At Harleston Sancroft Academy we are committed to keeping children safe. Part of the strategy to enable us to do this is to have robust safeguarding procedures.
All staff receive annual safeguarding training and updates throughout the course of the year. We also have staff with specific safeguarding responsibilities – they are our Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs).
For the 2024-2025 academic year our DSLs are:
- Mrs Price – Head of School (Lead DSL)
- Mrs Botwright – Assistant Headteacher/SENCo
- Mrs Street – Assistant Headteacher
- Mr Mullen – Pastoral Lead
- Mrs Kinsella – SEND Teacher
If you do have a concern about the safety or wellbeing of a child then please speak to a member of our safeguarding team, or any member of staff. You can contact the school on 01379 853211. Alternatively, you can email the office at primary@sancroft.stbenets.org, with the title ‘Safeguarding’ and this will be passed on as a matter of urgency. If you feel that a child is at an immediate risk of harm then please dial 999.
Our Safeguarding governor is Suzy Forth. Suzy can be contacted at gov-sforth@sancroft.stbenets.org. Our Chair of governors is Chris Hutton and can be contacted at primary@sancroft.stbenets.org. The St. Benet’s Academy Trust safeguarding lead is Louise Veeren . She can be contacted on 01603 550150.
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.
We are committed to providing a safe and secure environment for children, staff and visitors and promoting a climate where children and adults feel confident about sharing any concerns which they may have about their own safety or the wellbeing of others.
We endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued.
Keeping Children Safe in School
Keeping Records
In line with good practice records are kept of:
- Discussions/observations with a child
- Discussions/observations with a parent
- Discussions/observations made by school staff
- Decisions and actions taken
Making Referrals
Anyone who has concerns about a child’s welfare can make a referral to a local authority children’s social care service. Referrals can come from the child themselves, professionals such as teachers, the police, GPs and health visitors as well as family members and members of the public. The Norfolk Children’s Advice and Duty Service (CADS) can be contacted on 0344 800 8020.
Curriculum
Through all areas of the curriculum we encourage children to think about how to stay safe: At home, crossing the road, out on their own, on the internet, healthy relationships. Regular PHSE and RSHE sessions (Life Skills) or Computing topics can provide especially good opportunities for children to discuss these issues.
The Role of the Governing Body
The Governing Body has a duty to ensure that the school meets its statutory responsibilities and ensure the the children and young people attending school are safe.
Attendance
In addition to the statutory responsibility to record the attendance of children it is important that the school follows up the processes for absence. An important risk factor in abuse and neglect is poor school attendance and tackling that is a key aspect of managing children’s safety.
Safer Recruitment
A key aspect of safeguarding is the vetting of applicants and prospective volunteers working with children to make sure they are suitable.
Our obligations and duties to protect your children
Under the Education Act 2002 (section 175/157), schools must “make arrangements 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 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. The school should make parents/carers aware that records of welfare 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. However, in situations where the child is suspected to be at risk of harm, the law says that schools may take advice from other agencies without informing parents/carers.
In accordance with 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.
Schools will seek advice from the local authority 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 (the DSL) 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, schools or 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 or promoting the child’s welfare”.
Operation Encompass
Supporting children through key adults
Harleston Sancroft Academy takes safeguarding very seriously and are keen to do everything we can to support our pupils. We are part of a jointly run operation between Norfolk County Council, Norfolk Police and our school, called Operation Encompass.
Operation Encompass has been set up to help schools to provide support to children who have been present at incidents of domestic violence. We know that children can be significantly physically or emotionally harmed when they are involved in, present or witness to domestic violence.
The school will receive a confidential phone call from the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub before 9am on the morning after any domestic incident where a child at their school has been involved in, present or witness to domestic violence.
The school have designated Mrs Price, Mrs Botwright, Mrs Street, Mr Mullen and Mrs Kinsella as Key Adults. They have received training from Norfolk County Council to allow them to use the information that has been shared, in confidence to make sure that the right support is available for children and their families, who have been involved in or witnessed a domestic violence incident.
We are keen to offer the best support possible to our pupils and we believe this is extremely beneficial for all those involved.
To view our Safeguarding Policies, please see below:
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Safeguarding Policy – 2024/2025
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