Designated Safeguarding Lead: Mrs. R. Baker (Headteacher)
Deputy Designated Safeguarding: Mrs. L. Rusby (Deputy Headteacher)
Deputy Designated Safeguarding: Miss. K. Willcock (Deputy Headteacher)
Governor for Safeguarding: Mrs V. Cowan
Governor for SEND: Mrs. S. Alexander
Governor for e-safety: Mr. G. Anderson
Designated Officer for Safeguarding Northumberland County Council (Local Authority)
If you have any concerns about the behaviour of an adult in school you must contact Northumberland’s Designated Officer (DO).
Her name is Louise Prudhoe and you can call her on 01670 623979 or drop an emailto [email protected]
Keeping Children Safe in Education September 2021
“Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. This means that they should consider, at all times, what is in the best interests of the child“.
(Keeping Children Safe in Education 1 September 2022 – DfE)*
Morpeth All Saints knows the importance of safeguarding and dedicates an entire page of its website to it. It is the single most important thing that our staff and school community do on a daily basis. Keeping your children safe from harm is absolutely critical whether it be in the classroom, on the playground, a school trip or residential visit. Safeguarding starts so small – an adult to talk to, someone to share a worry with; it’s a basic need being met by all the adults in the setting. The safeguarding of children is the responsibility of all adults. In Morpeth All Saints Church of England First School this includes staff employed by the school, staff commissioned or contracted from external services and agencies, volunteers, governors, parents/carers, and extended family members. We all have a responsibility to ensure that children feel safe and well at all times. Within school this means that all aspects of the environment ensure that a child feels able to learn and develop in a safe environment.
Onecall
https://www.gov.uk/report-child-abuse
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/what-to-do-if-youre-worried-a-child-is-being-abused–2
County Lines
Criminal exploitation is also known as ‘county lines’ and is when gangs and organised crime networks groom and exploit children to sell drugs. Often these children are made to travel across counties, and they use dedicated mobile phone ‘lines’ to supply drugs. Children as young as 7 are being put in danger by criminals who are taking advantage of how innocent and inexperienced these young people are. Any child can be exploited, no matter their background.
Criminals are deliberately targeting vulnerable children – those who are homeless, experiencing learning difficulties, going through family breakdowns, struggling at school, living in care homes or trapped in poverty. These criminals groom children into trafficking their drugs for them with promises of money, friendship and status. Once they’ve been drawn in, these children are controlled using threats, violence and sexual abuse, leaving them traumatised and living in fear. However, they become trapped in criminal exploitation, the young people involved feel as if they have no choice but to continue doing what the criminals want.
What are the signs of criminal exploitation and county lines?
- Returning home late, staying out all night or going missing
- Being found in areas away from home
- Increasing drug use, or being found to have large amounts of drugs on them
- Being secretive about who they are talking to and where they are going
- Unexplained absences from school, college, training or work
- Unexplained money, phone(s), clothes or jewellery
- Increasingly disruptive or aggressive behaviour
- Using sexual, drug-related or violent language you wouldn’t expect them to know
- Coming home with injuries or looking particularly dishevelled
- Having hotel cards or keys to unknown places.
How many young people are affected by ‘county lines’?
No one really knows how many young people across the country are being forced to take part, but The Children’s Commissioner estimates there are at least 46,000 children in England who are involved in gang activity. It is estimated that around 4,000 teenagers in London alone are being exploited through child criminal exploitation, or ‘county lines’.
Tragically the young people exploited through ‘county lines’ can often be treated as criminals themselves.
We want these vulnerable children to be recognised as victims of trafficking and exploitation.
More information about County Lines as well as parenting resources can be found by clicking on the following link:-
Operation Endeavour
Operation Endeavour, commenced in November 2018 and aims to support children and young people who go missing from home. Children who go missing from home are at risk of significant harm and they may be vulnerable to sexual exploitation, violent crime, gang exploitation, or to drug and alcohol misuse.
Operation Encompass
http://www.operationencompass.org/
Morpeth All Saints CE First School is part of Operation Encompass which is a joint operation between NCC Children’s Services, NCC Education and Skills Service, Northumbria Police and the Police and Crimes Commissioner. It was initiated in February 2011 to ‘safeguard children and young people (4 – 16 years old) who are affected by domestic abuse by ensuring appropriate services are made aware of an incident at the earliest possible opportunity’.
Morpeth All Saints C. of E. First School fully recognizes the responsibility it has concerning arrangements about safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Please follow the link above for details of all school policies.
Excerpt from our Child Protection Policy……
“Morpeth All Saints CE First School believes that pupils have a fundamental right to be protected from harm and that they cannot learn unless they feel secure. We also believe that all staff working in school have a right to personal support and guidance concerning the protection of pupils. There are four main elements to our policy:-
- PREVENTION through the teaching and pastoral support offered to pupils and a whole school protective ethos.
- PROCEDURES for identifying and reporting cases, or suspected cases, of abuse.
- SUPPORT TO CHILDREN who may have been abused.
- SAFER RECRUITMENT AND MANAGING ALLEGATIONS AGAINST STAFF
Our Policy applies to all staff and volunteers working in the school including community education staff and governors. Teachers, Learning Enhancement Assistants and Lunchtime Supervisors and facilities staff can be the first point disclosure for a child.”
