Safeguarding
We ALL have a statutory duty to ‘Safeguard and promote the welfare of children’.
Safeguarding at Curbar
‘Happy learners forging our place in the world’
Happy – having fun, fulfilling potential, flourishing, being safe, cared for and nurtured.
Learners – being enthused, engaged, motivated and inspired. Being able to work independently and collaboratively. Being aspirational and ambitious. Developing a strong moral compass.
Forging – not giving up in the face of challenge, recognising that effort and a positive attitude is the root to success.
Our place – sharing responsibility for what happens, taking our place in the local and global community.
World – being proud to be part of the local and wider communities and appreciating the similarities and differences within them. Developing a tolerance and respect for and an understanding of the world.
At Curbar Primary School, we are committed to providing the very best education and care for all our pupils and are dedicated to ensuring that this takes place by collaborating with our local and wider communities. Through these collaborations, we aim to empower our children to become enthusiastic, confident and independent learners who will use their time at Curbar as a foundation for future success, happiness and lifelong learning. Through establishing a safe and inclusive learning environment that nurtures, supports and inspires, we aim to create resourceful problem-solvers who relish challenge and have high expectations of themselves and others. At Curbar, we believe that children must always come first and, as such, they are at the heart of every decision we make.
At Curbar, our children will know what it feels like to be good at something and have achieved their very best; love learning new things and want to keep learning more; understand how fabulous they are, believe in themselves, and have confidence in their abilities; know friendship and learn how to get along with others; understand how to keep safe and healthy; feel part of our local community and be proud of our school.
Safeguarding is a key element of our vision and arrangements at this school are underpinned by five key principles:
- Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility: all Staff / anyone who has contact with a child or young person including Governors and volunteers should play their full part in keeping children safe.
- We will aim to protecting children using national, local and school child protection procedures.
- We aim to work in partnership and have an important role in multi-agency safeguarding arrangements as set out by Working Together 2018
- That all staff, governors and volunteers who have contact with a child or young person including Governors and volunteers have a clear understanding regarding abuse and neglect in all forms; including how to identify, respond and report. This also includes knowledge in the process for allegations against professionals. Staff, (Governors and Volunteers) should feel confident that they can report all matters of Safeguarding in the School or College where the information will be dealt with swiftly and securely, following the correct procedures with the safety and wellbeing of the children in mind at all times.
- That we operate a child-centred approach: a clear understanding of the needs, wishes, views and voices of children.
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as:
- Protecting children from maltreatment
- Preventing the impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development
- Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care, and
- Taking action to enable all children to achieve the best outcomes
We help to keep children safe by:
- Providing safe environments, with secure access, where children can learn and develop
- Acting in the best interests of children to protect them online and offline, including when they are receiving remote education
- Identifying children who may need early help, and who are at risk of harm or have been harmed. This can include, but is not limited to, neglect, abuse (including by other children), grooming or exploitation
- Taking timely and appropriate safeguarding action for children who need extra help or who may be suffering, or likely to suffer, harm. This includes, if required, referring in a timely way to those who have the expertise to help
- Using safe recruitment processes and managing allegations that may meet the harm threshold and allegations/concerns that do not meet the harm threshold, referred to as low-level concerns
We will ensure that parents/carers and our partner agencies are aware of our child protection/ safeguarding policy by ensuring that it is on the school/college website. We share child protection/safeguarding updates on newsletters. A statement of our over arching approach to safeguarding is displayed in the school entrance.
Our Safeguarding Team
Mr Simon Beahan
Designated Safeguarding Lead; Looked After Children designated teacher; Online Safety Lead
Miss Claudie Pattison
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Safeguarding Governor – Mr George Wolfe
Please note that Mrs Marie Clark (Headteacher at St. Anne’s, Baslow) is an emergency contact for Safeguarding in the unlikely event that the DSL and Deputy DSL at Curbar are unavailable.
Curbar Primary School recognises the important responsibility of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children. As well as our pupils, our policy applies to the whole of the school’s workforce, along with volunteers, governors and any external contractors working on the school site. In particular, we ensure that all staff members have been appropriately checked for their suitability using the Safer Recruitment procedures.
We recognise that because of their day to day contact with children, school staff are ideally placed to observe the outward signs of harm. Staff in schools will therefore:
- Report any concerns to the Designated Safeguarding Leads in school.
- Establish and maintain an environment where children feel secure, are encouraged to talk and are listened to.
- Ensure that children know they can approach any adult in school if they are worried and they will receive a consistent and supportive response.
- Provide within the curriculum opportunities for children to develop the skills they need to recognise, and stay safe, from potential harm.
Safer Working Practices Statement
Curbar Primary School takes safeguarding responsibilities very seriously. We use a range of guidance and policies that provide a robust and rigorous structure to support safeguarding in school.
This information seeks to ensure that the responsibilities of school leaders, towards children and staff are discharged by raising awareness of illegal, unsafe, unprofessional and unwise behaviour.
It should assist staff to monitor their own standards and practice and reduce the risk of allegations being made against them.
It is also recognised that not all people who work with children work as paid or contracted employees. The principles and guidance still apply and should be followed by any person whose work brings them into contact with children.
We refer to the (GSWP) Safer Working Practice for Adults who Work with Children and Young People 2015 for guidance to inform our school policies and practices.
Please click on the school’s Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy below for further information:
Interim Curbar Safeguarding Child Protection Policy – Sep 2023
Please refer to our ‘Safeguarding’ polices found on the School Policy and Procedure page or go to the Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Board at http://www.derbyshirescb.org.uk/
Out of Hours Safeguarding – Advice for parents during school closures
Calling Call Derbyshire 01629 533190
If you have a concern for a child which you believe to be an immediate child protection concern then you should report this through Call Derbyshire on 01629 533190. This is a 24 hour 365 days a year contact and referral service for children, young people and their families. These should be cases where you believe require urgent action where the child’s safety and wellbeing (significant harm) is at immediate risk.
A Call Derbyshire Customer Care Assistant is trained to take all the appropriate information from you, they will record this on our framework system and then this will be passed through to Starting Point.
If you are concerned about any young person in respect of their emotional wellbeing or you feel that they are vulnerable to harm or abuse and you are uncertain whether they are receiving support you may wish to contact one of the agencies listed. Many of the agencies have established links and will ensure that your concern or query is directed to the appropriate agency.
- Call Derbyshire (Derbyshire County Council Social Services) 01629 533 190
- Child Line 0800 1111
- Online issues or exploitation contact Child Exploitation and Online Protection Agency (CEOP) https://www.ceop.police.uk/Ceop-Report/
- Suspicion that a young person is at at risk of Child Sexual Exploitation- contact Safe and Sound 01332 362120
- Advice, support and options if you, or someone you love, goes missing or runs away- 24 Hour Anonymous Helpline Text or Call 116 000
- Radicalisation/Extremist behaviour see advice on: http://www.derbyshire.police.uk/Safety-advice/Terrorism/Prevent-Team/Prevent-Team.aspx
- Or contact: Police 101 (999 in an emergency)
- Crimestoppers UK 0800 555 111
Please continue to talk to the young people in your care about online and social media safety and encourage them to share any concerns that they have about any contacts they receive. CEOP have an excellent website called “Think U Know” which can be accessed on https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/ On the website there is a “Support Tools section on the top menu from which you can access a number of informative films which you may wish to watch on your own or with young people in your care.