Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy January 2019
Aims
The Aim of this Policy is to ensure the safety and welfare of all members of our community by:
• protecting children from maltreatment;
• preventing impairment of children’s health or development;
• ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care;
- and undertaking that role so as to enable those children to have optimum life chances and to enter adulthood successfully.
The school is committed to Safeguarding, promoting the welfare of all its pupils and to protecting them from the risks of harm
This school understands that our work in safeguarding and protecting children must always be in line with the Isle of Man Safeguarding Board’s guidance and procedures.
Role of all Adults
All adults who work at Jurby School are expected to follow this policy.
* All staff must be clear about their own role and that of others in providing a caring and safe environment for all pupils and know how they should respond to any concerns about an individual child that may arise.
* The school will ensure that all staff, whether permanent or temporary, and volunteers, know who the Safeguarding Officer and their deputy is, who has overall responsibility for child protection.
* All staff will receive training regularly at a minimum of every 2 years in order that they are equipped with the skills needed to keep children safe.
For Lunchtime ancillaries, office and domestic staff, this should be at a minimum of Level 1.
For staff who work directly with pupils this should be at a minimum of Level 2.
The Safeguarding Officer and their deputy should attend Level 3 Training.
Responsibilities
The Head Teacher, is the Safeguarding Officer.
The Deputy Safeguarding Officer is Mrs Ali Waddell. In the event of the Headteachers absence she will liaise with the Teacher in Charge to carry out any action necessary.
They are responsible for:
• co-ordinating action within the school and liaising with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and other agencies over cases of abuse and suspected abuse.
• acting as a source of advice within the school
• ensuring the staff are familiar with the policies and procedures
• referral of individual cases and suspected abuse
• liaising with agencies about individual cases, including attendance at Conferences
- organising training on Child Protection within school
Induction of new Adults (Paid and Volunteers)
Anybody new to our school will be informed of the main points of this policy and given a copy to read as part of their induction procedure (Induction of staff policy). Any member of staff who has not attended appropriate training within the last two years will be required to attend training as soon as possible. Volunteers will be strongly encourage to also attend.
Before a volunteer starts work in school they must meet with the Headteacher or his representative and be briefed on Child Protection.
Child Protection – Recognition and Response to Abuse
All adults working in the school are well placed to notice any physical, emotional or behavioural signs that a child may be suffering significant harm. We understand that harm means the ill- treatment or impairment of a child’s health and/or development, including that caused as a result of witnessing the ill-treatment of another person (eg Domestic Abuse).
All staff must be alert to any possible indicators that a child is suffering harm and report any concerns to the Safeguarding Officer or their deputy. All staff must recognise that it is a statutory duty to ensure that children are protected from harm.
We recognise that there are four definitions of child abuse.
The four categories of child abuse are as follows:
• Physical Abuse
• Sexual Abuse
• Emotional Abuse, and
• Neglect
Physical Abuse May include: hitting, kicking, shaking, throwing, biting, poisoning, burning, scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a child including the deliberate fabrication or causation of illness in a child.
May be recognised by: Physical injury such as bruising, bite marks, burns and scalds, fractures but also by aggressive behaviour. A child's play and role play may also indicate physical abuse. It may also be an indicator of concern where a parent gives an explanation inconsistent with the injury or gives several different explanations for the injury.
It is not appropriate for any member of staff to undress, photograph or body map any child in an attempt to see physical injury. This is the role of investigating agencies.
Sexual Abuse May Include: Involving or forcing or enticing a child to take part in sexual activities, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. Such activities may involve sexual acts (penetrative or non-penetrative) or may include involving children in watching or taking part in pornographic material or to encourage children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.
May be recognised by: Inappropriate sexualised conduct, age inappropriate sexualised play or conversation, sexually harmful behaviour – contact or non-contact, self-harm, eating disorders, anxiousness or unwillingness to remove clothes – sports / PE etc, pain or itching in genital area, blood on underclothes, bruising in genital region and / or inner thighs etc.
Emotional Abuse May Include: The persistent emotional ill-treatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development, mental health, behaviour and self- esteem. This may caused by conveying to children that they are worthless, unloved or unvalued or by developmentally inappropriate expectations being made or by causing children to frequently feel frightened or the exploitation or corruption of children.
May be recognised by: Developmental delay, attachment issues, aggressive behaviour, appeasing behaviour, watchfulness or stillness, low self esteem, withdrawn or a loner, or having difficulty in forming relationships. Emotional abuse may be difficult to recognise as signs are usually behavioural rather than physical. Signs of emotional abuse may be associated or similar to other forms of abuse so presence of emotional abuse may indicate other abuse is prevalent as well.
