Designated Safeguarding Lead: Mrs Claire Matthews (Headteacher)

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead: Mrs Charlotte MacLeod 

Safeguarding Governor: Mrs Sarah Richardson

Health and Safety Governor: Mr Graham Alexander-Cahill

Safeguarding is the highest priority in school. It covers a wide range of areas such as child protection, online safety, site security, health and safety and so on.  Our Safeguarding Policy can be found on the link below and is also available from the school office. 

All employees have annual training and regular updates to make sure knowledge and understanding of safeguarding are current. We ensure all those who are contracted at school (e.g. sports providers and supply teachers) have undergone police checks and are legally entitled to work in the UK and that any adults working directly with children have had appropriate safeguarding training.

Mrs Claire Matthews and Mrs Linda Nixon, along with 2 Governors have also undertaken Safer Recruitment training. Safe practices are followed when shortlisting, interviewing and appointing staff to all roles.

We work with a range of other professionals and agencies including social workers, family workers, health professionals and the police to make sure children and families have any support they need.

Our named governor for safeguarding, Mrs Sarah Richardson, carries out half termly safeguarding visits with a different focus for each visit.  She also attends training and checks that we are compliant with our policy.

Our named Health and Safety governor goes on regular health and safety walks around the school building and site.  They also carry out checks to ensure the school is compliant with its policy.

If you have any concerns about the safety of a child in our community you can make a direct referral by clicking here. 

Under section 175 of the Education Act 2002 (as amended), *the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014, the Non-Maintained Special Schools (England) Regulations 2015, and the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 (as amended) to have arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

We will endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued.

The school will therefore be alert to signs of abuse and neglect and will follow the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 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 know that records of safeguarding concerns may be kept about their child.  They should be informed that 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.

Schools will contact Children’s Social Care 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 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 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.

What our parents tell us 

In a recent parent questionnaire (March 2024) 95.1% of our parents strongly agreed that their child felt safe at school with the remaining 4.9% agreeing.  Safeguarding is the highest priority in our school and we are delighted that this is recognised by our parents.