Safeguarding, Child Protection, Inclusion & Well-being

Safeguarding at Starcross Primary School is considered everyone’s responsibility and as such our school aims to create the safest environment for every pupil. Starcross Primary School recognises the contribution it can make in ensuring that all pupils registered or who use our school feel that they will be listened to and appropriate action taken. We will do this by working in partnership with other agencies and seeking to establish effective working relationships with parents, carers and other colleagues to develop and provide activities and opportunities throughout our curriculum that will help to equip our children with the skills they need. This will include materials and learning experiences that will encourage our children to develop essential life skills and protective behaviours.

We have a number of policies and procedures in place that contribute to our safeguarding commitment. We listen to our pupils and take seriously what they tell us. All school staff are trained in Child Protection, and children are made aware of the adults they can talk to if they have any concerns. Staff are trained to look out for signs of physical/emotional harm or neglect and are required to report these to the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL),or if unavailable, other members of the safeguarding team.

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 parents/carers first, unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child’s welfare.

The Devon Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) can be contacted on 0345 155 1071 or emergency out of hours on 0845 6000 388, email mashsecure@devon.gov.uk

We actively support the Government’s Prevent Agenda to counter radicalism and extremism.

All members of the safeguarding team can be contacted via the school office.

Uncollected Child Procedure

Statement of Intent
In the event that a child is not collected by an authorised adult at the end of a day or activity, the school puts into practice agreed procedures. These ensure the child is cared for safely by school staff who is known to the child. We will ensure that the child receives a high standard of care in order to cause as little distress as possible. We inform parents/carers of our procedures so that, if they are unavoidably delayed, they will be reassured that their children will be properly cared for.

Procedures
Parents of children starting at the school are asked to provide the following specific information which is recorded on our data collection form:

• Home address and telephone number
• Place of work, address and telephone number (if applicable)
• Mobile telephone number (if applicable)
• Names, addresses, telephone numbers of adults who are authorised by the parents to collect their child from the setting, for example a childminder or grandparent
• Who has parental responsibility for the child
• Information about any person who does not have legal access to the child

On occasions when parents are aware that they will not be at home or in their usual place of work, they inform us of how they can be contacted.

On occasions when parents or the persons normally authorised to collect the child are not able to collect the child, they provide us with details of the name and telephone number of the person who will be collecting their child. We agree with parents how to verify the identity of the person who is to collect their child.

Parents are informed that if they are not able to collect the child as planned, they must inform us so that we can begin to take back-up measures.

If a child is not collected at the end of the day/session, we follow the following procedures:

• Parents/carers are contacted at home or at work
• If this is unsuccessful, the adults who are authorised by the parents to collect their child from the setting and whose telephone numbers are recorded on the data collection form are contacted
• All reasonable attempts are made to contact the parents or nominated carers
• The Headteacher, Deputy or DSL (Designated Safeguarding Lead) are informed
• The child does not leave the premises with anyone other than those named on the data collection form
• If no-one collects the child after one hour and there is no-one who can be contacted to collect the child, we apply the procedures for uncollected children
• If the child has attended a trip, residential or other out of school activity, the same procedures are applied after 30 minutes
• We contact our local authority children’s social services care team/MASH and the child stays at the setting in the care of two members of staff until the child is safely collected either by the parents or by a social care worker
• MASH 0345 155 1071
• Emergency Duty Team (out of hours) 0845 6000 388
• Social Care will aim to find the parent or relative if they are unable to do so, the child will become looked after by the local authority
• If the child already has an allocated social worker, the school will contact them
• Under no circumstances do staff go to look for the parent, nor do they take the child home with them
• A full written report of the incident is recorded on CPOMS (our online reporting system for safeguarding)

Online Safety

At Starcross Primary School, we take the issue of e-safety for students very seriously.

As both parents and students need to be more aware of potential online safety issues, please view the National Online Safety website to see important information and helpful tips on helping your children stay safe online and provide you as parents with information on what you can do to protect your children whilst still allowing them to enjoy the vast resources that are on the internet.

Online-Safety Child’s Guide to the Internet

1. Always keep to the agreed times of day to be online, the length of time to be online, and the areas that you can visit.

2. Never give any passwords to anyone outside your family – even friends!

3. Never give out any of the following information during a ‘chat’ session or when accessing online forums or message boards:

• Your real name (use a pseudonym – a false name)
• Your parents’ or brothers’/sisters’ real names
• Home address
• Home telephone number
• Parents’ work address/telephone number
• The name, address or location of your school

4. Never send an online person any photographs or anything else without first checking with a parent

5. Never arrange for someone you meet online to visit your house

6. Never arrange a face-to-face meeting with another computer user without parental permission. Any such meeting should be in a public place and at least one parent should accompany you. Your house should remain occupied during the meeting to prevent burglary.

Guidance for parents – Keeping your child safe online

Monitoring what your son or daughter does on the Internet can sometimes be a daunting task, but it is important to remember that (when used correctly) the internet can be a positive learning experience.

• Make online time a family activity.
• Check filtering of mobile data as well as broadband – but do not rely on this
• Make sure that you know the services your children use
• Keep the computer in a family room and ensure all devices are removed from the child’s bedroom at night.
• Go online yourself so that you are familiar with and understand the potential benefits and risks associated with Internet access
• Get to know your child’s ‘online friends’ just as you do their other friends
• Let them feel they can discuss any worries with you – even if they have made bad choices
• If you are concerned about your child’s online activities, talk to them about it
• Develop an agreed set of family Internet rules. Use ‘Family rules’ document for an example (see link).
• Make sure that your children are familiar with, and adhere to, your ‘Family Internet Rules’ which should be posted near the computer as a reminder
• Monitor your children’s compliance with these rules
• Should you become aware of the presence of child pornography online, report this immediately to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, on telephone number: 0800 800 500