Safeguarding (also sometimes referred to as Child Protection) is a key priority for our school and something we monitor closely in line with legal requirements set out in Keeping Children Safe in Education. This document sets out the legal duties schools must follow to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people under the age of 18 in schools and colleges.

The school has a duty of care to all children and procedures are in place to ensure their safety and well-being. The school works closely with parents and outside agencies, including social care, if there are any concerns about a child’s welfare. The Headteacher is the ‘Designated Safeguarding Lead’ (DSL) with three additional members of staff trained as deputy DSLs. If you have concerns about the wellbeing of any child, we would strongly encourage you to speak in confidence with one of the school’s designated safeguarding leads (contactable via the school office).

What is Safeguarding?

Safeguarding is all about keeping children safe from any type of harm. This could be physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect or any form of radicalisation, for example. St Alban’s staff are vigilant and take their safeguarding responsibilities very seriously.

Our Designated Safeguarding Leads

Every school has a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and deputy DSLs. Staff who have these responsibilities attend comprehensive safeguarding training and are responsible for ensuring that all staff are aware of their safeguarding duties. In our school Mrs Goldsworthy is the Designated Safeguarding Lead, and Mrs James, Miss Brookes and Mrs Welton are the Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads.

The Role of a DSL

Wherever it is safe to do so and is felt not to cause any further risk to the child, the DSL or deputy DSL will speak to parents regarding any concerns that have been raised. Concerns that could lead to a child or parent being considered at risk of threat of significant harm must be reported to Children’s Services as part of our legal duty. Where it is felt that talking to parents before informing Children’s Services would put a child at further risk or cause an investigation to be obstructed, school will ring Children’s Services without first talking to the parent or carers. Children’s Services will then decide how they want parents to be informed and school will follow their advice.

Our priority will always be to keep children safe and we therefore have a duty to take all concerns seriously. However, we do appreciate that parents and carers may find conversations around these concerns upsetting, uncomfortable, or difficult. We try to keep these conversations as objective as possible, dealing only with facts, in the hope that it helps parents and carers to see that this is not a judgement but an opportunity to share important information.

Sometimes, to support the welfare of our children and families at an early stage before difficulties become too great, it may be appropriate, in partnership with parents, to seek additional ‘early help’ from professionals trained to help children and families in a range of different situations. Our Home School Link Worker and Deputy DSL, Mrs Welton, has access to a range of professionals and agencies and will work with parents to identify appropriate sources of help and support that may benefit their family if needed.

Safeguarding and Our Curriculum

Pupil safeguarding rightly takes the very highest priority at our school. We ensure that we meet all safeguarding requirements and we also have a strong focus within our curriculum on ensuring that children learn about important safeguarding topics and issues in an age appropriate way. Learning about these areas is an essential element of children’s personal development as it ensures that they are better equipped to keep themselves safe throughout their lives and can live life ‘in all its fullness’ (a central aim of the Church of England’s Vision for Education).

How are pupils taught to keep themselves safe?

All schools have statutory responsibilities relating to the safety of children in their care. This includes the responsibility to teach children about safeguarding as part of a broad and balanced curriculum, as required in Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE).

Our Year R curriculum helps children to learn how to stay safe through the Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED), Physical Development and Communication and Language Goals.  Through the development of these skills, children learn to:

1. Show sensitivity to others’ needs and feelings and form positive relationships with adults and other children
2. Be confident to speak in a familiar group, able to talk about their ideas and express themselves to a trusted adult
3. Talk about how they and others show feelings, talk about their own and others’ behaviour, and its consequences, and know that some behaviour is unacceptable
4. Know the importance for good health of physical exercise, and a healthy diet, and talk about ways to keep healthy and safe
5. Learn how to manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs successfully, including dressing and going to the toilet independently

As children progress through the school, safeguarding content is delivered within many curriculum areas, including in particular our Personal, Social, Health and Economic curriculum (PSHE), Religious Education (RE), Computing and Online Safety, Worship, Science and our Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural curriculum (SMSC).

A large proportion of safeguarding content is delivered as part of our PSHE curriculum.  This curriculum includes topics that enable children to learn about a range of important safeguarding content in an age-appropriate way, for example:

1. What constitutes a healthy relationship (both online and offline), including how and when to seek help if they have concerns
2. Understanding fundamental British values, including learning to appreciate and respect diversity, understanding that difference is positive, not a negative (and that individual characteristics make people unique), and supporting children to recognise extremism
3. Recognising online risks to their well-being and being aware of the support available to them
4. Developing resilience, including developing strategies for managing peer influences
5. How to keep safe in a range of practical areas, for example, road safety, cycling safety (Bikeability), fire safety, how to respond safely to adults they don’t know, what to do in an emergency, how to deal with minor injuries, firework safety, sun safety, and so on
6. Mental wellbeing (understanding factors that support good mental wellbeing and recognising when and how to seek help)
7. Physical health and wellbeing (including, for example, hygiene, risks associated with issues such as drugs, alcohol and tobacco, good sleep habits, physical fitness and healthy eating)

As well as taught topics, we also raise pupil awareness by joining in with national events.  For example: Road Safety Week and Anti-Bullying Week (November), Safer Internet Day, World Sleep Day, Children’s Mental Health Week (February), National Mental Health Awareness Week (May), International Friendship Week (June). We also want our children to know how to keep their friends safe.

The Prevent Duty

All schools and colleges are subject to a duty under section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (CTSA 2015), in the exercise of their functions, to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. This is known as the Prevent Duty. One of the ways in which we meet this duty is through the safeguarding content that we deliver within our curriculum.

Please select the link below to find out more about the Prevent Duty, an important part of the safeguarding work of all schools to protect children and young people from radicalisation and extremism.