Melbourn Primary School
Making Learning Irresistible
Safeguarding
Safeguarding at Melbourn Primary School
Melbourn Primary School is committed to the protection and safety of all its pupils and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Our safeguarding policies and procedures follow the advice and guidance in Keeping Children Safe in Education.
Designated Child Protection Officer
Mrs Stephanie Wilcox (Headteacher)
Other Designated Child Protection Officers
| Miss Sorrel Hawkins (Family Support Worker) | Mrs Tiffany Luckett (Deputy Headteacher) |
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Sunrise & Sunset Club Child Protection Officer
Mrs Jill Reddan
| What to do if you are concerned about a child. |
Do not keep it to yourself, if in doubt, seek advice. If you are concerned that a child may be suffering physical, sexual or emotional abuse or neglect or is at risk of significant harm you should telephone Children Services using one of the following numbers:
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Safeguarding Policies
We believe that a safe and stimulating environment and curriculum should be provided to inspire and allow all our children to flourish. To this end we work extremely hard to create a warm, caring and safe community. We therefore have a wide range of measures in place to ensure this is put into practice and is maintained, to identify concerns early and provide help for children and to prevent concerns from escalating.
Under the Education Act 2002 (section 175/157), schools must “make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children”.
Consequently all staff are therefore alert to signs of abuse and neglect and will follow the Safeguarding Children Partnership Board’s 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. Parents/carers should be aware that records of safeguarding concerns may be kept about their child. School staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with them including referrals to other agencies.
Local procedures state that “consent should always be sought from an adult with parental responsibility for the child/young person before passing information about them to Children’s Social Care, unless seeking consent would place the child at risk of significant harm or may lead to the loss of evidence for example destroying evidence of a crime or influencing a child about a disclosure made.” This includes allowing them to share information without consent, if it is not possible to gain consent, if it cannot be reasonably expected that a professional gains consent, or if to gain consent would place a child at risk.
Where there is a need to share special category personal data, the Data Protection Act 2018 contains ‘safeguarding of children and individuals at risk’ as a processing condition that allows professionals to share information.
In accordance with legislation and 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. In all circumstances, the safety of the child will be the paramount concern.
We will contact Children’s Social Care when we 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 should appreciate that the member of staff in the school with responsibility for child protection (known as the Designated Safeguarding Lead or Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead) 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, 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.
The Designated Safeguarding Lead is Mrs Stephanie Wilcox.
The Deputy Safeguarding Leads are Miss Sorrel Hawkins and Miss Tiffany Luckett.
Our safeguarding and child protection policy can be found in the policy section of our website. Please follow the link below.
Domestic Abuse Support Service (DASS) survivors can self-refer to the confidential service by:
Email: DASSreferrals@IMPAKT.org.uk
A freephone number will be available soon, in the meantime please use 01234 264109