Neglect May include: The persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development (growth and intellect) such as failing to provide adequate food, shelter (including keeping children safe), clothing, or neglect of or unresponsiveness to a child’s basic emotional needs.
May be recognised by: Being constantly hungry; constantly tired; have a poor state of clothing; be emaciated; have untreated medical problems; be frequently late or have poor or non-attendance at school; have low self esteem; display neurotic behaviour and/or have poor social relationships, have poor personal hygiene. A neglected child may also be apathetic, fail to thrive, or be left with or in the care of adults under the influence of alcohol or drug misuse.
Safeguarding – Providing a Safe Environment
All parents and carers must feel secure in the knowledge that they are entrusting their children to adults who will strive to keep them safe at school. We will do this by:
• Promoting a caring, safe and positive environment within the school.
• Ensuring that our staff are appropriately trained in safeguarding and child protection according to their role and responsibilities and keep a record of all training undertaken.
- Ensuring that safeguarding is an essential requirement on all job specifications and interviews when recruiting.
- Ensuring that all adults who work in our school have a clear and up to date DBS Certificate, and that any adult who does not (e.g. parent helper, visitor) does not have unsupervised access to children.
• Encouraging the self-esteem and self-assertiveness of all pupils through the curriculum so that the children themselves become aware of danger and risk and what acceptable behaviour is and what is not. (PSHE/SEAL curriculum)
• Working in partnership with all other services and agencies involved in the safeguarding of children.
• Undertaking risk assessments when planning out of school activities or trips and sharing issues like ‘stranger danger‘ with children before trips take place.
- Ensuring that any community groups which use our premises for the provision of services to children have child protection knowledge and understanding evidenced by a policy or are prepared to adopt our policy.
Child Protection Procedures - Responding to concerns about individual children
All children must be able to place their trust and confidence in any adult working in the school. They must feel sure that they can speak about any worries or concerns they may have and that they will be listened to, taken seriously and responded to appropriately. All staff must therefore know what to do if a child chooses to talk to them about any matter, which raises child protection concerns.
Guidance on dealing with suspected abuse
A simple guide is provided as Appendix A and B. More detailed information is below.
All staff must refer concerns to the designated teacher as soon as possible. In the meantime, they should:
• listen to the pupil, keeping calm and offering reassurance
- observe bruises but should not ask a child to remove or adjust their clothing to observe them
- if a disclosure is made the child should lead the discussion. Do not press for details by asking questions
- Listen - do not investigate. Use questions such as “is there anything else you would
like to tell me?”
- Accept what the pupil says without challenge - reassure them that they are doing the right thing and that you recognise how hard it is for them
- Don’t lay blame or criticise either the child or the perpetrator
• Don’t promise confidentiality - explain that they have done the right thing and who
you will need to tell and why.
All staff must:
• Listen to what the child is saying without interruption and without asking leading questions.
• Respect the child’s right to privacy but not promise confidentiality
• Reassure the child that s/he has done the right thing in telling.
• Explain to the child that in order to keep him/her safe from harm the information that has been shared must be passed on.
• Report what has been disclosed to the Safeguarding Officer immediately. If they and their deputy are not in school it should be reported to DESC’s Safeguarding Officer or their Deputy. (this must never be left until the next day).
- Report unexplained injuries to a child to the Safeguarding Officer immediately. If they and their deputy are not in school it should be reported to DESC’s Safeguarding Officer or their Deputy. (this must never be left until the next day).
- IMPORTANT: It is not appropriate for any member of staff to undress, photograph or body map any child in an attempt to see physical injury. This is the role of child protection and investigating agencies.
• Record, as soon as is practicable, what was said using the child’s actual words, using a Logging a Concern Form - Paper copies in staff room
• Sign and date the record.
• Information should only be shared with those that need to know.
• when in doubt - ask for guidance/support.
The Designated Person/People for Child Protection will:
• Assess any urgent medical needs of the child.
• Consider whether the child has suffered, or is likely to suffer significant harm.
• Check whether the child is currently subject to a Child Protection Plan or has been previously subject to a Plan.
• Confirm whether any previous concerns have been raised by staff.
• Consider whether the matter should be discussed with the child’s parents or carers or whether to do so may put the child at further risk of harm because of delay or the parent’s possible actions or reactions.
• Seek advice if unsure that a child protection referral should be made.
The Safeguarding Officer may contact the DESC’s Child Protection and Safeguarding Officer, for additional support or guidance. They will then either make a referral to Children and Families Services or, if a referral is not considered appropriate at that stage, make full written records of the information that they have received detailing the reasons for the judgement that the matter was not referred to the local authority.
Pupil Information
We recognise the importance of keeping up-to-date and accurate information about pupils. We will annually ask all parents/carers to provide us with the following information and to notify us of any changes that occur.
