What is Safeguarding?
Our school takes the safeguarding of all children very seriously.
Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm. Safeguarding means:
- protecting children from abuse and maltreatment
- preventing harm to children’s health or development
- ensuring children grow up with the provision of safe and effective care
- taking action to enable all children and young people to have the best outcomes.
Child protection is part of the safeguarding process. It focuses on protecting individual children identified as suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. This includes child protection procedures which detail how to respond to concerns about a child. Safeguarding children and child protection guidance and legislation applies to all children up to the age of 18.
School staff play an essential role in protecting children from abuse. They have regular contact with children and young people so are in a strong position to identify signs of abuse and neglect.
In school we:
- create a safe environment for children through robust safeguarding practices
- ensure that adults who work in the school, including volunteers, don’t pose a risk to children
- make sure staff are trained, know how to respond to concerns and keep-up-to-date with policy and practice
- teach children about staying safe
- encourage children to approach any member of staff if they have a worry or problem.
The School’s Safeguarding Policy can be accessed from the School Policy page of this website.
Mrs Griffin, the Head Teacher, is the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) for the school. Our Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads (DDSL) are Mrs Hipwell and Mrs Dale. All are trained to support the children, staff and parents regarding the safeguarding of children. To contact them please call 01832 272392.
If, as a parent or member of the public, you have any concerns about any pupil at Oundle Primary, please request to speak to any of the Safeguarding Leads who will be able to listen, help or advise the next step.
If you have a welfare concern about any child and school is closed, please call the Northamptonshire MASH team on 0300 126 3000 or 0300 126 7000. If you believe a child is in immediate danger, please call 999.
An online referral can also be made using: http://northamptonshirescb.proceduresonline.com/p_report_concerns.html
In line with current government legislation, we are committed to working within a comprehensive and regularly updated safeguarding policy. We also also operate alongside Northamptonshire’s Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) which deals with referrals from professionals and members of the public who may have concerns about a child’s welfare. There are a number of other associated national safeguarding agencies which also provide vital care and information.
Early Help
Every family goes through challenging times at some point. Early help means working with you and your family so that small problems don’t become big problems. Early help is for everybody, for families with children and young people of any age. And it’s your choice whether to have it or not.
Why would I want early help?
There are lots of reasons why people look for early help. It could be that you’re worried about your child’s health, development or behaviour, or how they’re doing at school, or perhaps because you are caring for a disabled child. It may be that you’re worried about money or housing and how that is affecting your family. Maybe your child or your family is affected by domestic abuse, drugs or alcohol or crime. Perhaps your child is a carer for other people, or maybe you’ve had a bereavement in the family that’s made life a real challenge.
Find out more by clicking on this link – Early help for parents and carers
Speak to ours DSL or DDSL if you would like to know more.
Other Contacts
Children’s Services—Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) on 0300 126 7000 or https://www.northnorthants.gov.uk/children-and-families
NSPCC— www.nspcc.org.uk 0808 800 5000
Childline—www.childline.org.uk 0800 1111
Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP)- www.ceop.police.uk 0870 000 3344
24-hour National Domestic Violence Freephone Helpline – 0808 2000 247
