Rationale:
The aim of Birtenshaw School is to “brighten lives and build futures”. In order to achieve this aim we recognise our responsibility under section 175 of the Education Act 2002 to have arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
Birtenshaw School has a duty to ensure that arrangements are in place
· To take all reasonable measures to ensure that risks of harm to children’s welfare are minimised, and
· To take all appropriate actions to address concerns about the welfare of any child, or children, working together with the relevant Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB), and the agreed policies and procedures in full partnership with other local agencies.
All pupils at Birtenshaw School have Special Educational Needs and/or Disability. We recognise that, statistically, children with a learning disability or physical disability may be more vulnerable to abuse. School employees who support children and young people with Special Educational Needs and/or Disability should be particularly sensitive to indicators of abuse or risk of harm.
This policy should be read in conjunction with: Working Together to Safeguard Children – March 2015; DfE’s Keeping Children Safe in Education – July 2015 and any updates; Birtenshaw’s Policy CP 19 – Safeguarding and Policy CP 45 – Making a Protected Disclosure (Whistleblowing) as well as the School’s Behaviour Policy, E-Safety Policy and Counter-Bullying Policy.
This policy applies to all staff working in the school including any volunteers or trainees and school governors.
We recognise that Learning Support Assistants, office or transport staff as well as teachers can be the first point of disclosure for a child.
Concerned parents/carers may also contact the school and/or its governors.
The policy is consistent with the Bolton’s Safeguarding Children Board (BSCB) procedures.
Aims:
Birtenshaw School aims to provide a safe environment in which the learning, physical, social and care needs of all pupils are met in a supportive environment and where all adults understand their role in ensuring that pupils are protected from harm and their responsibility to report any concerns to the Head teacher
This policy aims to make clear the processes in place to ensure pupils’ safety and the responsibilities and processes which should be followed by staff/other adults in the event of any concerns being seen or raised.
Principles:
This policy contains four main principles:
· PREVENTION – Ensuring that the school ethos is protective and the support offered to pupils gives them confidence to raise any concerns
· PROCEDURES - for identifying and reporting cases, or suspected cases, of abuse.
· SUPPORTING VULNERABLE CHILDREN - those who have additional needs and/or those who may have been abused or witnessed violence towards others.
· PREVENTING UNSUITABLE PEOPLE WORKING WITH CHILDREN
PREVENTION:
All employees are expected to sign up to the Birtenshaw Charter which clearly states the expectations of the organisation in terms of the behaviours and attitudes of staff to create a positive, nurturing and safe environment for pupils (see Appendix D).
The school will:
· establish and maintain an environment where children feel safe in both the real and the virtual world and are encouraged to talk and are listened to
· ensure that staff are well-trained and understand their responsibilities to keep children safe and promote their well-being
· ensure children know that there are adults in the school whom they can approach if they are worried or in difficulty and their concerns will be taken seriously and acted upon as appropriate
· ensure that children with communication difficulties are supported in their preferred method of communication to express any concerns.
· include in the curriculum activities and opportunities which promote British Values, and the development of Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural learning to equip children with the skills they need to stay safe from abuse both in the real and the virtual world and information about who to turn to for help.
PROCEDURES:
The Designated Safeguarding Lead for Child Protection in School is The Head teacher/Director of Education.
All concerns should be reported immediately to The Head teacher.
The Safeguarding Lead for the organisation is the Chief Executive. In the absence of the Head teacher, any safeguarding concerns should be directed to the Chief Executive.
Birtenshaw school will:
· ensure there is a designated senior person who has lead responsibility for child protection in the school and has undertaken relevant safeguarding training
· ensure that this training is updated every two years in accordance with government guidance
· ensure every member of staff, paid and unpaid, and the school governing body understand that they have a responsibility to report any concerns about a child’s welfare
· ensure every member of staff, paid and unpaid, and the school governing body knows who the designated safeguarding leads are and the procedures for passing on concerns from the point of induction
· ensure every member of staff, paid and unpaid, and the school governing body knows what the contingency arrangements are for when the designated members of staff are not available.
· ensure every member of staff and every school governor knows:
· the name of the designated safeguarding lead/s and their role
· how to identify the signs of abuse and neglect
· how to pass on and record concerns about a pupil
· that they have an individual responsibility to be alert to the signs and indicators of abuse and for referring child protection concerns to the Designated safeguarding lead/s
· that they have a responsibility to provide a safe environment in which children can learn
· provide Safeguarding training for all staff from the point of their induction, which is updated regularly, every two years, so that they are confident about:
o the organisation’s legislative responsibility
o their personal responsibility
o the school’s policies and procedures
o the need to be alert to the signs and indicators of possible abuse, including possible child sexual exploitation, female genital mutilation, extremism and radicalisation
o the need to record concerns
o how to support and respond to a child who tells of abuse
· ensure that parents are informed of the responsibility placed on the school and staff in relation to child protection by setting out these duties in the school prospectus/brochure/website
· ensure that all staff, paid and unpaid, recognise their duty and feel able to raise concerns about poor or unsafe practice in regard to children and that such concerns are addressed sensitively and effectively in a timely manner in accordance with agreed whistle-blowing policies
· ensure that this policy is available publicly via the school website www.birtenshaw.org.uk
Liaison with Other Agencies
The school will:
· work to develop effective links with relevant services to promote the safety and welfare of all pupils
· co-operate as required, in line with Working Together to Safeguard Children and Keeping Children Safe in Education, with key agencies in their enquiries regarding child protection matters including attendance and providing written reports at child protection conferences and core groups
· notify the relevant Lead Professional immediately if:
· it should have to exclude a pupil who is subject to a Child Protection Plan (whether fixed term or permanently);
· there is an unexplained absence of a pupil who is subject to a Child Protection Plan
· there is any change in circumstances to a pupil who is subject to a Child Protection Plan
For most children attending Birtenshaw School, a Lead Professional (for example: Social Worker, SEN Officer, Health Professional) will already have been allocated and will have made relevant statutory assessments. However where this is not the case, for example for pupils attending the school as day pupils Birtenshaw will initiate the Early Help Assessment Process for children who it is considered would benefit from additional support. The process differs slightly according to the placing authority, but the principle of early intervention to prevent escalation is a principle to which Birtenshaw School is fully committed.
