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Safeguarding, Policies and Statutory Information

SAFEGUARDING

The Trumpington Federation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the safety and welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Safeguarding Statement

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.

 

* 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.

 

 

The Prevent Duty

All schools and registered childcare providers are required to “have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. This is called the Prevent duty.

Please see our Prevent Action Plan below.

 

 

Safer Recruitment

All volunteers and employees are vetted to ensure that they are suitable to work with children.

Before applicants proceed with an intention to apply for a position or to support at the Federation, they are expected to take full consideration of the following points:

  • All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced DBS check. They are required to disclose all previous criminal convictions and cautions on their application.
  • Candidates will be provided with an induction process and will be expected to engage with this monitored process.
  • The school will assess a candidate’s knowledge of safeguarding by asking specific questions about this area during the interview process and answers to this question will form part of the decision-making process.
  • Our safeguarding policies and procedures will be explained during induction and on a regular basis;
  • Safeguarding is the responsibility of everyone.
  • The Trumpington Federation complies with all guidance on Childcare Disqualification and we will seek further advice from appropriate bodies when necessary.
  • Application forms must be completed in full. Particular attention must be made to work history and inform the school of any gaps in employment.
  • Full details of qualifications will be required.
  • References will be taken up prior to interviews and any discrepancies will be addressed during the interview process.

Read about our Safer Recruitment policy.

 

The Role of the Governing Body 

The Governing body is required to meet its statutory duty as stated under section 3 (5) of the Children Act 1989. This refers to schools or any person who has care of a child ‘may …do what is reasonable in all circumstances of the case for the purpose of safeguarding or promoting the child’s welfare’. Therefore it may be necessary for the school to ‘hold’ a child whilst an investigation of concerns is carried out by the Police and Social Care.

 

Designated People

Our Designated Safeguarding Leads for Child Protection are Jemma Calverley and Ollie Monro. All concerns are notified to a Designated Person in the first instance.  Anyone, including parents and carers, can ask to speak to one of our Designated People.

The following members of staff have also received the Designated Safeguarding Lead training:

  • Ollie Monro – Headteacher - Trumpington Meadows
  • Jemma Calverley - Headteacher - Fawcett 
  • Clare Wilkinson – Assistant Headteacher
  • Katie Fisher - Assistant Headteacher
  • Charlotte Clayton-Smith - Assistant Headteacher
  • Sonja Waldman - School Social Worker
  • Nicky Wickett - Family Partnership Worker
  • Anna Cusano - Early Years Inclusion Coordinator

Our lead governor for safeguarding and child protection is Naomi Walker-Pearl

Our designated leads for 'Prevent' are Ollie Monro and Clare Wilkinson.

 

Early Help - information from the Local Authority

This text is taken from the Local Authority Early Help website which you can also access here

Accessing Early Help Support

Sometimes families need a bit of extra support. You might be worried about your child’s behaviour or development. Or you and your family might experience some changes or difficulties that you can’t manage by yourself. Whatever you are worried about, Early Help can support you and your family so that small problems do not become big problems.

  • Early Help gives children and families the support they need, at the right time. We listen to your needs and bring together professionals who work with your whole family. This helps make things better for everyone.
  • The professionals who know you will assess the needs of your family using an Early Help Assessment. This will help you to get you support as quickly as possible.
  • It is a voluntary process. You choose whether to be involved and can withdraw from the process at any time. Sometimes, children and young people can make their own decisions about whether they need an Early Help Assessment, and who they want to support them.

Getting help

If you think you and your family might benefit from some support, you should ask a professional who you know. This could be your doctor, or a teacher at your child’s school. They can tell you more about Early Help.

You can also contact the Early Help Hub: early.helphub@cambridgeshire.gov.uk or call: 01480 376 666 (office hours). If you don’t know who to ask for help.

 

Operation Encompass

At the Trumpington Federation, we participate in a jointly run operation between Cambridge County Council, Peterborough City Council, Cambridgeshire Constabulary and our schools, called ‘Operation Encompass’.

‘Encompass’ has been set up to help schools and colleges provide support to children who have been present at incidents of domestic abuse and violence.

We know that children can be significantly physically or emotionally harmed when they are involved in, present at or are a witness to domestic abuse.

The school will receive a confidential, secure email from the Local Authority's Education Safeguarding Team as soon as possible after any domestic incident which Cambridgeshire Police have attended where a child at their school has been involved in, present at or witness to domestic abuse.

Our Designated Safeguarding Leads have received training from the Education Safeguarding Team at the Local Authority to allow them to use this information to ensure that the right support is available for children and their families.

 

 

 

Worried about a child?

If you have concerns about a child, please