Safeguarding Statement

This school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We believe that pupils have a right to learn in a supportive, caring and safe environment which includes the right to protection from all types of abuse; where staff are vigilant for signs of any pupil in distress and are confident about applying our safeguarding processes to avert and alleviate any such problems. Details of these processes are available in our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy which can be found below.

Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy (Autumn 2024)

Safeguarding Means:

• protecting children from abuse and maltreatment
• preventing harm to children’s health or development
• ensuring children grow up with the provision of safe and effective care
• taking action to enable all children and young people to have the best outcomes.

Safeguarding children and child protection guidance and legislation applies to all children up to the age of 18. You can find out more about safeguarding and child protection through the NSPCC Safeguarding Children (NSPCC)

What is Child Protection?

Child Protection is part of Safeguarding and promoting welfare. It refers to the activity that is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering, or are likely to suffer, significant harm.

Keeping Children Safe in Education: September 2024

It is imperative that all staff (including volunteers) read this guidance and provide signed confirmation that they have done so. The school keeps a register of staff who have done this. Schools must have regard to the guidance when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. This document contains information on what schools should do and sets out the legal duties with which schools must comply.

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024

Mandatory Reporting of FGM

From 31 October 2015 it is mandatory for teachers, health and social workers to report to the police if they find, or are told, someone under 18 has undergone FGM. View more information on the correct procedure below.

Mandatory Reporting of FGM Procedure

E-Safety

We recognise the benefits and opportunities which new technologies offer to teaching and learning and we encourage the use of technology in order to enhance skills and promote achievement. However, the accessible and global nature of the internet and variety of technologies available mean that we are also aware of potential risks and challenges associated with such use.

Visit our E-Safety page which has activities to help children stay safe online plus guidance and advice for parents on keeping children safe at home.

Safeguarding and Child Protection Concerns

We will ensure that our concerns about children are discussed with parents/carers first unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child’s welfare. If a member of staff is concerned about a child’s welfare, they will record their concern, and any observations or conversation heard, and report to one of the DSLs as soon as possible the same day.

If a member of staff has concerns which relate to the actions or behaviour of another member of staff (which could suggest that s/he is unsuitable to work with children) then this will be reported to the Designated Safeguarding Lead / Headteacher who will refer the matter to the Local Authority Designated Officer who will consider what action to take.

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead s (DSLs) are:

Safeguarding Governor Lead:	Miss Emily Arkell
Nominated Lead Member of Staff:	Mr Jonathan Smith
Nominated Deputy Lead Member of Staff:	Miss Morgan Currie / Mrs Wendy Fitt

Role of Safeguarding Governor

Safeguarding governors are integral liaisons between a school and a governing body. They’re crucial for a number of reasons, including being responsible for:

• Ensuring a school has an effective safeguarding policy in place.
• Ensuring safer recruitment practices are put in place.
• The creation and foreseeing over of abuse allegation procedures.
• Maintaining a good working relationship between the school they represent, local government bodies and any external organisations, such as charities or child welfare institutions.
• Promoting safeguarding children training for all school staff and making sure this training is of a high calibre and up-to-date.
• Ensuring all school policies are focused on the children, considers all possible safeguarding issues and are reviewed on a regular basis.

Safeguarding governors are key parts of any effective safeguarding process for schools or other education providers. It’s imperative that an effective safeguarding strategy is in place and is reinforced by key members of staff, such as the headteacher, safeguarding governor and DSL. For more information on safeguarding policies and best practices, see the information on our guide.

Role of Designated Safeguarding Lead

• The designated safeguarding lead has overarching responsibilities regarding safeguarding in their organisation. They will have an in-depth knowledge of safeguarding guidance (such as Keeping Children Safe in Education and Working Together to Safeguard Children) and related pieces of legislation (e.g. the Children Act 1989) that their workplace must follow.
• They will apply this knowledge to help implement and maintain safeguarding procedures and policies, as well as be alert to safeguarding issues on a day-to-day basis. This includes ensuring that staff have received appropriate training, that their own training is up to date, safe recruitment practices are sufficient, and all actions are within the best interest of safeguarding children.
• If the DSL identifies any concerns or another member of staff raises them, they will coordinate with the child’s primary caregiver(s) if suitable and the necessary external bodies to pursue a course of action.
• The DSL has a number of important responsibilities to fulfil on an ongoing basis. As the lead, it’s also part of their duty to ensure others in the organisation understand and follow safeguarding procedures. They will also work closely with any other senior individuals to coordinate safeguarding duties, such as the headteacher and Governing Body’s nominated governor.

