Willington
Primary School

Safeguarding

Children maximise their potential in an environment which is safe, secure and supportive of all their needs, including any needs they have for protection from abuse. At Willington Primary School, we regard the safeguarding of our children as our main priority. We all have the responsibility to make this happen.

We will ensure that:

  •  The welfare and well-being of each child is of paramount importance.
  • All children whatever their age, culture, disability, gender, language, racial origin, religious beliefs and/or sexual identity have the right to be protected from harm.
  • We respect and value each child as an individual.
  • We are a listening school, and encourage an environment where children feel free to talk, knowing that they will be listened to.
  • The protection of children from abuse is a whole-school issue, and the responsibility therefore of the entire school community.
  • All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately.
  • All staff and volunteers working in our school have a responsibility to report concerns to the Designated Lead for Safeguarding – Mr. Cornforth.

Areas of Safeguarding

Our safeguarding policies cover all areas of school life and include:

  • Staff & Visitors – ensuring they are vetted, informed & trained.
  • Children’s Behaviour – promoting safer & happier behaviours & lifestyles.
  • Parents & Carers – promoting links and supporting families.
  • Premises – keeping them safe, pleasant and fit for purpose.
  • Curriculum – providing positive, life affirming learning experiences.
  • Outside School – ensuring safer activities and environments outside school.

Alongside Willington Primary School’s own policies and procedures information from other sources can also provide advice, facts and resources to support parents and carers to help protect their children.

Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy

At Willington Primary School we have a Keeping Children Safe in School policy. Our policy is written with due regard to the Department of Education statutory guidance – Keeping_children_safe_in_education_2023

Section Lead

Mrs Harker – Headteacher

The Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) for Safeguarding and Child Protection at Willington Primary School is Mrs Harker (Headteacher).

Mrs Harker coordinates action for child protection within the school.

This includes ensuring that all staff, teaching and non-teaching (including supply staff) know who the Designated Member of Staff is and that they are aware of their individual responsibility to be alert to the signs of abuse and to discuss any concerns with the Designated Member of Staff.

Mrs Britton – Deputy Headteacher and Early Years Teacher

In Mrs  Harker’s absence the Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead for Safeguarding and Child Protection is Mrs Britton (Deputy Headteacher).

 Internet Safety

Children and young people spend lots of time on the internet. They may go online to research information for homework or to play games, chat with friends and make new ones.

The internet holds a massive amount of useful information and can also be a really good way of learning about new things and keeping in contact with friends and family.  It can also be a very dangerous place so it is important that children are protected and monitored when they are online.

Click here to access information about how to keep your children safe online.

Child Sexual Exploitation

Child Sexual Exploitation, or CSE, is a form of sexual abuse which sees young children or young people being manipulated or coerced into sexual activity for receiving ‘something’ such as: gifts, food, attention, somewhere to stay, money.

Technology is very often used to groom victims. This may occur through social networking sites and mobile phones with internet access.

CSE has gained a large amount of media attention recently as lots of services involved with children and young people have seen a rise in cases of CSE. Charities such as NSPCC and Barnardos have been campaigning to raise the profile of this form of abuse. Information regarding CSE can be found here:

PACE (Parents Against Child Sexual Exploitation) is a national charity that works with parents and carers whose children are sexually exploited. PACE offers one-to-one telephone support, national and local meet-ups with other affected parents and information on how parents can work in partnership with school, police and social care.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

In April 2014 every school in England received new safeguarding guidelines and detailed information on identifying and responding to Female Genital Mutilation.

FGM is a procedure carried out on young girls between the ages of infancy and 15 years of age. Female Genital Mutilation is classified as a form of Child Abuse in the UK.  It therefore makes the procedure of it a serious Child Protection issue. It is illegal for anyone to perform FGM in the UK or to arrange for a child to be transported to another country for the procedure.   The maximum sentence for carrying out FGM or helping it to take place is 14 years in prison.

