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Safeguarding & Child Protection
Woodley CofE Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We are fully committed to ensuring that consistent, effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support families, children and staff at school.
Designated Officers
Should you have any concerns regarding the welfare or safety of a pupil please speak to one of the following:
We have an email address which is monitored regularly safeguarding@wcofe.com
- Mrs Gurney (Head@wcofe.com) – Designated Safeguarding Lead
- Mr Blakely – (CBlakely@wcofe.com) - Designated Deputy Safeguarding Lead
- Mrs Smith – (MSmith@wcofe.com) Designated Deputy Safeguarding Lead
All members of staff, governors, parent helpers and other adults working or helping in school are DBS (Disclosure Barring Service) checked to ensure they have no criminal convictions that would preclude them from working with children. When appointing new members of staff, the selection panel will always contain at least one member trained in safer recruiting.
What is the difference between Safeguarding and Child Protection?
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as:
- protecting children from maltreatment
- preventing impairment of children’s and learners’ health or development
- ensuring children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
Child Protection is a part of Safeguarding and promoting welfare. It refers to the activity that is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering, or are likely to suffer, significant harm.
Effective child protection is essential as part of wider work to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. However, all agencies and individuals should aim to proactively safeguard and promote the welfare of children so that the need for action to protect children from harm is reduced.
Reporting a Concern of Abuse or Neglect
If you have concerns that a child you know is at risk of serious harm through Abuse or Neglect it is important that you report your worries to the correct agency.
To contact Wokingham’s Triage Team by email: triage@wokingham.gcsx.gov.uk or by phone 0118 908 8022.
This team will use your information to make a decision about how they can best respond to your concerns.
You can also report your concerns to the NSPCC who will offer you support and advice if you are feeling worried about a child’s safety: www.nspcc.org.uk
Child Sexual Exploitation
Child Sexual Exploitation, or CSE, is a form of sexual abuse that sees children/young people being manipulated or coerced into sexual activity for receiving ‘something’ such as; gifts, money, food, attention, somewhere to stay etc.
Technology is very often used to groom victims. This may occur through social networking sites and mobile phones with internet access.
CSE has gained a large amount of media attention over the last year as lots of services involved with children and young people have noticed a big rise in cases involving CSE.
Charities such as NSPCC and Barnardos have been campaigning to raise the profile of this form of child abuse. Information regarding CSE can be found here sexually exploited. PACE offers one-to-one telephone support, national and local meet-ups with other affected parents and information on how parents can work in partnership with school, police and social care: www.paceuk.info
The NSPCC has a wide range of resources that help adults keep children safe from abuse and other dangers, both online and in the physical world.
- P.A.N.T.S: Teach your child the Underwear Rule and help protect them from abuse. It’s a simple way that parents can help keep children safe from sexual abuse: Talk PANTS & Join Pantosaurus – The Underwear Rule | NSPCC
- Online safety: Helpful advice and tools you can use to help keep your child safe whenever and wherever they go online. Keeping children safe online | NSPCC
- Home alone: How to decide when it’s safe for your child to be home on their own, and what you can do if they’re too young. Home alone or out alone guide | NSPCC Learning
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
FGM is a procedure carried out on young girls between the ages of infancy and 15 years of age. Female Genital Mutilation is classified as a form of Child Abuse in the UK. It therefore makes the procedure of it a serious Child Protection issue.
It is illegal for anyone to perform FGM in the UK or to arrange for a child to be transported to another country for the procedure. The maximum sentence for carrying out FGM or helping it to take place is 14 years in prison.
There is lots of information and support available online for parents concerned about this subject or if you know someone who is at risk:
- Contact the Police if you think that a girl or young woman is in danger of FGM and is still in the UK.
- Contact the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (020 7008 1500) if she’s already been taken abroad.
- The Daughters of Eve website helps to raise awareness of this issue and sign-posts those affected by it to supportive services: www.dofeve.org
The NSPCC has detailed advice on how to spot the signs, symptoms and effects of FGM and provides support for people who are concerned about a child or who have been affected themselves: www.nspcc.org.uk
The NSPCC offers a free and anonymous FGM 24 hour helpline. Call: 0800 028 3550 or email: fgmhelp@nspcc.org.uk
Preventing Radicalisation
From 1 July 2015 schools are subject to a duty under section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, in the exercise of their functions, to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”.
Hillside Primary School is clear that extremism and radicalisation should be viewed as safeguarding concerns. We value freedom of speech and the expression of beliefs and both pupils/students and adults have the right to speak freely and voice their opinions.
Our school ethos seeks to build pupils’ resilience to radicalisation by promoting fundamental British values and enabling them to challenge extremist views. DfE guidance on the Prevent Duty can be found here: Prevent Duty Departmental advice for Schools and Colleges The NSPCC has information for parents/carers about radicalisation and dangers associated with extremism. There are also links to other supportive services on the NSPCC web page: https://www.nspcc.org.uk