• names and contact details of persons with whom the child normally lives
• names and contact details of all persons with parental responsibility
• emergency contact details
• details of any persons authorised to collect the child from school (if different from above)
• any relevant court orders in place including those which affect any person’s access to the child (e.g. Residence Order, Contact Order, Care Order, Injunctions etc.)
• name and contact detail of G.P.
- any other factors which may impact on the safety and welfare of the child.
Confidentiality Information about pupils given to us by the children themselves, their parents or carers, or by other agencies will remain confidential. Staff will be given relevant and appropriate information on a “need to know” basis in order to support the child if it is necessary and appropriate.
We are, however, under a duty to share any information, which is of a child protection nature. We understand that this is in the best interests of the child and overrides any other duties we have regarding confidentiality and information sharing.
We have a duty to keep any records which relate to child protection work undertaken by us or our partner agencies and to ensure that these are kept apart from the main pupil record, stored securely and only accessible to key members of staff. We also have a duty to send copies of these records to any school to which the pupil transfers.
Referrals to others If we have a reason to be concerned about the welfare of a child we will always seek to discuss this with the child’s parents or carers in the first instance. On occasion, according to the nature of our concern, it may be necessary for us to make an immediate referral to Children’s Social Care, when to do otherwise may put the child at risk of further harm either because of delay, or because of the actions of the parents or carers.
Allegations against staff
All school staff should take care not to place themselves in a vulnerable position with a child. It is always advisable that work with individual children or meetings with parents are conducted in view of other adults.
We understand that a pupil may make an allegation against a member of staff. If such an allegation is made, the member of staff receiving the allegation will immediately inform the Head teacher/Deputy Head teacher or the most senior teacher if they are not present.
If the allegation is determined to be a safeguarding issue, the Head teacher/Deputy Head teacher on all such occasions will discuss the content of the allegation with the Department of Education Sport and Culture’s Child Protection and Safeguarding Officer. Their advice will be followed.
We recognise that children cannot be expected to raise concerns in an environment where staff fails to do so. All staff will therefore be made aware of their duty to raise concerns about the attitude or actions of colleagues.
If an allegation is made to a member of staff concerning the behaviour of the Head teacher, the person receiving the allegation will immediately inform the schools Link Advisor.
Guidance for Safeguarding & Child Protection in Specific Circumstances
Photographs The school will annually ask permission from parents with regard to photographing children. The school will never publish a photograph of a child with their full name, although parents may choose to allow the press to do this.
Attendance We are aware that a pupil’s unexplained absence from school could mean that they are at risk from harm. (1) We will always report an unexplained absence of a child with a Child Protection Plan to the child’s social worker within one day. (2) We will always seek to clarify the reason for a child’s absence from school with the child’s parent or carer as soon as is practicable on the first day. (3) We will report a continued absence about which we have not been notified by the parent or carer to the Education Welfare Service. (4) We will always report to the Education Welfare Service the continued absence of a child known or thought to have been taken overseas if the child does not return to school on the expected return date.
Pupil Behaviour We will aim to maintain a safe and calm environment by expecting good behaviour from our pupils in line with our behaviour policy.
We are aware that any physical response from a member of staff to a pupil’s poor behaviour could lead to a child protection concern being raised by the child or parent/carer. (1) No member of staff will use force when dealing with a pupil’s breach of our behaviour policy unless the potential consequences of not physically intervening are sufficiently serious to justify such action. The acceptable method for Positive Handling is Team Teach. (2) We will always record any occasion when physical intervention has been necessary in the 'Bound and Numbered book' located in the School office. (3) We will always notify parents or carers of any such incident.
Bullying We understand that bullying is harmful to children. We have an anti-bullying policy that sets out our aim of ensuring no child becomes a victim of bullying and the work that we carry out in school aims to foster an environment where bullying behaviour is known to be unacceptable. We will always take seriously any reports of bullying and respond appropriately.
We understand that bullying may take different forms and may include racist or homophobic behaviour. Any such reported or observed incident will be dealt with in accordance with our anti- bullying policy.
E-Safety We recognise that children’s use of the Internet is an important part of their education but that there are risks of harm associated with its use. We have an e-safety policy and an Acceptable Use Policy that addresses how we minimise those risks in school and teach children how to stay safe when using the internet in their lives out of school; this is an important part of our ICT Curriculum.
We also recognise that all members of staff and volunteers must always be mindful of the need to follow our policy of acceptable use of our ICT equipment.
Trips Safeguarding is considered in all risk assessments when planning an off-site educational visit.
Equal Opportunities
This Safe guarding and Child Protection process is applicable to all pupils, staff and parents at Jurby Community School.
Monitoring
All staff will have input into the monitoring and review of this policy.
Review January 2021