Safeguarding
Travis St Lawrence CE Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
We believe in supporting all aspects of children’s development and learning and keeping them safe.
All staff work to ensure that:
- Children feel listened to, valued, respected and safe
- Staff are aware of indicators of abuse and know how to share their concerns appropriately
- All staff paid and unpaid are subject to rigorous recruitment checks
- All staff paid and unpaid are given appropriate support and training
PRINCIPLES INTO PRACTICE:
In order to ensure children are effectively protected we ensure that:
- We have a Designated Safeguarding Lead and three Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads who attend multi-agency training at least once every two years and termly update meetings.
- All staff are trained in basic child protection awareness at least every two years.
- There is a weekly care slot in staff briefings at all levels to discuss safeguarding matters.
- All staff have read and understand the safeguarding policy and are aware of the indicators of child abuse and how to respond to concerns or disclosures of abuse or neglect by children.
- A family friendly child protection leaflet is provided for all children and their families.
- The safeguarding policy is accessible on the school website (below).
- The safeguarding policy is reviewed by the governing body annually.
- The governor lead for Safeguarding is Lee Pitcher (Chair). He reviews all aspects pertaining to safeguarding policy and practice in schools and reports regularly on his findings to the full governing body.
Child Protection and Safeguarding Advice for Parents and Visitors
We all have a statutory duty to ‘safeguard and promote the welfare of children.’
If you have any concerns about the health and safety of a child at this school or feel that something may be troubling them, you should share this information with the Child Safeguarding Designated Lead Carolyn Buckley or the Deputy Safeguarding Designated Leads; Alison Hornshaw, Danielle Jenkinson, Laura Wilcock, as soon as possible.
Please do not worry that you are reporting small matters – we would rather that you tell us things which turn out to be nothing than miss a worrying situation.
Some issues e.g. a child’s appearance, hygiene, general behaviour, can be shared with any teacher or member of support staff in school.
However, if you think the matter is serious and may be related to a child protection concern, e.g. physical, sexual, emotional abuse or neglect, you must speak to the Designated Safeguarding Lead.
If you are unable to contact them, you can ask the school office staff to find them and ask them to speak to you straight away about an urgent matter. If they are on the other site, inform the office that you need to speak with them on an urgent and confidential matter and a call will be put through to request their presence immediately.
In the very unlikely event that none of the named people above are available or your concern is a result of something you have witnessed or heard outside of school hours, contact Doncaster Children's Trust Safeguarding Team via their website:
Our School's Early Help Offer:
As a school, we are committed to the safeguarding of all of our pupils and families and as such we will always support with any referrals made. This may take the form of completing Early Help referrals on behalf of a family or supporting a family to complete the referral themselves.
What is Early Help?
Early Help is a way of getting extra help and support when your family needs it, but getting it as soon as difficulties start, rather than waiting until things get worse. It’s for children and young people of any age and their family. Help can come from all kinds of services and organisations who work together to support your family. You might be using some of these services already, but we want to make sure they are providing the right support for you and your family’s needs.
We have a named Early Help lead: Alison Hornshaw. If you would like an informal chat to find out more, please contact the school office to make an appointment.
For more information on how Early help works and how it can support your family, see the Doncaster offer here.
There are also many agencies that we work closely with in order to gain the best support for our pupils and families:
- Early Help Co-ordinators Parenting and Family Support Service
- Parenting and Family Support Service (PAFSS)
- School Nursing Team
- Behaviour Outreach Support Service (BOSS)
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAHMS)
- Health Visitors
- Health Professionals
- Families
- Other educational Settings - feeder schools and nurseries