Safeguarding

North Curry Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We are fully committed to ensuring that consistent effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support children, families and staff at school. We ensure that all staff receive appropriate training, guidance and support to undertake the effective safeguarding of children. Any concerns are passed through the designated safeguarding leaders within the school.

All staff have undertaken basic safeguarding awareness training and have been alerted to the signs and symptoms of abuse or neglect in children. Teaching staff are also aware of the PREVENT duty to reduce the risk of extremist behaviour and radicalisation. If a child discloses any concerning information to an adult working in our school, the adult is asked not to question the child or comment on the disclosure. A designated child protection person is informed as soon as possible and a factual record of the disclosure is made. All concerns which are brought to our attention are recorded confidentially as recommended by the Somerset Safeguarding Children’s Partnership.

Safeguarding children and young people is everyone’s responsibility.

If you have any Safeguarding or Child Protection concerns then please report them straight away to the Designated Safeguarding Leads. Please visit the Policies section of our website to view our Safeguarding Policy.

To report a safeguarding concern to the school please use this form.

Our Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL)

Mrs Morley – Headteacher/DSL
Miss Bown – Teacher/Deputy DSL/Online Safety Lead
Mr Bulbeck – Teacher/Deputy DSL
Ms Harris- ELSA/Wellbeing Lead/Deputy DSL
Mrs Wade – Little Herons DSL
Mrs Slocombe – Safeguarding Governor

Roles and Responsibilities

Our Governing Body is there to ensure (amongst other things) that we:

have effective, annually reviewed and applied child protection policies and procedures
remedy any identified weaknesses
use safer recruitment practices
have a senior person who is Designated Child Protection Person
the Designated Child Protection Person received training update bi-annually
all school staff have Child Protection training which is updated annually
have a nominated Child Protection Governor(s)
have procedures to deal with allegations against staff
Our Chair of Governors is Sue Horne who can be contacted on 01823 490423

DSL – Mrs Morley (The Whole School) and Mrs Wade (Little Herons)
Their role is:

to make sure all the policies and procedures are applied
to make sure the designated person and other staff are able to fulfil their child protection duties
to help and encourage school staff and volunteers to raise appropriate child welfare concerns
to make sure all these concerns are dealt with quickly and effectively

Deputy DSLs – Mrs Morley, Miss Bown, Mr Bulbeck and Ms Harris
Their role is:

make sure all staff (newly qualified, new to the school, non-teaching and volunteers) have all received in-house child protection training during induction
provide support, advice, and expertise to all staff who raise child welfare concerns
liaise with the deputy designated person on child protection issues
make the decision to discuss with/refer to children’s social care or police
know who to contact and if referring, do so in writing using the multi-agency referral form
keeps accurate and factual records
keep their own training up to date

Safeguarding Governor – Mrs Slocombe
Their role is:

liaise with school and inform the governing body of safeguarding issues
liaise with the Chair of Governors/Children and Young Peoples Directorate/partner agencies if their is an allegation against the designated teacher or Headteacher.
supports the designated teacher is fulfilling their role

Everybody else
We should all:

encourage a culture of sharing concerns
be personally alert to possible signs of abuse
discuss your concerns with the DSL without delay
keep notes of the dates/times that incidents/concerns
remember doing nothing is not an option!

Getting Advice

If you are worried about a vulnerable child and would like our help, please don’t stay silent. In addition to the safeguarding team the below contacts can help.

Early Help Advice Hub on 01823 355803
Children’s Social Care on 0300 123 2224
Police: 101 or in an emergency 999