The Responsibilities of a Designated Safeguarding Lead include:

• Being available for all staff to discuss any safeguarding issues or concerns. They should ensure that all staff are aware of the DSL and deputy contact details.
• Ensuring that cases of suspected or actual child protection or safeguarding concerns are referred to the appropriate agencies. The DSL will gather further information and evidence if needed.
• Ensuring that all staff are fully trained in safeguarding and know how to spot and raise concerns. They will also help to maintain an effective staff supervision programme.
• Undergoing regular refresher training themselves to ensure their safeguarding knowledge is as up to date as possible and in line with new guidance.
• Ensuring that adequate reporting and recording systems are in place for safeguarding procedures, and that there are appropriate transferal procedures for records if students move.
• Ensuring that the school’s safeguarding policies and procedures are up to date with the most recent statutory guidance, and that everyone who has safeguarding duties are familiar with any updates.
• Communicating with families on the school’s policies and procedures, as well as any concerns or referrals where appropriate.
• Complying with any Local Safeguarding Children Partnership (LSCP) requirements.
• Ensuring their organisation has sufficient safer recruitment procedures.
• Being aware of any children who may require specific safeguarding needs and have specific vulnerabilities.

Haringey Safeguarding Children Partnership:

Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies when there are concerns about a child’s welfare. These agencies are known as Haringey Safeguarding Children Partnership and consist of Haringey Local Authority, the Haringey Clinical Commissioning Group and the Metropolitan Police. You can find out more about the Haringey Safeguarding Children Partnership here and our role in working in partnership with them below

The Governing Body:

• Makes sure we have arrangements setting out clearly the process and principles for sharing information within our school and with the 3 safeguarding partners and other organisations, agencies and practitioners as required
• Is prepared to supply specified information as requested by the 3 safeguarding partners
• Understands the local criteria for action and local protocol for assessment, and makes sure these are reflected in our school’s own policies and procedures

All staff:

• Contribute to multi-agency working in line with statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguarding Children
• Allow access to the school by children’s social care to conduct, or consider whether to conduct, statutory assessments under the Children Act 1989
• Inform the local authority of any pupil who fails to attend school regularly, or who has been absent without the school’s permission for 10 school days or more, at intervals agreed with the local authority
• Are aware of the process for making referrals to children’s social care and for statutory assessments under the Children Act 1989, and the role they may play in such assessments, including:
• • When referring a child, the need to include any information they have on the child’s developmental needs, the capacity of the child’s parents or carers to meet those needs and any external factors that may be undermining their capacity to parent
  • Where they have concerns that a child may be a potential victim of modern slavery or human trafficking, the need to make a referral to the National Referral Mechanism as soon as possible
• Who have made a referral to children’s social care, follow up their concerns if they are not satisfied with the response, and escalate their concerns using local procedures if they remain dissatisfied
• Are proactive in sharing information as early as possible to help identify, assess and respond to risks or concerns about the safety and welfare of children, including information about any adults the child has contact with, which may affect their safety or welfare
• Are particularly alert to the importance of sharing information when a child moves from one local authority to another, due to the risk that knowledge pertinent to keeping a child safe could be lost
• Have due regard to the data protection principles which allow them to share personal information
• Are confident of the processing conditions which allow them to store and share information for safeguarding purposes
• Are aware that, if they need to share ‘special category personal data’, the DPA 2018 contains ‘safeguarding of children and individuals at risk’ as a processing condition that allows practitioners to share information
• Record who has been given the information and why when decisions are made to share or withhold information

Our DSLs:

• Transfer child protection files as soon as possible to a child’s new school/college where they leave the school (this should be done securely and separately from the main pupil file, and they should also obtain confirmation of receipt)
• Consider if it would be appropriate to share any information with the new school or college in advance of a child leaving, in addition to the child protection file (for example, information that would allow the new school or college to put safeguarding support in place for when the pupil arrives)
• Play a part in preventing abuse by:
  • Discussing the local response to sexual violence and sexual harassment with police and LA children’s social care colleagues to prepare the school’s or college’s policies (especially the child protection policy) and responses
  • Being confident that they know what local specialist support is available to support all children involved (victims and alleged perpetrators) in sexual violence and sexual harassment, and be confident as to how to access this support

Report a Safeguarding Concern

If you have a safeguarding concern about a child who attends our school you can notify the school of your concerns by completing the following form. This will be sent to the Designated Safeguarding Team which consists of the Head Teacher (Jonathan Smith), Deputy Head Teacher (Morgan Currie) and the Pastoral Manager (Wendy Fitt).

If you have a concern out of school hours and it is urgent you can contact the Local Authority directly to make a referral.

https://www.haringey.gov.uk/children-and-families/childrens-social-care/child-protection

All information will be treated in confidence.