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Safeguarding

As a School, We Are Strongly Committed to Safeguarding

At North Town Primary School and Nursery we believe that a child or young person should never experience abuse of any kind. We all have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people under the age of 18 years and keep them safe.

Safeguarding procedures at North Town are underpinned by the following key principles;

  • Establish and maintain a safe and secure environment where staff and volunteers feel safe, are encouraged to talk and are listened to when they have concerns about the safety and well-being of a child or young person.
  • Ensure pupils know that there are adults in the setting whom they can approach if they are worried.
  • Ensure that pupils, who have additional/unmet needs, are supported appropriately. This could include referral to Early Help services or specialist services if they are a child in need or have been/are at risk of being abused and neglected.
  • Protect young people in our care from maltreatment and impairment.
  • Consider how students may be taught about safeguarding, including online safety, through teaching and learning opportunities, as part of providing a broad and balanced curriculum.

Please click link below for a copy of our Richard Huish Trust Safeguarding Policy:

RHT Safegurading and Child Protection Policy

Reporting Concerns

The school and Nursery Designated Safeguarding Leads will deal with any safeguarding concerns you may have as a matter of the highest priority.

Safeguarding Leads;

  • Mark Braund- Designated Safeguarding Lead
  • Kirstie Porter-Designated Safeguarding Lead
  • Heidi Screech-Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
  • Rebecca Hawley-Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
  • Gillian Ford – Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

The Nominated Link Safeguarding Governor is Matt Nolan.

If you have any concerns that a child is in danger, you should report it to the Social Care Emergency Duty team Tel: 0300 122 224 or the Police.

Safeguarding children – Information for Parents

At North Town we believe that it is of the utmost importance to have robust systems for protecting children and safeguarding their welfare, throughout all the activities which the school undertakes. All our pupils have a right to be safe and to be treated with respect and dignity and we work effectively with outside agencies to ensure that this is the case.

Safeguarding in school is a very wide area which covers all aspects of keeping children safe at all times. It includes the physical environment of the school buildings and land, a wide range of practices and procedures, and close liaison with a range of other agencies.

As part of our Safeguarding role, we teach all children how to keep themselves and others safe (at an age-appropriate level). Our PSHE curriculum includes work on Domestic Violence, Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Bullying, Personal Safety, Inappropriate touching, Secrets, Relationships, Cyber Bullying, Internet security etc. Children are also given clear information about how to report things they feel uncomfortable about.

We are committed to monitoring and listening to all our pupils to identify possible problems. Where there are serious concerns about a child’s safety, we will share our concerns with the relevant authorities.

We work closely with other agencies such as the Police, Social Care and the Health Service to ensure that children in danger are identified and kept safe.

From time to time, families may find themselves in difficulties which could prove detrimental to their children. We will also work closely with those families so that they are supported to ensure their children’s safety and well-being and signpost them to other agencies who may be able to offer help and support.

EARLY HELP

We seek to support families under our Early Help umbrella, referring and signposting families to support and completing applications (EARLY HELP ASSESSMENT FORM) in this respect within the local authority. We action support at the earliest opportunity through a variety of avenues to be able to fully support our children and families.

What is Early Help?

Early Help means providing help for children, young people and families as soon as problems start to emerge or where it is likely that issues will impact negatively on children’s outcomes.

Early help…

  • Is for children of all ages and not just the very young,
  • Can be provided at any point of need and;
  • Can be very effective in supporting a child, young person and/or their family to step down from statutory services as well as preventing the escalation of issues.
  • Is important because there is clear evidence that it results in better outcomes for children.

Early help is a term that describes much of the everyday work of schools.

THE ROLE OF SCHOOL

Day to Day Support

Most families, most of the time, can get on with their lives quite happily with little or no outside help. If they need help it is usually provided by universal services, such as schools, doctors, dentists etc. This can include the day-to-day support provided to pupils and their families by staff within school.

Focused Pastoral Support

All families can have times, however, when difficulties arise and they either may not recognise it or may not know how to start putting things right. Without the right support early on, situations can easily get worse very quickly. School plays an important role in supporting families to address these difficulties through more focused pastoral support, which might include bringing in support via an external agency.  At North Town our pastoral support is led by Mrs Screech.  Mrs Duley also supports families through her work as Parent Family Support Advisor.

Early Help Assessment

For those children and families whose needs and circumstances make them more vulnerable, or where school needs the support of other agencies to meet the needs of the family, a coordinated multi-agency approach is usually best. In Somerset, this is achieved through undertaking an Early Help Assessment assigning a Lead Practitioner to work closely with the family to ensure they receive the support they require.  School will be a key partner in any multi-agency work to support families.

Elaine Duley

Parent Family Support Advisor

We are very lucky to benefit from working alongside our Parent and Family Support Advisor (PFSA), Elaine Duley, who plays a key role in the school and in providing an effective early help service.

Elaine works in partnership with families and the school in order to ensure children are supported in reaching their full potential and are able to gain maximum benefits from education.  She offers advice and support covering a wide range of areas and can also put you in touch with other services too.

At North Town Primary School, additional PFSA hours are provided in order to further extend the valuable provision available to our families.

For more information on the services Elaine can provide and her contact details please see the flyer below.

PSFA Leaflet