There is lots of information and support available online for parents/carers concerned about this subject or if you know someone who is at risk:

Contact the Police if you think that a girl or young woman is in danger of FGM and is still in the UK.

Contact the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (020 7008 1500) if she’s already been taken abroad.

The Daughters of Eve website helps to raise awareness of this issue and sign-posts those affected by it to supportive services.

The NSPCC has detailed advice on how to spot the signs, symptoms and effects of FGM and provides support for people who are concerned about a child or who have been affected themselves.

The NSPCC offers a free and anonymous FGM 24 hour helpline.  Call 0800 028 3550 or email fgmhelp@nspcc.org.uk

Preventing Radicalisation

From 1 July 2015 schools are subject to a duty under section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, in the exercise of their functions, to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”.

Willington Primary School is clear that extremism and radicalisation should be viewed as safeguarding concerns.  We value freedom of speech and the expression of beliefs and both pupils/students and adults have the right to speak freely and voice their opinions.

Our school ethos seeks to build pupils’ resilience to radicalisation by promoting fundamental British values and enabling them to challenge extremist views.

DfE guidance on the Prevent Duty can be found here:

Prevent Duty Departmental advice for Schools and Colleges

The NSPCC have information for parents/carers about radicalisation and dangers associated with extremism.  There is also links to other supportive services on the NSPCC web page.

Information and resources to download for Parents, Carers and Staff can be found here:

Educate Against Hate –  website resource for schools and parents/carers

NSPCC

The NSPCC has a wide range of resources that help adults keep children safe from abuse and other dangers, both online and in the physical world.

  • P.A.N.T.S:  Teach your child the  Underwear Rule and help protect them from abuse. It’s a simple way that parents can help keep children safe from sexual abuse.
  • Share Aware: Help your child stay safe on social networks, apps and games.
  • Online safety Helpful advice and tools you can use to help keep your child safe whenever and wherever they go online.
  • Staying safe away from home: Your guide to when your child’s old enough to be out on their own, and how to teach them to keep safe while they’re away.
  • Home alone: How to decide when it’s safe for your child to be home on their own, and what you can do if they’re too young.

Reporting a Concern of Abuse or Neglect

If you suspect or believe a child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm, including any form of mistreatment or abuse, you should report your concerns.

If you are a member of the public take the following steps.

Emergency

If a child is in immediate danger, you should contact the police – call 999.

Not an emergency

If there is no immediate danger, or you need advice or information, you should:

  • contact First Contact Service 03000 26 79 79
  • contact the NSPCC helpline 0808 800 5000

What happens when you ring First Contact Service?

First Contact are experienced children’s services professionals, who are trained to deal with sensitive issues. They will ask you a few short questions to find out how best to deal with your concern. They work closely with other professionals to make sure that action is taken and the right level of support can be given to the right people at the right time.

Privacy Policy

We regard your privacy as important and any personal information you give to us will be used in accordance with the Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulations.

We do not store personal information about individuals who visit this site except where they provide contact information via our contact us page and contact forms available on various pages throughout the website.

Any information you provide will only be used for the reasons specified and it will not be shared with any third party without your consent, unless required by law.

Your contact details are kept securely and are only accessed by authorised members of staff as part of the provision of school services. If you do not wish us to keep this contact information please tell us.

This website uses Google Analytics which provides statistical data about the usage of the site. This information is not used to identify individuals, but is collected to provide us with an understanding of the areas of interest on our site and how our site is being used.

If you are connected to the internet you will have an IP Address. This may take the form of a figure, such as 333.333.22.1. The address will be automatically collected and logged as part of the connection of your computer to our web server and may be used to determine the total number of visits to each part of the site. This data is not collected and used for other purposes.

This website contains links to other websites. The School is not responsible for the privacy practices of other sites or organisations and recommends you consult the privacy information on those sites.

This policy will be reviewed and updated versions will be posted on the website.

If you have any questions about the use of your personal information, the Information Commissioner is the independent regulator for both Data Protection and Freedom of Information.