Child Protection and Safeguarding
Our Commitment
The Weald CofE Primary School and The Good Shepherd Trust are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We ensure that all our recruitment and employment practices reflect this commitment.
The safety and wellbeing of every child in the care of The Weald CofE Primary School is our absolute priority. We expect all of our staff, pupils, parents, LGC members, Trust directors, visitors, contractors and third party professionals to share this view. The safeguarding and protection of children is everyone’s responsibility. All staff receive regular continuous professional development, which is supplemented with weekly briefings and other support e.g. case studies.
Designated Safeguarding Leads
The term “Designated Safeguarding Lead” (DSL) is used in the DfE Keeping Children Safe in Education document and refers to the person accountable for overseeing the safety and wellbeing of the children in the care of their setting. The role of the DSL must be fulfilled be a member of the schools senior leadership team to ensure that they have appropriate authority and status to provide advice and support to other staff on child welfare and child protection matters.
Our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is:
Mrs Laura Bromham - Deputy Headteacher
Our Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads (DDSLs) are:
Miss Bethan Lucas - Head of School
Mrs Rebecca Hopkins - SENDCo & Designated Teacher for Looked After Children
Mrs Helen Young - Home School Link Worker
Miss Clare Haines - School Office Manager
Our nominated Safeguarding Director (MAT) is:
Liz Tedbury - Head of Inclusion, Safeguarding & Wellbeing, acts as the Designated Safeguarding Lead for the central Trust team
Mary Lewis - Trustee Director with specific responsibility for child protection and safeguarding
If you would like to see the Trust's safeguarding information, please click here.
Our designated Safeguarding local committee member is:
Matthew Sparkes - Joint Chair of Local Committee, Safeguarding & Child Protection Lead
Reporting a Concern
If you have a concern about the safety of a child at The Weald, please contact a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) within the school without delay in person, by phone (01306 711719) or by email: dsl@wealdprimaryschool.co.uk
If your concern is about an adult working or volunteering in the school, you should contact the Headteacher. If your concern is about the Headteacher, you should contact the Good Shepherd Trust CEO Paul Kennedy: paul.kennedy@goodshepherdtrust.org.uk
Alternatively, you can contact Surrey Children's Services Directly:
Office hours (9am - 5pm Monday to Friday): 0300 470 9100 or email cspa@surreycc.gov.uk
Out of hours: 01483 517898
Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO): 0300123 1650 select option 3 or email LADO@surreycc.gov.uk for concerns about an adult who is working or volunteering with children
The NSPCC Whistleblowing helpline number is 0800 028 0285
The email address is help@nspcc.org.uk
The Government has asked the NSPCC to set up a designated helpline for victims of Peer on Peer abuse: 0800 136 663
In an emergency or if you believe someone is in immediate danger dial 999.
Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies when there are concerns about a child's welfare. We will ensure that our concerns about our pupils are discussed with his/her parents/carers first, unless we have reason to believe that this dialogue could be contrary to the child's welfare.
Please note that the school has a statutory duty to refer and monitoring cases of suspected harm and abuse to the appropriate authorities.
We use a computerised system called CPOMS to record and track safeguarding concerns.
We have a number of policies and procedures that contribute to our safeguarding commitment, which are regularly reviewed.
The DfE provide statutory guidance for schools on safeguarding children and safer recruitment, which can be found here.
Safer Recruitment
The school operates a separate safer recruitment process. On all recruitment panels there is at least one panel member who has undertaken safer recruitment training. The recruitment process checks the identity, criminal record (enhanced DBS), mental and physical capacity, right to work in the UK, professional qualifications and seeks confirmation of the applicant's experience and history through references.
DBS Filtering
Information on DBS filtering and where employees and potential candidates can obtain independent advice on this matter, can be found on the Vacancies and Volunteering page here.
Useful documents
Keeping children safe in education
Mental health and behaviour in schools
Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions
Working together to safeguard children
What to do if you're worried about a child
useful websites
Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP)
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC)
Think u know (Parent e-safety information)
SAFEGUARDING POLICIES
Managing Allegations and Low Level Concerns Policy