Safeguarding Statement

Under the Education Act 2002 (section 175/157), schools must “make arrangements 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 Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) 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. The school should make parents/carers aware that records of welfare 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. However, in situations where the child is suspected to be at risk of harm, the law says that schools may take advice from other agencies without informing parents/carers.

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 and young people are safe and receive the right service.

Schools 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 with responsibility for child protection (known as the Designated Person for Child Protection) 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, schools or 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 or 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.

* The word ‘school’ is used throughout but this would include all educational settings e.g. Academies, Pupil Referral Units, Further Education establishments and Independent schools

Environment of Safeguarding

Parents and children are regularly informed about how we are working hard to keep them  safe, children are reminded of these in assemblies; as part of our school rules; and during the normal school day.  All staff are trained annually both in person and also using an on line training tool.  There are two trained safeguarding leads who are also trained in safer recruitment.  We log concerns and monitor children to ensure that keeping them safe is our priority.

The Executive Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher are trained to be Designated Safeguarding leads, both are Safer recruiter trained as well.  The Exective Headteacher has further training to be the Prevent Lead and the Domestice Violence Lead.  A number of staff have also been specifically trained to support children through bereavement.

PARENT INTERNET SAFETY BRIEFING - 21st June 2022 5pm at the SCHOOL HALL

Safeguarding policies can be found by clicking on the link below.

E Safety Curriculum

Every half term a whole school assembly will spend time reviewing an aspect of E Safety, discussing how children can survive and thrive in the the virtual world.

Every half term each class has an E Safety lesson.  The six main areas of focus are:-

1. Health, wellbeing and lifestyle
2. Privacy and Security
3. Online Relationships
4. Online bullying
5. Copyright and ownership
6. Reliability of information
7. Self image and identity
8. Online reputation

Information on what we are sharing with children is also sent home via DOJO to encourage the links with home and to support parents in supporting children at home.

Trusted Adults

At Murrow Primary Academy the children have been learning about how important it is to have a trusted adult; how  important it is to be able to share their worries, concerns and things that make them happy too.  Our children have worked to prepare their handprints on which they have written the names of their trusted adults.  School staff use the question "Who is  your trusted adult?" to encourage them to go to these people.

Safety in a Digital World

E-safety is sometimes a daunting word, and the digital world can seem like it’s full of dangers. We have systems and policies in place at school to help protect our children in the education environment. But what about when they’re not in school?

What can we do to protect our children?

Simply being aware of the dangers will make the most difference. Yes, the online world contains many hidden risks, but there are also dangers in the offline world and we don’t address those by severely limiting children’s freedom – we give our young people the necessary guidance and allow them room to explore.

That’s how we should approach online risks, too. The internet is full of fantastic opportunities for children to learn and grow and we’d hate for them to miss out.

Parental restrictions

Parental controls on smartphones and tablets can block access to websites containing adult content.

Mobile phone companies can filter content rated 18+ at the network level – check with your mobile provider whether this filter is on or off.

The UK’s main mobile providers (e.g. Vodafone, EE, O2 and Three) automatically block 18+ rated content through the Active Choice network-level filtering system.

But remember, these filters only work when the device is connected via the mobile network, not Wi-Fi.

Your mobile’s operating system may also include safety features and you can set restrictions on the App Store and Google Play. Click the links below to find out how to do it on your phone:

Apple IOS

Android

For more information on how to keep your child safe whilst online please see: 

Childnet