Safeguarding & Well-Being
Safeguarding, Well-Being & Child Protection
Our Commitment
At Milton Road Primary School, we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and we expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
We are committed to inspiring, challenging and safeguarding our pupils, enabling them to become:
Successful learners, who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve.
Confident individuals who are able to live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives.
Responsible citizens who will make a positive contribution to the school community, in their role as pupils, and to society as a whole in their adult life.
Safeguarding & Child Protection Team
We have a dedicated safeguarding team who lead on this important issue of welfare and safeguarding, here at Milton Road Primary School.
Our Designated Safeguarding Leads and Deputies are:
Deputy Headteacher - Mrs Nina Burton (Lead)
Inclusion Manager & Assistant Headteacher - Mrs Alison Hall (Deputy Designated Lead)
Headteacher - Mrs Rae Snape (Deputy Designated Lead)
HLTA and Emotional support lead - Mrs Fiona Brown-Roche
All of our safeguarding team undertake regular safeguarding and child protection training. They work closely with other universal agencies as necessary.
The Governor with responsibility for safeguarding in our school is: Laura Monk
Follow this link for more information on how to report a safeguarding concern to the Local Authority Safeguarding Team.
We have key policies and procedures in place that contribute to our safeguarding commitment, including our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy and Keeping Children Safe in Education September 2023 documents which can be accessed below.
Safeguarding Statement
Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies, when there are concerns about a child's welfare. We will ensure that our concerns about children are discussed with parents/carers first, unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child's welfare.
Under section 175 of the Education Act 2002 (as amended), *the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014, the Non-Maintained Special Schools (England) Regulations 2015, and the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 (as amended) to have arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
We will endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued.
The school will therefore be alert to signs of abuse and neglect and will follow the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Safeguarding Children Partnership Board’s procedures to ensure that children receive appropriate and effective support and protection.
Parents/carers should know that the law requires all school staff to pass on information which gives rise to a concern about a child’s welfare, including risk from neglect, physical, emotional or sexual abuse. Parents/carers should know that records of safeguarding concerns may be kept about their child. They should be informed that school staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with them including referrals to other agencies.
Local procedures state that “Consent should always be sought from an adult with parental responsibility for the child/young person before passing information about them to Children’s Social Care, unless seeking consent would place the child at risk of significant harm or may lead to the loss of evidence for example destroying evidence of a crime or influencing a child about a disclosure made.” This includes allowing them to share information without consent, if it is not possible to gain consent, if it cannot be reasonably expected that a professional gains consent, or if to gain consent would place a child at risk.
Where there is a need to share special category personal data, the Data Protection Act 2018 contains ‘safeguarding of children and individuals at risk’ as a processing condition that allows professionals to share information.
In accordance with legislation and local Information Sharing protocols, we will ensure that information is shared securely and sensitively. Information will only be shared with other services where it is deemed necessary and proportionate to ensure that children and young people are safe and receive the right service. In all circumstances, the safety of the child will be the paramount concern.
Schools will contact Children’s Social Care when they have reasonable cause to suspect a child may be suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. Occasionally, concerns are passed on which are later shown to be unfounded. Parents/carers will appreciate that the member of staff in the school with responsibility for child protection (known as the Designated Safeguarding Lead or Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead) was carrying out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acting in the best interests of all children.
Under Section 3 (5) of the Children Act 1989, any person who has care of a child “may….do what is reasonable in all the circumstances of the case for the purpose of safeguarding promoting the child’s welfare”. This means that on rare occasions, a school may need to “hold” a child in school whilst Social Care and the Police investigate any concerns further.
Our Whole School Protective Ethos
There are many aspects of safeguarding which collectively contribute to our whole school protective ethos. This can be seen in the diagram below. The safety and well-being of our pupils is paramount. Our staff are trained to ensure that safeguarding and child protection is at the heart of what we do and we take our Duty of Care very seriously. Whole staff training takes place at the start of every year, to include statutory updates on Keeping Children Safe in Education. Training continues throughout the year including weekly safeguarding updates. All staff are aware of their responsibility to report and record any concerns, and we have a centralised system (CPOMS) to ensure that any concerns are followed up efficiently and effectively in line with our Safeguarding Policy.
Prevent
At Milton Road Primary School, we actively support the Government's Prevent Agenda to counter radicalism and extremism. Further information can be found in The Prevent Duty document and the Revised Prevent Duty Guidance.
Conduct & Culture
At Milton Road Primary School, we strongly believe that our school should be a welcoming and safe place for our children, staff, parents and visitors alike and we expect all others in the school community to share this belief. Just as we have a legal responsibility for the safeguarding and well-being of children and staff, we also have a duty of care to all users of our school.
All adults who enter our school site, at any time, set examples of behaviour and conduct which influence children and, therefore, in keeping with our core school values, we expect that they should demonstrate high standards of conduct in order to encourage our pupils to do the same.
It is expected that parents and carers show respect to all other parents and carers, children and staff. Adults who do not behave in an acceptable manner may be asked to leave the site and the Headteacher has the right to further restrict their access.
Behaviour which is regarded as unacceptable includes:
Physical abuse, threatening, oppressive or aggressive behaviour or use of offensive language towards other adults, staff or children
Entering the school site under the influence of alcohol or drugs
Smoking anywhere on the school site.
In addition, we expect all communication between parents and school to be conducted in a polite and respectful manner. Communication may be similarly restricted if it becomes unacceptable.
School-related issues which parents or carers have concerning school, pupils or their families must be brought to the attention of a member of staff. Parents or carers must not try to resolve any issues themselves by direct action on site. If issues cannot be successfully resolved by speaking to a staff member, parents’ and carers’ correct course of action is to use our Complaints Procedure as appropriate.
Concerns
If you have any concerns for the safety of any of the children at school please contact the Headteacher, or any member of our dedicated safeguarding team.
Safeguarding Support, Advice and Contacts for Families 24/7
SAFEGUARDING POLICIES