Safeguarding Advice

Stanground St John's CofE Primary School understands the vital importance of safeguarding and child protection. The school follows the DEMAT safeguarding and child protection policy.

Safeguarding at Stanground St John's

Please see the Policies page to view our current Safeguarding Policy.


The staff and governors at Stanground St John’s are fully committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all our pupils. We work hard to ensure, as far as possible, that every child is protected from harm. Before any appointment is confirmed, all staff (both teaching and support), volunteers, and governors who wish to work at Stanground St John’s are required to go through a rigorous recruitment process. This includes the taking up of references, verification of qualifications, and a review of previous experience and employment history. Enhanced checks are carried out through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). No individual will be employed if there are concerns about their suitability to work with children.


Stanground St John’s is committed to creating and maintaining a safe and supportive environment for all children on roll. Our curriculum plays a key role in helping pupils develop the knowledge and skills they need for later life. Through learning experiences, children are supported to understand what appropriate and inappropriate behaviour looks like, how to keep themselves safe from harm, and the importance of speaking to a trusted adult if they have any worries or concerns.


Safeguarding the welfare of children is a shared responsibility. At times, concerns about a child’s safety or well-being may require consultation with other professionals and agencies. In some cases, this may involve sharing information or making a referral to social services, always with the child’s best interests at heart.


We are committed to all children being empowered to excel, regardless of their background or needs. Safeguarding a shared responsibility.  

Mr Steenkamp (Headteacher) is the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL, Designated Teacher and Prevent Lead). 


He is supported in the inclusion team by:

Mrs Alison Sheridan (Deputy Headteacher & Deputy DSL)

Miss Lauren Steels (SENDCO, PSHE Lead & Deputy DSL)

Mrs Georgina Beaney (Office Coordinator & Deputy DSL)

Mrs Fran Hyde(Deputy DSL)


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, neglect and exploitation 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 and exploitation. 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.

 

Holding power

 

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.

 

* The word ‘school’ is used throughout but this would include all educational settings e.g. Academies, Pupil Referral Units, Further Education establishments and Independent schools.