Safeguarding
The welfare of children is of paramount importance and it is the responsibility of the school to safeguard all pupils. We endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued. We will act quickly and follow our procedures to ensure that children receive effective support, protection and justice. Through their day-to-day contact with pupils and direct work with families, education staff have a crucial role to play in noticing indicators of possible abuse or neglect. Parents should be aware, therefore, that where it appears to a member of staff that a child may have been abused, the school is required, as part of local child protection procedures, to report their concerns to Children Services immediately.
In accordance with 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 are safe and receive the right support.
Parents/carers are normally our first point of contact, and if a suspicion of abuse is recorded, parents/carers will be informed at the same time that the record is made; we will support parents/carers and ensure we work in collaboration with them to protect children. Working with parents/carers to prevent abuse is our primary aim and only when that has failed or in emergency situations will a referral be made to Children’s Services. When a referral is made to social care parents will be notified beforehand, except when guidance from Children’s Services or the Police does not allow this.
Bushfield Infant School will seek advice from Children’s Services 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 shown to be unfounded. Parents/carers will appreciate that the member of staff in the school responsible for child protection (known as the Designated Safeguarding Lead – Mrs Bass) is charged with carrying out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acting in the best interests of the child.
We cannot safeguard children alone. All children’s services agencies work in partnership with each other. There are duties and rules about information sharing but if staff, parents or carers have any concerns about a child, other parent, provider, agency or any person, they have a responsibility to report those concerns and we must record and act on them. We have a Child Protection and Safeguarding policy which is underpinned by the North Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Board Procedures and the document “Working Together to Safeguard Children” and Safer Recruitment guidance. The policy applies to all children and young people regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality or religion. It is a requirement that all users are informed of these policies and practice guidance and what they should do if they have concerns.
The Head teacher, Mrs T Bass is the designated person responsible for child protection and safeguarding.
Our safeguarding team is Mrs T Bass, Mrs K Turnbull, Mrs K Stuart and Miss S Miller, if you have any concerns regarding a child or would like some support, please ask to speak to one of them.
The Chair of Governors, Mr D Batley is the designated governor responsible for child protection and safeguarding.
See our Child Protection and Safeguarding policy
If you think a child or young person may be in immediate danger, call 999.
Otherwise contact North Lincolnshire Children’s Services Single Point of Contact on 01724 296500 (9am to 5pm Monday to Thursday, 9am-4:30pm Friday), 08081 689667 (free phone) and 01724 296555 out of hours.
You can also call the NSPCC on 0808 800 50001
If you are a child who is worried about yourself or someone else call Childline on 0800 11 11.
Safer recruitment and selection of staff
This school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All posts are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, therefore all convictions must be declared. Providing false information is an offence. Appointed staff, governors, regular volunteers and trainees have identity, qualification and criminal records bureau checks and have been successfully cleared to work with children.
Site Security
We have stringent management and maintenance of our site to ensure it is safe and secure, this includes management of visitors to our site. All visitors must sign in and wear a visitor badge and be escorted unless they have met our vetting requirements to work in school unsupervised. Safeguarding information is given to all our visitors.
Early Help
Bushfield Road Infant School works to provide Early Help to those children and families in the school community with emerging needs, which may not be appropriate for Children Services intervention. Early Help means providing support to our children and families as soon as a problem emerges, at any point in a child’s life.
We understand just how complicated family life can be. From time to time, there may be situations where you need some extra help and support. If things are not right at home, please come and talk to us. We can help in many ways.
https://www.northlincscmars.co.uk/early-help/
Operation Encompass
Operation Encompass is an initiative which enhances communication between the police and schools where a child or young person is at risk from domestic abuse. The purpose of the information-sharing is to ensure schools have more information to support the safeguarding of children and young people. By knowing that the child has had this experience, the school is in a better position to understand and be supportive of the child’s needs and possible behaviours. Operation Encompass will complement existing safeguarding procedures.
Please see the website for further details: https://www.operationencompass.org/
E-Safeguarding
The internet is an essential element in 21st century life for education, business and social interaction and the school has a duty to provide children and young people with quality access as part of their learning experience. It is the duty of the school to ensure that every child and young person in its care is safe. E-Safeguarding includes all aspects of technologies and electronic communications including tablets and mobile phones.
Please see our e-safety policy
General Data Protection Regulation
This school collects data in order to meet its statutory responsibilities for the provision of education to children in accordance with the requirements of the Education Act 2002 and The School Standards and Framework Act 1998. Some of this data will be shared with North Lincolnshire Council and may be shared with other agencies that are involved in the health and welfare of school children. Please be aware that personal data is also covered by the General Data Protection Regulation 2018. Please see the school’s Data Protection policy.
The data protection officer (DPO) for the school is Mr T Pinto.
Prevent strategy
What is the Prevent strategy?
Prevent is a government strategy which aims to reduce the threat to the UK from terrorism by stopping people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism or extremist causes.
How does the Prevent strategy apply to schools?
All schools (as well as other organisations) have a duty to safeguard children from radicalisation and extremism. This means we have a responsibility to protect children from extremist and violent views.
Our designated PREVENT lead in school is our Head teacher, Mrs T Bass.
If you would like further information about the prevent duty please follow the link below:
DfE Guidance 2023 – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-duty-guidance
Wellbeing
If at any stage there is a bereavement in your family there is some useful information at Bereavement UK and Winston's Wish.
https://www.childbereavementuk.org/
There are some excellent websites support with a range of wellbeing issues. These includes downloads, leaflets, books and activities as well as advice.
https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parents
https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/supporting-others/childrens-mental-health/
https://www.childline.org.uk/toolbox/calm-zone/
https://www.camhs-resources.co.uk/
https://www.annafreud.org/resources/family-wellbeing
Come and talk to a member of staff or our learning mentor (Mrs Stuart) if you need any help of support with wellbeing/mental health concerns.
Useful Contacts:
Families can sometimes need support from a wide range of agencies. We recognise that other agencies will be able to support children and families based on their specialised work. Therefore, our role is often to signpost families to the resources that will best support their needs.
https://www.northlincscmars.co.uk/children-and-young-people/
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/
https://www.childline.org.uk/
https://www.educateagainsthate.com/parents/ Prevent radicalisation and extremism
http://www.net-aware.org.uk/ NSPCC safety guides to navigate online risks
Designated Safeguarding person is the Head teacher Mrs T Bass
Deputy Designated Safeguarding person is Mrs K Turnbull
Safeguarding assistant is Mrs K Stuart
Designated Looked After Child person is Mrs T Bass
Governor with responsibility for child protection and safeguarding is Mr D Batley
Please see below the school’s Child Protection and Safeguarding policy and related policies.