Through their day to day contact with children and direct work with families, our staff have a crucial role to play in noticing indicators of possible abuse or neglect. We have a duty to care for the children in our school and in referring concerns to the appropriate agency. We will follow the procedures set out in Interagency Procedures produced by the Northumberland Safeguarding Children Board. Morpeth All Saints CE First School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and requires all staff, parents, volunteers and visitors to share this commitment. This section of our website aims to give you a brief guide to safeguarding and links to other sections of the website containing relevant policies and procedures in our school. If you cannot find something, please contact the school and let us know! We fully recognise our responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the health and well-being of all the children in our care which we strive to practise.
Child Protection and Tackling Extremism Radicalisation Prevent
Something which is clearly not part of any British or European value is extremism. It is important to remember that whilst the threat from so-called Islamic State has been a focus in the Counter Terrorism and Security Act, the Prevent Duty is clear that extremism of all kinds should be tackled too. In England, far right groups such as Britain First and the English Defence League need to be tackled, too. Extremism is not a new topic in education, but schools have a relatively new statutory duty to pay “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. All adults working at Morpeth All Saints are aware of their responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of every pupil, both physical and emotional, inside and outside school. This involves ensuring that pupils are protected from significant physical or emotional harm and that there is a positive commitment to ensure the satisfactory development and growth of the individual. Every member of staff recognises that safeguarding against radicalisation and extremism is no different to safeguarding against any other vulnerability in today’s society. The Tackling Extremism and Radicalisation Policy sets out our beliefs, strategies and procedures to protect vulnerable individuals from being radicalised or exposed to extremist views, by identifying who they are and promptly providing them with support.
- Raise awareness of safeguarding issues and equip children with the skill needed to keep them safe
- Implement procedures for identifying and reporting cases, or suspected cases, of abuse.
School Reception and Security
The reception foyer/main school office is your first point of contact.
All parents/carers and visitors must sign in and out of the school premises and are required to
wear a visitor’s badge issued only by official school personnel.
All mobile devices (e.g., mobile phones/ipads/smart watches etc) should be switched off after signing the visitors book.
Please do not enter school from any other external door during periods while pupils are arriving or
leaving school.
E-Safety information for parents
Using the internet safely is a key skill that our children need to learn, both at school, and from home. The following resources will help parents and children to get to grips with all the different aspects of e-safety.
Mr. N. Reeson is the e-safety Co-ordinator in school and Mr. G. Anderson is the Governor in charge of
e-safety. Please report any concerns to us as soon as possible
Photographs and Videos
Respect and Care for the whole community when taking photographs and videos. We are happy
for parents and carers to take photographs and videos for personal use but request these images
are not distributed or put online if they contain images of other children, adults or staff without
consent. This will help protect all members of the community.
Please do not add photographs to social media platforms unless it is of your own child or you have permission from parents/carers to do so (if other children are in the photograph).
Premises Management
Health & Safety Effective management of the school buildings is the responsibility of the Headteacher, working closely with Governors and the Business Manager. Morpeth All Saints CE First School carefully considers the building’s condition and suitability to ensure safe and continuous operation and effective management of curriculum needs. The Education (School Premises) Regulations (1999) prescribe the minimum standards for school premises. They include a general requirement that every part of the school’s premises must be such as to reasonably assure the health, safety and welfare of the occupants. The Health and Safety at Work Act et al. (1974) sets out the broad principles for managing health and safety legislation in workplaces, which places a general duty on employers to “ensure so far as is reasonably practicable the health, safety and welfare at work of all their employees” and requires employers to conduct their undertaking in a way that does not pose risk to the health and safety of non-employees. We regularly inspect, review and implement expenditure to ensure that the school buildings and grounds are a safe working
environment for the whole school community.
Racial and Social tolerance
The school continues to work hard to promote equality and harmony by preventing and challenging all forms of discrimination. Discrimination is tackled in both the RE and in the PSHE curriculum. The children take part in discussions designed to raise awareness and address prejudices. From time to time visitors also work with the children.
Risk Assessments
Risk Assessments are used to identify hazards and risks.
Once these have been identified, processes are put in place to eliminate the hazards and reduce the risks
where possible. If they cannot be eliminated, they are minimized by the use of physical controls, or as a last
resort, through systems of work and personal protective equipment.
What is a Hazard? Something that has the potential to cause harm
What is a Risk? The likelihood / chance of that harm occurring.
We all carry out risk assessments every day, for example we all cross the road.
What is the hazard? …. What is the risk?
The hazard is crossing the road, the risk is the likelihood of a vehicle hitting you whilst crossing.
Our Risk Assessments are reviewed on a two yearly cycle, however, Risk Assessments will always be reviewed after an incident or when we identify additional risks. A Risk Assessment is carried out before any event/school trip through the school’s EVOLVE system.
Safer Recruitment
(Disclosure & Barring Service, DBS referrals: form and guidance, Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act, Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records) Regulation. Note, it is an offence to apply, offer or accept to do any work with children (paid or unpaid) if disqualified from working with children). Ensure that all staff receive appropriate safeguarding training, which includes e-safety. Mr. Reeson, Mrs. Michie (Governor), Mrs. Bainbridge (Govenor) and Mrs. Taylor have completed NSPCC training in safer recruitment.
Visitors and Site Security
The reception foyer/main school office is your first point of contact.
All parents/carers and visitors must sign in and out of the school premises and are required to wear a visitor’s badge issued only by official school personnel.
All mobile devices (e.g., mobile phones/ipads/smart watches) should be switched off after signing the visitors book.
Please do not enter school from any other external door during periods while pupils are arriving or leaving school.
Volunteers / Contractors
Please refer to Visitor link below.
