SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN
Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy 2024-2025
Mrs Byrne is the designated school safeguarding lead, with Mrs Thomas, Mrs Lawton , and Mrs Collins as deputy safeguarding leads.
We have a responsibility to ensure that children are safe in school, on their way to school and on their way home from school.
We have a responsibility to report any concerns to social care through Wigan Safeguarding Board.
If you are worried about a child or family, please ring the MASH team on 01942 828300.
For help and advice, you can also call
Police: 0161 872 5050 or 999 in an emergency
Parentline Plus: 0808 8002 222
NSPCC: 0808 8005 000
In school, our policies are written to keep children safe and healthy. We have the following policies and most of these are on the school website. If you would like a paper copy, please call into the office.
School Policy Documents
| Anti-Bullying including anti Cyber Bullying Policy | First Aid Policy |
| Behaviour Policy (Inc.) Playground rules | Health and Safety |
| Code of Conduct for staff and Code of Conduct for Parents | Administering of medicines |
| Complaints Procedure | Mission Statement and Aims |
| Confidentiality Policy | Prospectus |
| E safety Policy | Risk assessment |
| Equality policy | Safeguarding Policy |
| Fire Drill Evacuation | SEND procedures |
| Whistle blowing |
Wigan Encompass
The purpose of Wigan Encompass is to safeguard and support children and young people who have involved in or witness to a domestic abuse incident.
Domestic abuse impacts on children in a number of ways.
Children are at increased risk of physical injury during an incident, either by accident or because they attempt to intervene.
Even when not directly injured, children are greatly distressed by witnessing the physical and emotional suffering of a parent.
Encompass has been created to address this situation. It is the implementation of key partnership working between the police and schools.
The aim of sharing information with local schools is to allow ‘Key Adults’ the opportunity of engaging with the child and to provide access to support that allows them to remain in a safe but secure familiar environment.
Following the report of an incident of domestic abuse, by 9.00am on the next school day the school’s Key Adult will be informed that the child or young person has been involved in a domestic incident.
This knowledge, given to schools through Operation Encompass, allows the provision of immediate early intervention through
silent or overt support dependent upon the needs and wishes of the child.
The Key Adult in this school is Mrs Ryding , she will receive information from Operation Encompass.
Walking Home from School – is your child Safe?
As Parents/carers, it is your decision whether your child is mature enough to walk to school alone and to walk home alone.
Please read the NSPCC booklet – Is my child ready to go out alone? https://www.nspcc.org.uk/globalassets/documents/advice-and-info/out-alone-keeping-child-safe.pdf
Whilst there is no legal age when a child can walk to and from school, you will need to assess the risks associated with the school route and balance it against your child’s maturity. It goes without saying that safeguarding issues grow when children are walking the streets as the evenings get darker and when they are given the responsibility of looking after younger siblings.
When do I decide to leave my child home alone? A useful guide here
home-alone-guide-keeping-child-safe
Internet Safety
Children at our school use the internet on a regular basis as part of their learning. In school, we have regular eSafety activities to remind children of the importance of keeping themselves safe online.
Below are a few links to some very useful information regarding e-safety for parents, carers and children.
An award-winning internet safety programme for children.
http://www.childnet.com/resources/kia/
lots of useful advice for keeping yourselves and your children safe on the Internet.
An organisation which helps to prevent bullying and child abuse.
ChildLine is the free helpline for children and young people in the UK.
Counselling & Advocacy Services in Wigan by Family welfare, follow the link for more details
Useful Links for Parents
The internet for many parents can be a daunting place but to our children it is a necessity of life. Access to the internet has never been so vast and continues to spread with the increasing popularity of tablets devices and access through mobile phones. To support you in protecting your child on line there are some useful links below to sites with tips and guidance:
CEOP (Child On-Line Protection) Parents and Carers Area
This site offers advice and guidance for all types of online behaviours be it on line gaming, social networking, sharing and much more. Your children will be familiar with the child version of this site as it used in school you could perhaps ask them to help you with navigating through it.
https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/
A Parents’ Guide to Facebook
Would you know whether your son/ daughters profile is set to public or private? Would you know how to check? Do you know what POS stands for when children are online chatting (Parent Over Shoulder)? Do you know what Phishing is? Facebook is very popular amongst young people (and many adults) this guide is produced annually to keep parents up to date with tips for keeping their children safe when using Facebook and informing them of the latest trends for Facebook usage.
http://www.connectsafely.org/pdfs/fbparents.pdf
Share, Take Care: tips for parents
This short guide will help you to make sure your teen stays safe and happy online.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/guides/parents-safety
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/online-safety
With the digital world changing all the time, how can you make sure your child’s staying safe? Whether you’re an online expert or you’re not sure where to start, our tools and advice will help you keep your child safe
https://www.whoishostingthis.com/resources/e-safety/
An illustrated guide to e-safety for parents and carers
Here is important guide on safe internet browsing:
https://www.wizcase.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-safe-online-browsing/
https://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools.aspx
Sophos are offering a free antivirus / firewall for home use. Visit their website at www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools.aspx to find out more.
Think You Know is a site where you can report online abuse, or find out more information. There are age specific areas for children too.
Parent Zone has a host of information and advice about all things digital
https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/
This is a site full of useful information for helping keep your child safe online.
