Safeguarding
What is Safeguarding?
By ‘Safeguarding’ we mean:
-
Protecting children from abuse and maltreatment
-
Preventing harm to children’s mental and physical health or development
-
Ensuring children are provided with safe and effective care
-
Taking action to enable all children to have the best possible outcomes
Safeguarding is about keeping children safe at all times. Child protection is part of safeguarding and promoting welfare. It refers to activity undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering, or are likely to suffer, significant harm.
The safety and wellbeing of all children and young people is of paramount importance. 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.
Safeguarding at Kents Hill Junior School:
Kents Hill Junior School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
We are fully committed to ensuring that consistent, effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support children, families and staff at school.
We ensure that all staff receive appropriate training, guidance and support to undertake the effective safeguarding of children.
Everyone in school has a role to play in keeping children safe, although there are certain key people with particular responsibilities.
Any concerns are passed through the designated safeguarding leaders within the school:
Designated Safeguarding Lead: Miss Parkes
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads: Mr Tipper
Safeguarding Team Members: Mrs Davis, Mrs Thurley (MAT Leave), Ms Marable and Miss Jackson
Trustee for Safeguarding: Mr Geldart
Governor for Safeguarding: Mrs Murphy
How to Report a Concern
There are a number of ways by which you can report a concern about a child in our school. You can:
-
Phone and ask to speak with a member of the Safeguarding Team or Designated Lead for Safeguarding on 01268792133.
-
Email the safeguarding email on safeguarding@kentshill-jun.essex.sch.uk
The following options are available 250302 hours a day, 7 days a week, if your concern needs a response outside of school working hours:
-
If you feel someone is at immediate risk of significant harm please contact the Police on 999.
-
If you have non-urgent information, related to the wider community please contact the Police on 101.
If your concern is specific to a child or young person please phone the Essex Children and Families Hub on 0350302503 603 7627 (Mon-Thurs 503.30pm-9am. Fri & Bank Holidays 50302.30pm-9am)
Out of hours: 0350302503 6061212
Email: Emergency.DutyTeamOutOfHours@essex.gov.uk
-
If you are a child or young person you can speak with Childline on 0800 1111.
-
If you are an adult worried about a child you can speak to a trained helpline counsellor with the NSPCC on 0808 800 503000.
-
If you are a professional concerned about a child in the workplace you can speak to an NSPCC trained practitioner via their Whistleblowing Advice line on 0800 028 028503.
If you have shared a concern with someone listed above other than the school, please inform a member of the School Safeguarding Team as soon as possible, to ensure that the school is aware of any concerns regarding children that attend Kents Hill Junior School.
In addition to our safeguarding procedures, we ensure your child’s safety by:
-
Maintaining good relationships with parents - we have an open-door policy and a dedicated Pastoral Team so that parents may raise concerns in confidence at any time.
-
Access to other agencies – we work alongside South Essex Extended Services and maintain good relations with other support agencies.
-
Ensuring the safe recruitment of staff – including training of interview panel, CRB disclosures and all DBS checks, implementation of a Code of Conduct
-
Regularly reviewing policies for child protection, behaviour, safeguarding and many other related policies.
-
Health & Safety – we ensure that we are compliant with all the HSE regulations and take on advice and regular updates from ECC
-
Site security – our school has security doors on the main entrance and school office. All visitors report to the main office in order to gain access to the site.
-
Pupil voice – we regularly canvass pupils on their views regarding their safety.
-
E safety – this is an integral part of our computing curriculum.
-
High expectations of behaviour – our behaviour policy outlines the school’s systems for sanctions and rewards. This is followed consistently by all staff. Bullying, homophobic and racist remarks are not tolerated.
Staff and Governor training
Our Headteacher and all of our safeguarding team have Level 3 Safeguarding Training.
All Kents Hill Junior School staff have completed Safeguarding Training and receive regular training updates.
All Kents Hill Junior School governors and Trustees have completed Safeguarding Training and receive regular training updates.
Safeguarding and School Assemblies
In Assembly time we look at different themes that will help us make the right choices, in life and at school. We know that there are always adults that are ready to listen, help and repair with us.
Filtering and Monitoring
Filtering and monitoring systems are used in school to keep pupils safe when using the school’s IT system.
Filtering systems: block access to harmful sites and content.
Monitoring systems: identify when a user accesses or searches for certain types of harmful content on school and college devices. Kents Hill Junior School staff are then alerted to any concerning content so that we can intervene and respond.
No filtering and monitoring system is 100% effective, so it is used alongside our existing safeguarding systems and procedures.