We are committed to safeguarding all of the children, staff and visitors who attend our school, and follow a number of robust policies around child protection which can be found below.

Whilst all our staff take responsibility for ensuring the safety of our children, several senior members of our school leadership team are designated to take the lead with child protection issues, providing advice and support to other staff, liaising with the local authority, and working with other agencies. These are called DSLs (Designated Safeguarding Leads).

Who are the Safeguarding Leads?

Designated Safeguard Lead - Mrs C Vernon (Headteacher).

Deputy Safeguard Leads - Mrs G Hancock (Pastoral Manager),  Mrs J Boulton (Family Support Worker) Miss L Sharman (SENDCO) and Miss A Thompson (Lead Teacher, Designated Teacher for Looked After Children).

Our nominated Child Protection Governor is Marie Fidler.

The purpose of the Designated Safeguarding Lead is to:

• ensure that child protection and safeguarding policies and procedures are correctly in place, all laid out clearly, and are accessible to all staff and parents.
• ensure that that all staff, pupils, and parents are familiar with and understand all aspects of the school’s safeguarding provision.
• ensure that the school operates in line with, and the staff are up to date with, all safeguarding legislation and that information, support, and resources on the topic of child protection and safeguarding are readily accessible to all staff, parents and pupils.
• be a personal advisor to all staff, pupils and parents and to promote their role to ensure that everyone is aware of who they are and how to contact them.
• be the first point of contact for any staff, pupils, or parents who have concerns about a child’s welfare.
• notify children’s social care if a child with a child protection plan is absent for more than two days without explanation.
• coordinate the school’s contribution to child protection plans.
• attend and/or contribute to child protection conferences.
• refer concerns to the relevant external agencies as required by individual circumstances.
• be a link from the school to external agencies concerning safeguarding and child protection.
• use their specialist skills and training in child protection to support the identification of possible abuse and decide on actions that need to be taken.
• ensure that all staff are taking responsibility and following procedure for the safeguarding of the school’s pupils.
• help to ensure that allegations against staff, pupils, parents or carers are dealt with according to statutory requirements and guidance, and as set out in the child protection policy.
• complete annual DSL training.

Outcomes of this Role

• The DSL acts in accordance with the school policy and procedures.
• The child protection and safeguarding policy is easily accessible to all staff (including temporary), volunteers, parents, pupils and school governors and they are fully aware of how to access it and what it contains.
• Children are aware of the role of the DSL; and when and how to contact them.
• Parents are aware of the school’s process of investigation and its procedure for contacting child protection services when and if required. This is to avoid conflict or allegations of misinformation from parents if this action is taken for any reason.
• There is an open-door policy for staff, pupils, and parents which enables concerns to be raised quickly and confidentially.
• Staff are encouraged to talk to the DSL for any reason, and are given details of contacts to report concerns anonymously (e.g. NSPCC helpline).
• There is an organised training programme for other school staff, including updates on new legislation, safeguarding resources, and what to do if they have a concern.
• All information regarding individual pupils is transferred from feeder schools or to receiving schools during any school transfers. Meetings may be set up between the DSL’s from either school to discuss continued provision and child welfare support.
• When a pupil with a child protection plan leaves the school, their information is passed to their new school and the pupil’s social worker is informed.
• There are strong links, regular communication and good understanding between the DSL and external agencies.
• All concerns are recorded, reported and referred as required depending on the DSL’s judgement and in consultation with the LADO.
• There are detailed and accurate records of complaints, concerns, issues, investigations, and outcomes, kept securely using My Concern.
• All personal information is shared only on a need-to-know basis and is handled and stored according to Data Protection requirements.
• The DSL“s have regular meetings in order to monitor and evaluate school safeguarding provision and discuss particular concerns or issues.
• There are open channels of communication between all parties involved in an investigation of an allegation. Parents, social workers are informed in advance of meetings, parents evenings, progress report meetings and action planning meetings; everyone is kept up to date and able to prepare for and attend necessary meetings.

Useful numbers:

• Starting Point and Call Derbyshire- Tel 01629 533190 24/7 365 days a year. This service is for concerns that a child is suffering or at risk of significant harm

• Derbyshire Domestic Abuse Helpline- Tel 08000 198668. Free support, 7 days a week, for parents and carers of children who live in Derby and Derbyshire.

• NSPCC- Tel 0808 800 5000- Support for any concerns related to the safety of a child, including online safety.

Early Help

As a school, we are here to support all of our children and their families. To lead on this, we have a Family Support Worker (Mrs J Boulton) who works with our wider pastoral team to provide help and signpost services to our families and wider community. Our Early Help offer is shared in the document below. If you feel like you would benefit from an Early Help Assessment, please contact Mrs Boulton via the school number, or make an appointment with the office.