's Team 01926 413389

For family support please contact:
Family Support Worker Helpline: 01926 412412
Family Information Service: 01926 742274

In the case of a serious safeguarding concern please dial 999. If you are subject to domestic abuse and unable to talk on the line, dial 55 and the authorities will be sent.

For information on the range of service available to support please consult the file below: 

Online Safety.

At Northlands, we teach our children:

• to technology safely, respectfully and responsibly.  
• how to keep personal information private, and recognise acceptable/ unacceptable behaviour.
• ways of accessing help and concerns.   

Earlier in the term, we asked our pupils about feeling safe online.  We asked pupils across Key Stage One and Two.  Our findings showed that:

• most of our children use a tablet to access the internet.
• our children largely play games online.
• most of our children access the internet every day.
• ALL of the children felt safe on the internet at school.

Some of our children said that online safety at home was a little trickier.  Below are some useful links to support your child/ren and to start a conversation around staying safe online

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

If someone has acted inappropriately towards you online, or to a child or young person you know (e.g. sexual chat, being asked to do something that makes you feel uncomfortable or someone being insistent on meeting up) you can report it to CEOP.

https://www.iwf.org.uk/

UK hotline for reporting online criminal behaviour.

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/

A range of online safety guides.

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/

CEOP's Thinkuknow programme provides a range of free educational resources - films, lesson plans, presentations, practitioner guidance, games and posters - to professionals working with children and young people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGr_KFiCX4s

Funmoods' Online Safety Kit - Little Red Riding Mood

A collection of four short animations showing children and parents how to stay safe on Facebook. 

https://www.childnet.com/teachers-and-professionals/

Internet safety resources for teachers and professionals to help safeguard your workplace and the young people you work with.

https://nationalonlinesafety.com/

A comprehensive programme for parents and teachers.