Coteford Infant School

                                                                                    Safeguarding at Coteford Infant School

Article 19: “all children have the right to be protected from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and mistreatment by their parent or anyone else who looks after them” UNICEF – Children’s Rights

Coteford Infant School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all of our children; this is our moral and statutory responsibility. Safeguarding in school is everyone’s responsibility and as such all staff and volunteers must share this commitment. We regard safeguarding as one of our most important priorities and as such safeguarding is a thread that is woven into all that we do, from recruiting staff, keeping the premises safe, translating the umbrella of safeguarding policies into effective practices to ensuring that safeguarding is embedded in the curriculum. We are fully committed to ensuring that consistent, effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support families, children and staff at school.

All concerns are passed through the members of staff who are trained as "Designated Safeguarding Lead” in school in compliance with the guidance.

Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies when there are concerns about a child’s welfare. We will ensure that our concerns about our pupils are discussed with his/her parents/carers first unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child’s welfare, in line with statutory guidance.

Keeping children safe is imperative and all of our staff are trained in child protection procedures.

The following teachers take a lead role in safeguarding:

Mrs L Crook – Headteacher: Designated Safeguarding Lead

Mrs R. Segrave – Deputy Headteacher;  Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

Mrs A. Williams - Assistant Headteacher / SENDCO; Designated Safeguarding Lead for Children Looked After and Children Previously Looked After

Ms C. Higgins - HLTA; Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

The governors that support the safeguarding and inclusion of children at Coteford Infant School are:

Heather Lace : Safeguarding Governor, Governor for SEND and Inclusion, Pupil Premium, Children Looked After

Mary Castro: Deputy Safeguarding Governor, Deputy Governor for SEND and Inclusion, Pupil Premium and Children Looked After

Reporting a concern about a child

At Coteford Infant School we have a Safeguarding Team (above). However, anyone can report a concern at anytime to the Hillingdon Multi Agency Support Hub (MASH) or Hillingdon Stronger Families Team:

01895 556006 email  strongerfamilieshub@hillingdon.gov.uk

MASH out of hours emergency number: 01895 250111

PREVENT

Our duty under PREVENT refers to extremism and radicalisation and all staff receive training in this area to ensure that they can recognise signs and understand their duty to report. It is vital that staff and parents are aware of the possible danger of children being exposed to radicalisation and extremism.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/439598/prevent-duty-departmental-advice-v6.pdf

Operation Encompass

At Coteford Infant School we have been given the opportunity to participate in a project called Operation Encompass that runs jointly between schools and the Metropolitan Police. This means that the school will be securely notified at the start of the school day if the police have attending a domestic abuse incident that a child has been involved in or exposed to. The Designated Safeguarding Lead will be informed of any incidents and will use the information to secure and promote the well-being of the child. The system enables us to offer support for children experiencing domestic abuse and is designed to ensure a secure and sympathetic environment is provided to help reduce the broader effects of domestic abuse. For more information about Operation Encompass click here.

Safeguarding in the curriculum

We ensure the broad and balanced curriculum we deliver supports children in their understanding of safeguarding. We ensure that opportunities to teach children about safety, including internet safety, are delivered through teaching and learning. The curriculum offer at the school ensures there are opportunities provided for children to learn about; recognising and managing risk, acceptable / unacceptable contact, recognising and resisting pressure, seeking help and support and also the difference between right and wrong decisions and actions. We use the NSPCC PANTS resources to teach children that "privates are private" and how to say "No!". For additional information about Online Safety please click here. 

Useful Contacts and links

NSPCC  https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/reporting-abuse/nspcc-helpline/

NSPCC PANTS Rule https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/pants-underwear-rule/

Barnardos https://www.barnardos.org.uk/what-we-do

Hillingdon IDVA Sevice XH-HIDVAS@met.police.uk   0208 246 1745

Childline https://www.childline.org.uk/  0800 1111

ThinkUknow  https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/4_7/

Hestia Crisis Support  https://www.hestia.org/    020 7378 3100  info@hestia.org.  or for secure emails:  info@hestia.org.cjsm.net

Freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge on 0808 2000 247. If you are in immediate danger, please call the police on 999.

Operation Encompass https://www.operationencompass.org/

Axis has a wide range of resources which can be shared to support intervention and engagement with young people at risk of Child Criminal Exploitation. For further enquires please e-mail: axis@hillingdon.gov.uk; telephone: 01895 277177

Government Guidance: Keeping Children Safe in Education 

About-the-Stronger-Families-Hub-and-making-referrals-Information-for-professionals

Please see our policies and information below: