Safeguarding

Fourfields Community Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all members of the school community to share this commitment. To this end we will endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued.

The safety and well being of all children and young people is of paramount importance. We recognise that parents and carers send their children to school each day with the expectation that the school provides a safe and secure environment in which their children can flourish. We therefore have a wide range of measures in place to ensure this is put into practice and is maintained.

Child Protection at Fourfields

The school staff are trained to be alert to signs of abuse and neglect and will follow the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) procedures to ensure that children receive appropriate and effective support and protection.

Parents and carers should know that the law requires all school staff to pass on information which gives rise to concern about a child's welfare, including risk from neglect. The staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with the parent/carer and, where possible, inform them of the referral to Social Care. This will only occur where such discussion will not place the child at increased risk of significant harm.

In accordance with 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 are safe and receive the right support.

School will seek advice from 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 responsible for Child Protection (known as the Designated Lead or Officer) is charged with carrying out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acting in the best interest of the child.

Policies

We have a number of policies in place which support our ethos for ensuring our children are safe, secure and in an environment where they can learn, thrive and Shine. These are available from our Policies section and include:

Anti-Bullying Policy

Attendance Policy

Behaviour Policy

Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy

Child Not Collected Protocol

Confidentiality Policy

Code of Conduct

Data Protection Policy

First Aid and Medical Conditions Policies

Health and Safety Policy

ICT Acceptable Use Policy

Intimate Care Policy

Looked After Child Policy

Prevent Policy

Safer Recruitment Policy

Site Security Policy

Induction and Training

All our staff and volunteers have an induction schedule which includes safeguarding training and every member of staff has formal training every two years.  This knowledge is maintained throughout the school year with bite size reminders and updates on current practices and law.

Robust Recruitment Procedures

As a school we take time to assess all applications and include clear expectations around safeguarding and suitability to work with children.  We apply these protocols and expectations to regular volunteers too. Candidates can be expected to answer questions around safeguarding in their recruitment selection day.

PSHE Curriculum and E Safety Curriculum

Through our Personal Social and Health Education curriculum children will learn how to keep themselves safe (age appropriate). Similarly, with IT taking a leading part in our children's every day lives we teach them how to be safe on line and offer workshops for parents too.

Nominated Officers

We have three members of staff who undertake the Designated Child Protection Officer role (Designated Lead).  These are Mrs Blyth (Headteacher), Mrs Hewerdine (Assistant Headteacher) and Mrs Park (FS Leader). Our governors leading safeguarding are Mrs Evans and Mr Knight.

Site Security

We have stringent management and maintenance of our site to ensure it is safe and secure which includes management of visitors to our site.  All visitors must sign in and where a visitor badge and are escorted unless they have met our vetting requirements to work in school unsupervised. We have a silver award for our travel plan management which includes management of road safety around our school.

First Aid at Fourfields

Every class has access to a Teaching Assistant who is trained to administer first aid and we have an electronic system to advise parents of any treatment undertaken in school. We also have additional first aiders around the school to support the teaching assistants and to manage medicine administration.

Safeguarding Resources

What YOU can do to tackle Child Abuse

How to report suspected Child Abuse or share concerns

Cambs County Council - call 034 5045 5203 (Mon - Fri 8am - 6pm) or 017 3323 4724 at any other time

Speak Out Stay Safe NSPCC programme

E Safety Resources

Keeping Children Safe in Education

How to talk to young children about terror attacks

Facebook Requests - Letter to Parents - March 2018