Welcome to
Safeguarding and Child Protection Page
On this page you will find information about safeguarding and child protection with links to specific documents that support this most important aspect of child safety and development.
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families and carers has a role to play. In order to fulfil this responsibility effectively, all professionals should make sure their approach is child-centred. This means that they should consider, at all times, what is in the best interests of the child.
Safeguarding includes the establishment and implementation of procedures to protect children from deliberate harm, however, safeguarding also encompasses all aspects of pupils' health, and safety and well-being.
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as:
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Protecting children from maltreatment;
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Preventing impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development;
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Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and
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Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.
(Children includes everyone under the age of 18)
Our commitment
St James the Less RC Primary School is committed to ensuring the welfare and safety of all children in our school. We will protect and support our vulnerable children, children who need support through early help, children in need and children who have a child protection plan. The school will, normally, endeavour to discuss all concerns with parents or carers about their child or children. However, there may be exceptional circumstances when the school will discuss concerns with Social Care and/or the Police without parental knowledge (in accordance with Child Protection procedures and in line with Part 2 of KCSIE). The school will, of course, always aim to maintain a positive relationship with all parents. The full child protection policy is available on our school website with some other supporting documents.
Please use the links on this page for supporting documentation for a range of child protection issues. As with all of our published information, please get in touch if you have any queries or concerns. This is doubly important if you have concerns that may be related to child protection and safeguarding. We would rather you were over cautious and contacted us rather than worry or fail to pass on information.
Keeping Children Safe in Education (2023)
The Department for Education (DfE) publishes a document called Keeping Children Safe in Education and has published an updated version of this statutory safeguarding and child protection guidance for schools in England. The guidance sets out what schools and colleges in England must do to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people under the age of 18. As part of our staff training procedures we ensure that our staff have received the most recent guidance and notify them of any changes to previous guidance.
The full guidance is provided in the following link:
Operation Encompass
The purpose of Operation Encompass is to safeguard and support children and young people who have been involved in or witness to a domestic abuse incident. Domestic abuse impacts on children a numbers of ways. Children are at increased risk of physical injury during an incident, either by accident or because they attempt to intervene. Even when not directly injured, children are greatly distressed by witnessing the physical and emotional suffering of a parent.
Encompass has been created to address this situation. It is the implementation of key partnership working between the police and schools. The aim of sharing information with local schools is to allow ‘Key Adults’ the opportunity of engaging with the child and to provide access to support that allows them to remain in a safe but secure familiar environment.
Following the report of an incident of domestic abuse, our school will inform a key adult that the child or young person has been involved in a domestic incident. This knowledge, given to schools through Operation Encompass, allows the provision of immediate early intervention through silent or overt support dependent upon the needs and wishes of the child.
The purpose and procedures in Operation Encompass have been shared with all parents and Governors, is detailed as part of the school’s Safeguarding Policy and published on our school website.
St James the Less RC Primary School Operation Encompass leaders are our designated safeguarding leaders. Refer to contact information
Child Protection Policy
Click link below for our Child Protection Policy which is adjusted to reflect the changes to Keeping Children Safe in Education 2023