Safeguarding
Our school is committed to safeguarding children and promoting children's welfare and expects all staff, governors, volunteers and visitors to share this commitment and maintain a vigilant and safe environment.
The school ensures children learn in a safe, caring and enriching environment. Children are taught how to keep themselves safe, to develop positive and healthy relationships, how to avoid situations where they might be at risk including by being exploited.
Keeping children safe in education is our priority.
In order to keep our children safe at school, we:
ensure that all our staff – through their induction and on going training - have a clear understanding of their responsibilities towards our children’s safeguarding
make sure that we have a range of clear and up to date policies and procedures in place to ensure the safety and protection of our pupils in all aspects of school life
ensure that we teach our pupils how to keep themselves healthy and safe – in and out of school
ensure that we audit our safeguarding practices regularly so we remain vigilant
work with Merseyside Police to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children experiencing domestic abuse. This is called Operation Encompass and you can find more information in the letter below. We also provide a range of support within school and from other services such as health and community support. This sometimes takes the form of an EHAT and you can find out more about our Early Help offer below.
work in partnership with parents and other agencies best possible outcomes for the child and family.
The school also has a statutory responsibility to share any concerns it might have about a child in need of protection with other agencies and in particular police, health and children’s services. Schools are not able to investigate child protection concerns but have a legal duty to refer them. In most instances the school will be able to inform the parents/carers of its need to make a referral. However, sometimes the school can in certain circumstances share information without the consent of the family and may be advised by children’s services or police that the parent/carer cannot be informed whilst they investigate the matter or make enquires. We understand the anxiety parents/carers understandably feel when they are not told about any concerns from the outset. The school follows legislation that aims to act in the interests of the child.
The school will always seek to work in partnership with parents and other agencies to ensure the best possible outcomes for the child and family.
Our Safeguarding offer is supported by the following areas...
Values ----------------------------Behaviour-----------------Mental Health and Wellbeing---------------- INSPIRE ------------------Safeguarding Curriculum
Operation Encompass
Bishop Martin CE Primary is part of Operation Encompass. Operation Encompass is a national police and education early intervention safeguarding partnership which supports children and young people who experience Domestic Violence and Abuse. Operation Encompass enables every child to receive support, regardless of whether the incident has been recorded as a crime and regardless of whether there is involvement with children’s services. Operation Encompass means that the police will share information with our school about all police attended Domestic Abuse incidents which involve any of our children prior to the start of the next school day.
Other useful links:
Liverpool Careline - Children's Social Care
Prevent Agenda(The DFE have launched online resources to support schools in respect of the Prevent agenda)
Poems and raps to help children remember on-line safety
Online Safety - Understanding Social Media
Other resources parents may find useful:
Every mind matters - Rise above resources to support parents