Safeguarding
Rushton CE First School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff, volunteers and members of the wider school community to share this commitment. For full details of our safeguarding arrangements please refer to the Safeguarding policy.
Child Friendly Safeguarding Child Protection Policy
Children Missing Education Policy 2024
Our Designated Safeguarding Lead Person in school is Mrs Sarah Cockersole
The Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead Person is Ms Andie Hughes
Our Safeguarding Governor is Mrs Amie Lovatt
Our Designated Teacher for Looked After Children (LAC) is Mrs Sarah Cockersole
The School’s safeguarding arrangements cover all aspects of life at school, in particular addressing these issues:
- Health and safety;
- Child protection
- Child sexual exploitation;
- Bullying;
- Other harassment and discrimination, including racism;
- Prevent – preventing extremism and radicalisation;
- Physical intervention;
- Meeting the needs of pupils with medical conditions;
- Provision of medical first aid;
- Off-site visits;
- Intimate care;
- Internet and communications safety;
- Physical security of the school site;
- Recruitment and vetting of staff and visitors to the site.
Should you have any concerns in terms of Safeguarding relating to the behaviour of a member of staff, you should immediately contact the designated person as above. If the allegation concerns the Headteacher you should contact: Mr John Pears, Chair of Governors, who will arrange for him to call you as soon as possible. jpears@ttlt.org.uk
Keeping Children Safe in Education
PREVENT DUTY
Designated Prevent Governor: Mr Nick Hughes
ALL OUR STAFF HAVE COMPLETED ONLINE TRAINING FOR THE PREVENT STRATEGY REGARDING RADICALISATION AND EXTREMISM.
At Rushton, protecting children from the risk of radicalisation is seen as part our schools’ wider safeguarding duties, and is similar in nature to protecting children from other harms (e.g. drugs, gangs, neglect, sexual exploitation), whether these come from within their family or are the product of outside influences.
We strive to provide a safe space in which children, young people and staff can understand the risks associated with terrorism and develop the knowledge and skills to be able to challenge extremist arguments.
The statutory guidance on the Prevent duty summarises the requirements on schools in terms of four general themes:
RISK ASSESSMENT – being able to demonstrate both a general understanding of the risks affecting children and young people in the area and a specific understanding of how to identify individual children who may be at risk of radicalisation and what to do to support them. As with managing other safeguarding risks, staff should be alert to changes in children’s behaviour which could indicate that they may be in need of help or protection.
WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP – Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) are responsible for co-ordinating what is done by local agencies for the purposes of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in their local area. Safeguarding arrangements should already take into account the policies and procedures of the LSCB. Effective engagement with parents / the family is also important as they are in a key position to spot signs of radicalisation. It is important to assist and advise families who raise concerns and be able to point them to the right support mechanisms.
STAFF TRAINING – schools should ensure that the Designated Safeguarding Lead undertakes Prevent awareness training and is able to provide advice and support to other members of staff on protecting children from the risk of radicalisation.
IT POLICIES – for schools to ensure that children are safe from terrorist and extremist material when accessing the internet in schools. Schools should ensure that suitable filtering is in place. More generally, schools have an important role to play in equipping children and young people to stay safe online, both in school and outside. Internet safety will usually be integral to a school’s ICT curriculum and can also be embedded in PSHE and SRE.
Building children’s resilience to radicalisation
Rushton aims to build pupils’ resilience to radicalisation by providing a safe environment for debating controversial issues and helping them to understand how they can influence and participate in decision-making. We already promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils and, within this, fundamental British values. In addition, Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) is an effective way of providing pupils with time to explore sensitive or controversial issues, and equipping them with the knowledge and skills to understand and manage difficult situations. PHSE is used to teach pupils to recognise and manage risk, make safer choices, and recognise when pressure from others threatens their personal safety and well-being. We strive to teach pupils to develop effective ways of resisting pressures, including knowing when, where and how to get help. Staff at Rushton encourage pupils to develop positive character traits through PSHE and our Christian Values, such as resilience, determination, self-esteem, and confidence. At Rushton, we to provide pupils with the knowledge, skills and understanding to prepare them to play a full and active part in society. Pupils learn about democracy, government and how laws are made and upheld. Pupils are also taught about the diverse national, regional, religious and ethnic identities in the United Kingdom and the need for mutual respect and understanding.
Taken from: The Prevent duty Departmental advice for schools and childcare providers June 2023
Please refer to our Prevent policy below:
SAFETY ON THE WEB
For full details of our e-safety arrangements please refer to the online-safety policy:
Information to help keep your child safe online can be found on several websites. The following we have found to be particularly useful:
https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/
https://www.getsafeonline.org/
SAFE FROM ABUSE
NSPCC Speak Out. Stay Safe. Programme
Once every three years, specially trained staff and volunteers from the NSPCC visit our school to talk to our pupils about abuse, neglect and how to stay safe. This is a nationwide service for every child in the UK (formerly ChildLine Schools Service)
There are child-friendly, interactive assembly presentations for both KS1 and KS2 followed by workshops to help children:
- Understand abuse in all its forms and recognise the signs of abuse
- Know how to protect themselves from all forms of abuse
- Know how to get help, and the sources of help available to them, including our Childline service.
By the end of our visit we know the children feel empowered – knowing how they can speak out and stay safe.
“NSPCC has helped me to build the confidence to tell people about my worries and problems.” Child’s feedback
“This service provides important information in a child-friendly way – it should be made mandatory in all schools. A brilliant service!” Teacher, Wistaston Primary, Crewe
Information to help discuss keeping safe with your child
The NSPCC has a wealth of resources for parents and carers to help keep their children safe from abuse. The Underwear Rule, for example, contains guidance on having simple conversations with children to keep them safe from sexual abuse.
More information and downloadable guides (in a variety of languages) are available at:
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/underwear-rule/
There is also comprehensive guidance for parents and carers about how to help keep their children safe online, including a tool which gives information about the top social networking sites. This can be found at:
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/share-aware/