St Catherine Of Siena Catholic Primary School

Safeguarding

Keeping Safe

We are committed to making sure that our school is a safe and happy place to be. Ofsted commented on our well-established and systematic approach to ensuring that everything ensures the children's safety.  Pupils are regularly reminded how to keep themselves safe, this maybe during lessons, assembly time or through visitors to school. Everybody in school take health and safety very seriously. If you see anything that could be improved, please mention it to a member of staff. All children in school are regularly reminded about who they can talk to if they feel worried, sad or upset. This includes the four members of staff who are responsible for safeguarding children.

Our Safeguarding Team

Our Chair of Governors is Mrs M. Todd and Miss J Alcock leads on safeguarding for our Governing Body

Safeguarding Booklet

You can find out more about our school's safeguarding and child protection arrangements in the policies below:

Safeguarding Child Protection Policy

What to do if you have a concern about a child

If you have any safeguarding concerns or are worried about the safety and welfare of a child please speak to one of our Safeguarding Leads without delay.

Parents and other members of the school community can also contact the - The Children's Advice and Support Service (CASS).

CASS provides a single point of contact for members of the public and for professionals who want to raise concerns about a child. They will listen, assess your concerns, and can take action if a child is at risk.             

If you're not sure whether a child is at risk you can discuss the circumstances with them or with someone else who works with children. All professionals who work with children have a responsibility to safeguard them and will know how to help. Telephone: 0121 303 1888

More information about safeguarding children in Birmingham can be found on the following website:

https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/20019/children_young_people_and_families

Please read our Safeguarding Policy to find out more about how we keep children safe.

PREVENT

St Catherine of Siena Catholic Primary School is fully committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all pupils. As a school we recognise that safeguarding against radicalisation and terrorism is no different from safeguarding against any other vulnerability.

The aim of PREVENT is to safeguard and support young people and adults who may be vulnerable to radicalisation, to stop them from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.

For more information on the Birmingham PREVENT Duty please click here: https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/downloads/download/773/the_prevent_duty

E-Safety

E-Safety is an important part of keeping children safe at St Catherine of Siena Catholic Primary School. We have extensive security measures in place in school, which are monitored both internally and externally, to help safeguard pupils from potential dangers or unsuitable material. Any E-Safety incidents are recorded and managed in accordance with our E-Safety policy. E-Safety is taught to all pupils explaining and demonstrating how to stay safe and behave appropriately online.

We can only be successful in keeping children safe online if we work with parents to ensure the E-Safety message is consistent. It is important that parents speak to their children about how they can keep safe and behave appropriately online.

Tips for safe use of the computer at home:

1. Make sure you know which internet sites your child is using.
2. Children in primary school should not have a computer in their bedroom.
3. If your child uses social networking sites e.g. MSN Messenger, make sure you know who they are in contact with.
4. Please remember Facebook states; 'If you are under 13 - you are not allowed to use the site'. 

Social Media Usage

Every day it seems like a new form of social media is launched, each time bringing with it as much potential for misuse as for positive use.  It is very difficult to know the differences and risks between them, and this can make it harder to keep our young people safe!  We are often asked by parents, 'What is the best way to stay up to speed with the social media landscape?' and the answer has not been a simple one in the past.  Thankfully there is now a website which goes a long way to making it easy for parents to stay on top of the newest apps and sites: www.net-aware.org.uk

You can search on individual apps and it gives a very clear, straightforward summary of what it does and doesn't do.  It covers everything from how easy it is for youngsters to sign up, to the content normally on the app and, importantly, how easy it is to set privacy settings.

Safeguarding and our Curriculum

Safety and safeguarding are embedded in the St Catherine of Siena Catholic Primary School curriculum (see below). School also has strong links with a range of local and national Safeguarding partners, including our Local Policing Team, NSPCC and School Nurse.

PSHE PAGE

Operation Encompass

Our school is part of Operation Encompass. This is a police and education early intervention safeguarding partnership which supports children and young people who experience Domestic Abuse.

Operation Encompass means that the Education Safeguarding Service will share information about Domestic Abuse incidents with our school PRIOR to the start of the next school day when the police have been called to a domestic incident.

Once a DSL has attended at an Operation Encompass briefing, they will cascade the principles of Operation Encompass to all DSLs.

The Operation Encompass information is stored in line with all other confidential safeguarding and child protection information.

We have also discussed how we can support our children following the Operation Encompass notification.

We are aware that we must do nothing that puts the child/ren or the non-abusing adult at risk.

Operation Encompass Letter to Parents