Safeguarding

Speak out on behalf of the voiceless, and for the rights of all who are vulnerable. Proverbs 31:8

Safeguarding Team

Mr T Wright

Learning Mentor

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

Mrs K Murphy

Senior Administrator

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

Mrs L Matthews

SENDCo

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

Mrs K Waddington

Senior Leadership team/EYFS Lead

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

Safeguarding Policy

Please visit the Policies page for our safeguarding policy.

HFSM Safeguarding Policy COVID19 Appendix

Safeguarding Our Children

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, and the best outcomes for children are achieved when school and families work together.

What can you do as a parent or carer?

Talk and listen. Make time to talk to your child every day. Ask about school, friendships, worries and what they are doing online. Make sure they know they can tell you anything, even if they think they have made a mistake.

Teach them about trusted adults. Help your child identify adults they can speak to if they are worried, frightened or uncomfortable. Remind them that they should keep telling someone until they are listened to.

Teach them about boundaries. Children should understand that their body belongs to them. Encourage them to tell a trusted adult if someone says or does something that makes them feel uncomfortable, frightened or confused.

Take an interest in their online life. Know which games, apps and websites your child uses and who they communicate with. Use appropriate parental controls and privacy settings, but remember that regular conversations about online safety are just as important. Our safeguarding responsibilities specifically include protecting children from harm that may occur online.

Notice changes. Changes in behaviour, mood, friendships, sleep, attendance or use of technology can sometimes be a sign that a child needs help. School staff are also trained to be alert to changes in children’s behaviour and possible signs of abuse or neglect.

Keep us informed. Please tell us about significant changes or difficulties at home that may affect your child. Sharing information early can help us provide support before problems become more serious. Our policy emphasises providing help and support as soon as difficulties emerge.

If you are worried – tell someone. You do not need to be certain that something is wrong before raising a concern. If something does not feel right, please speak to us.

Who can I speak to in school?

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is Mrs Claire Cade, Headteacher, supported by a team of trained Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads. Parents can contact the safeguarding team through the school office or by emailing dsl@hfsm.bkcat.co.uk.

School Office: 01977 798303
Email: admin@hfsm.bkcat.co.uk

Remember

Talk • Listen • Notice • Ask • Share

If you are worried about a child, please speak up. It is always better to share a concern than to assume someone else will.

Building Confidence, Compassion and Courage through the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Safeguarding During School Holidays

At our school, the safety and wellbeing of every child remains our highest priority, including during school holidays. If you have any concerns about a child’s safety or welfare, we strongly encourage you to seek support as soon as possible. You can contact the DSL Team via email, DSL@hfsm.bkcat.uk and a member of our safeguarding team will respond when school reopens. If your concern is urgent, please contact Wakefield Children’s Social Care on 0345 8503 503 or the NSPCC helpline for advice. In an emergency, always call 999. Working together, we can help ensure that all children remain safe, supported, and cared for at all times.

Online Safety

Please visit our dedicated Online Safety Page for more information.

In school we have two electronic safeguards to prevent pupils from stumbling onto inappropriate information and to inform DSL’s about any concerns:

• • RM Safety Net provides web filtering
  • Smoothwall Monitor which monitors and captures user activity as it happens, automatically sending potential risks through to our DSL team.

No filtering system can be 100% effective. With this in mind, physical monitoring by staff watching screens of users is also important. Safeguarding leads will also to spot checks on devices to ensure that our Filtering and Monitoring systems aren’t missing anything.

*It is important to note that if a pupil, on a home device, logs in using their school Google account, their browsing history at home, even on a private device, may be visible to our filtering and monitoring systems and therefore to Safeguarding Staff if an alert is triggered by the automatic system.

Wellbeing

For help and support with your child’s and your own wellbeing, please visit one on the following pages:

Welfare & Wellbeing of Pupils

Welfare & Wellbeing of Parents

Operation Encompass Safeguarding Statement

Our school 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 and which is in place in every police force in England and Wales.

Children were recognised as victims of domestic abuse in their own right in the 2021 Domestic Abuse Act.

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.

Once a Key Adult (DSL) and their deputies (DDSLs) have attended Operation Encompass Key Adult training they will cascade the principles of Operation Encompass to all other school staff and Governors. All school staff and Governors can undertake the online training.

Our parents are fully aware that we are an Operation Encompass school and we ensure that when a new child joins our school the parents/carers are informed about Operation Encompass.

The Operation Encompass information is stored in line with all other confidential safeguarding and child protection information.

As a staff we have  discussed how we can support our children who are experiencing Domestic Violence and Abuse on a day-to-day basis and particularly following the Operation Encompass notification. We have used the Operation Encompass Handbooks to inform our thinking.

We are aware that we must do nothing that puts the child/ren or the non-abusing adult at risk.

The Safeguarding Governor will report on Operation Encompass in the termly report to Governors. All information is anonymised for these reports.

We have  used the Operation Encompass Key Adult Responsibilities checklist to ensure that all appropriate actions have been taken by the school.

When Head Teacher, DSL or DDSLs leave the school and other staff are appointed, they will ensure that all Operation Encompass log in details are shared with the new Head Teacher /Key Adults and that the new member of staff will undertake the Operation Encompass online training.