Record Keeping
The school will:
· keep clear, detailed, accurate, written records of child protection concerns about children (noting the date, event and action taken)
· ensure all records are kept securely, separate from the main pupil file, and in a locked location
· ensure all relevant child protection records are sent to the receiving school or establishment when a pupil moves schools in accordance with the Education Child Protection Record Keeping Guidance.
Confidentiality and information sharing
· Child protection information will be stored and handled in line with the Data Protection Act 1998 principles. The Data Protection Act does not prevent school staff from sharing information with relevant agencies, where that information may help to protect a child.
Child protection records are normally exempt from the disclosure provisions of the
Data Protection Act, which means that children and parents do not have an automatic
right to see them. If any member of staff receives a request from a pupil or parents to
have access to a child’s protection requests, they will refer the request to the
Designated safeguarding lead/ Head teacher.
The school will ensure that the Head teacher or Designated safeguarding lead will
only disclose any information about a pupil to other members of staff on a ‘need to
know’ basis, including Domestic Violence notifications
The school will ensure that all staff are aware that they have a professional responsibility to share information with other agencies in order to safeguard children and that they are clear with children that they cannot promise to keep secrets.
Communication with Parents/Carers
The school will ensure that parents/carers are informed of the responsibility placed
on the school and staff in relation to child protection by setting out its duties in the
school prospectus/website.
The school will undertake appropriate discussion with parents/carers prior to
involvement of another agency unless the circumstances preclude this action. If the
school believes that notifying parents could increase the risk to the child or
exacerbate the situation, advice will be sought from the appropriate social care team.
Procedure for responding to a disclosure of abuse
· Children usually talk about their abusive experiences either when they feel safe or particularly vulnerable.
· Children tend to talk about what has happened incrementally (a little at a time), particularly with sexual abuse, to test your responses.
· Children tell who they want to, when they want to, and as much as they want.
· It is important that all members of staff suspend disbelief (nothing is impossible) and contain and control your personal feelings and responses.
· Don’t be surprised at recantation and retraction when children realise the enormity of what they have done.
Actions to take
Firstly ensure the child is safe. Provide or arrange any necessary first aid or medical attention, then
· Listen to the child
· Explain that you can’t keep the information a secret but only people who need to know will be told (explain who)
· DO NOT directly question
· DO NOT stop the child when they’re recounting the flow of main events
DO NOT ask the child to repeat their account to anyone
· Tell the child they were right to tell you
· Explain that you need to get help to keep the child safe
· Make an accurate written record of information/time/presentation as soon as possible
· Refer matter to designated safeguarding lead/Head teacher without delay
· Failure to follow these guidelines may result in the child being unprotected and the perpetrator not being prosecuted.
Note
In some cases, particularly if it relates to a very recent incident, it may be necessary to a) retain the clothes the child was wearing at the time (do not launder them), b) advise the child not to shower or bathe. This is to enable potential forensic evidence to be obtained.
The designated safeguarding lead/Head teacher will refer the concern on to the relevant agency for further action. This may be a referral to the Social Care team in the child’s placing authority, in Bolton this would be the MASSS Team or, in the case of the allegation of abuse being against any professional working with children to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), Paula Williams.
CONTACT DETAILS CAN BE FOUND ON PAGES 12 and 17
Procedure for responding to a suspicion of abuse:
· Members of the public or colleagues may talk about children known to them who are being harmed
· Alert the informant that the information needs to be shared with the placing Local Authority.
· The referral should be made by the designated safeguarding lead/Head teacher.
· Record what was said to you.
· Once relevant details are passed to the Local Authority, further enquiries will usually be made by them or the Police.
Note
If one child tells/makes comment about the abuse of another child this should be responded to as an allegation of abuse. The Head teacher/designated safeguarding lead will refer on as necessary.
Do not question the alleged victim.
Criteria for referral to the child protection system
A referral should be made in relation to children or young people:
· Who have alleged abuse
· Who have suffered or are suffering neglect, emotional abuse or impairment to their development
· Where there are concerns that a child may be at risk of suffering significant harm
· With suspicious injuries
3. SUPPORTING VULNERABLE CHILDREN
The school will ensure that the ethos actively promotes a positive, supportive and
safe environment and values the whole community.
The school's policies such as Behaviour Policy and Anti-bullying policy will support v
vulnerable pupils in the school.
The school will work closely with other agencies which support the pupil such as
Social Care and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS),
The school is committed to developing productive and supportive relationships with
parents/carers.
The school recognises that children who are living or who have lived in a home