“If safeguarding children is everybody’s responsibility,
then everybody should know how, and who, to contact
if they are concerned about a child or young person.”
Lord Laming, The protection of children in England: a progress report,

(DFCS, March 2009), p25.

The Federation of Priddy and St. Lawrence’s School is committed to ensuring the welfare and safety of all our children in school. We believe that pupils have a right to learn in a supportive, caring and safe environment which includes the right to protection from all types of abuse including online abuse; where staff are vigilant for signs of any pupil in distress and are confident about applying the/our safeguarding processes to avert and alleviate any such problems.

Safeguarding is about ensuring that everyone is safe from harm – safe from bullying, safe from people who could abuse, safe from discrimination or harassment, online abuse – and that we all feel safe in our environment.

If you are ever concerned about the safety or well‐being of someone at our school please talk to one of the school’s Designated

Safeguarding Lead s (DSLs).

Priddy & St Lawrence's Federation - DSL Mrs Foxall

                                         DDSL Miss Smout and Mrs Thomas

                                         Governor Lead - Tatiana Storie

Contact details DSL Priddy – 01749 870354 or an email marked private and confidential to office@priddyandstlawrences.co.uk

Contact details DSL St. Lawrence’s – 01749 870437 or an email marked private and confidential to

office@priddyandstlawrences.co.uk

SAFEGUARDING STATEMENT

The federation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This means that we have Child Protection & on-line safety Policies and procedures in place which parents and carers are encouraged to read. 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 such a move would be contrary to the child’s welfare. If a member of staff is concerned about a child’s welfare, they will record their concern, and any observations or conversation heard, and report to one of the DSLs as soon as possible the same day.

If a member of staff has concerns which relate to the actions or behaviour of another member of staff (which could suggest that s/he is unsuitable to work with children) then this will be reported to the headteacher in confidence, who will refer the matter to the Headteacher (or the Chair of Governors if the concern relates to the Headteacher) who will consider what action to take. Children are taught what constitutes feeling safe and encouraged to talk to an adult if they are worried or concerned about anything. We work with agencies such as NSPCC and ELIM (Online safety) to deliver training for children, staff and parents. This also comes through in our PHSE curriculum. We want to ensure that children follow the principles of keeping themselves safe in their actions as well as being able to articulate what keeps them safe. This is in particular relation to Online safety.

Somerset Safeguarding Children Partnership