Safeguarding

At St Mary’s C of E Primary School, the safety and welfare of every child is our highest priority. We are committed to providing a safe, secure and nurturing environment where all pupils feel valued, respected and able to thrive.

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Anyone who comes into contact with children and their families has a role to play in protecting children from harm and promoting their welfare.

We take all safeguarding and child protection concerns seriously. Our staff work proactively to identify concerns, respond appropriately and ensure that children receive the support and protection they need.

Our Commitment to Safeguarding

We recognise that parents and carers place great trust in us to keep their children safe throughout the school day. We work hard to ensure that this trust is upheld through clear procedures, effective staff training and a strong culture of safeguarding.

Our safeguarding arrangements include:

Following our Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy and relevant local safeguarding procedures.
Ensuring staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities and know how to report concerns.
Listening to children, taking their concerns seriously and promoting their right to feel safe.
Working in partnership with parents, carers and external agencies to support children and families.
Identifying concerns at the earliest opportunity and taking appropriate action.
Promoting a safe school environment where children are treated with dignity, kindness and respect.

We aim to build positive relationships with families and encourage parents and carers to share any concerns, however small they may seem. No concern should be left unreported.

Our Designated Safeguarding Team

Our safeguarding team is responsible for overseeing safeguarding arrangements, responding to concerns and ensuring that appropriate action is taken to protect pupils.

Theresa Walker – Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)
James Austin – Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL)
Claire Islam – Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL)
Robin Taverner – Safeguarding Governor

Reporting a Safeguarding Concern

If you are worried about the safety or welfare of your child, another pupil or any child connected with our school, please contact us.

Telephone: 01245 320505

Please contact the school office and ask to speak to Theresa Walker, our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), or a member of the safeguarding team.

You do not need to be certain that something is wrong before raising a concern. If something worries you, please tell us. We will listen carefully, treat concerns sensitively and take appropriate action in accordance with our safeguarding procedures.

If a child is in immediate danger, contact the emergency services on 999.

Working in Partnership with Families

We believe that children are best supported when school and home work together. We are committed to maintaining open communication with parents and carers and working collaboratively with relevant professionals and agencies whenever additional support is needed.

Our priority is always to protect children, promote their wellbeing and help every pupil feel safe, supported and ready to learn.

Safeguarding Policies and Further Information

For more information about our safeguarding arrangements, please refer to our Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy, available through the policy section on the school website or from the school office.

At St Mary’s C of E Primary School, safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do. Together, we can help ensure that every child is safe, supported and able to reach their full potential.

Request support for a child

For members of the public:

If a child or young person is in immediate danger, call 999.
If you're worried that a child is being abused or neglected, call the Children and Families Hub on 0345 603 7627. This phone line is open Monday to Thursday 9am to 5:30pm, and Fridays 9am to 4:30pm.
Out of hours or bank holidays, call the emergency duty team on 0345 606 1212.

For those working or volunteering with children and families please ensure you are requesting the correct level of support.

If you have an immediate safeguarding concern call 0345 603 7627 and ask for the priority line. This phone line is open Monday to Thursday 9am to 5:30pm, and Fridays 9am to 4:30pm.
Out of hours or bank holidays, call the emergency duty team on 0345 606 1212.
You can also report a level 3 or 4 concern using the online Request for Support form. You can find out how to make an effective request for support on the examples and guidance page.

The Children and Families Hub continue to offer a consultation line for professionals providing advice and guidance. This can be accessed by calling 0345 603 7627 and asking for the 'Consultation Line'. This phone line is open Monday to Thursday 9am to 5:30pm, and Fridays 9am to 4:30pm.

Early Help and Effective Support for Children and Families

Early help aims to give children, young people and families the right support at the right time, to reduce the need for higher level interventions. The Essex County Council website has resources to help you understand the level of need and templates to help you get started. Find out more.

How we record concerns

St Mary's C of E Primary School uses CPOMS software to monitor Safeguarding, Wellbeing & Pastoral Issues.

CPOMS (a ‘Child Protection Online Monitoring System’) is an application for monitoring child protection, safeguarding, and a range of other welfare issues. It supports us in our efforts to ensure that safeguarding is robust.

The CPOMS system allows the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and the Deputy DSLs quickly, easily and securely record in one place all of the safeguarding information that the school has on a child. The order in which reports are made about a student (the student’s ‘chronology’) is built automatically and so trends are much easier to spot than if the information had been recorded on several pieces of paper.

All adults in the school can access the system to make a referral, allowing the DSL/Deputy DSLs to focus on taking appropriate follow-up action thereafter. All referrals to external agencies such as Children’s Services, CAMHS, the police, etc. are tracked easily and the system alerts us if timescales are not being met.

The information on the system can be interrogated quickly and easily. This also allows for easy reporting to Governors.