Safeguarding
Hill Top C of E 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 wellbeing 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 Hill Top C of E Primary School
Our school staff are trained to be alert to signs of abuse and neglect and will follow the Bradford Safeguarding Children’s Partnership policies and 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 abuse and neglect. The staff will seek to discuss any concerns with the parent/carer and, where possible, inform them of the referral to Children 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 at the right time.
School will seek advice from the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) integrated front door 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 Safeguarding Lead) is charged with carrying out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acting in the best interest of the child.
Designated Leaders
We have four members of staff who undertake the Designated Safeguarding Lead role (DSL) for child protection and safeguarding. We also have a governor responsible for safeguarding (see below).
Policies
We have a number of policies in place at Hill Top, 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.
Safeguarding Policies and Information
- Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018)
- Keeping Children Safe in Education 2023
- Children Act 1989
- Children Act 2004
- Education Act 2002
- Teachers' Standards 2012
Safeguarding is defined as:
- Protecting children from maltreatment;
- Preventing impairment of children's health or development;
- Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care;
- Taking action to enable children in need to have optimum life chances (Working Together to Safeguard Children, 2018)
We believe that:
- Schools play a key role in the prevention of abuse
- All children have the right to be protected from harm
- Children need support which matches their individual needs, including those who may have experienced abuse
Safeguarding links
Bradford Safeguarding Children Partnership
CEOP - Child Exploitation and Online Protection
Child Protection & Safeguarding Policy 2022-23
Operation Encompass
Hill Top is an Operation Encompass School.
The purpose of Operation Encompass is to safeguard and support children and young people who have been involved in a domestic abuse incident.
Operation Encompass, has been designed to provide early reporting to schools of any domestic abuse incidents that occur outside of normal school hours. Each morning a police officer will review all domestic abuse incidents that occur outside of school but which might have had an impact on a child attending school the following day. Where children were present, witnessed or involved in a domestic abuse incident and aged between 4 and 16 years old, the officer will send this information to Children’s Social Care Front Door Service. Staff from the Front Door Service will send this information in a secure format to the identified Key Adult (Headteacher). The Key Adult (Headteacher) will check their emails every day and the staff in contact with those pupils will then be in an informed position to support them in a way that is right for the child.
This information will be shared on school days during school term and, when incidents occur on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday or over a holiday period, the police will contact the Front Door the following Monday.
Operation Encompass has proved to be very effective in providing appropriate support to children. Hill Top is keen to offer the best support possible to all our children and we believe this initiative is extremely beneficial and supportive for all those involved.
For more information please follow this link to the Operation Encompass website.
https://www.operationencompass.org/
Induction and Training
All our staff and volunteers have an induction schedule, which includes safeguarding training plus every member of staff has formal training every year. This knowledge is maintained throughout the school year with 7-minute briefings, regular reminders and updates from the Sefton Safeguarding Children’s Partnership.
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 should 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 everyday lives we teach them how to be safe online and offer support for parents and carers too.
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 wear a visitor badge and be escorted unless they have met our vetting requirements to work in school unsupervised.
First Aid
Our staff are trained to administer first aid and where necessary, we will advise parents of any treatment undertaken in school. We also have additional paediatric first aiders around the school to support when necessary and to manage medicine administration.
Prevent Statement
At Hill Top Primary School safeguarding your child is our highest priority. To ensure that your child is safe at all times we ensure that staff receive the most up to date training on safeguarding procedures. Staff are trained to help them understand the issues of radicalisation, are able to recognise the signs of vulnerability or radicalisation and know how to report concerns.
What is Prevent?
Prevent is a government strategy designed to prevent people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorist or extreme causes. The Prevent strategy covers all types of terrorism and extremism, including the extreme right wing, left wing, animal rights and splinter groups.
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| Hill Top CE Primary School Prevent Strategy.pdf | Download |
At Hill Top we are committed to the happiness and safety of all our pupils. If you are concerned about a child, please ask to talk to one of our Designated Safeguard Leads (DSL) or Deputy Designated Safeguard Leads (DDSL)
Mrs J. Ball - Headteacher (DSL)
Mr H. Naylor - Deputy Headteacher (DDSL)
Mrs F. Nolan - SENCO (DDSL)
Mrs S. Sykes - Parental Involvement Worker (DDSL)
Miss M. Padgett - Teacher (DDSL)
Our nominated safeguarding governor is Mrs Dionne Heaven.
