SAFEGUARDING

What We Do

At St Laurence School we recognise our moral and statutory responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children. We believe that safeguarding is everybody’s responsibility, and we work hard to cultivate a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued. We promote this through staff training, in student briefings and tutorials, at parent information evenings and via the parent/carer bulletin.

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Where you may have a concern about a child or you wish to report something, please see your Tutor or House Team in the first instance. They will be able to direct you to relevant support.

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What is Safeguarding?

Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm.

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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.

SAFEGUARDING IS EVERYONE’S RESPONSIBILITY.

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What is Child Protection?

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.

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What is abuse?

Any form of neglect, physical, emotional or sexual mistreatment or lack of care that leads to harm or injury. It can happen to any young person regardless of their age, gender, race or ability.

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People working in schools are uniquely placed to notice signs and symptoms of abuse and to support young people who are subject to abuse or living in abusive situations.

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A guide for parents and visitors…

You MUST sign in on arrival and out on departure.

You MUST wear your badge at all times.

You MUST remain with your host unless you have prior DBS clearance, and it has been agreed that you can be unaccompanied.

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A copy of our Child Protection Leaflet for visitors to the school is available at reception.

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What should I do if I have concerns about a member of school staff?

You should report such allegations to the Headteacher, Mr Farrer. If the allegation is about the Headteacher, contact the Chair of Governors via email: chairofgovernors@st-laurence.com

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If you have a concern about a child

If a child is in immediate danger, call 999. The Police will assess the situation and take the appropriate action to protect the child.

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If you are a parent or another adult who has concerns about the safety of one of our children/students, please contact a member of our safeguarding team. You can find their details below on the ‘Safeguarding Team’ tab.

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If the child is not at immediate risk, contact your local child protection services. Their contact details can be found on the website for the local authority the child lives in. Wiltshire Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub can be contacted on: 0300 456 0108 8.45am- 5pm or out of hours 0300 456 0100.

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Prevent Preventing Radicalisation/Tackling Extremism

Keeping children safe in education is our priority. This school works in partnership with the wider school community to ensure children and their families are safeguarded from radicalisation and extremism. In line with the PREVENT duty we will ensure that all staff and governors are trained, informed, recognise vulnerability and mitigate the risks. We mitigate identified risks and ensure the curriculum embeds British Values, teaching our staff, children and visitors to be tolerant and have respect for all faiths within out multi-cultural society. This is underpinned by a range of other school policies including ‘e’ safety, curriculum, staffing and safer recruitment.

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A copy of our Child Protection Policy is available from our Policies page here.