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Safeguarding

Our Safeguarding Policy (please see documents below) reflects current guidance and explains the way we ensure children are safe.

Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL)

Every School has to have a designated person to take lead responsibility for safeguarding. In our school, the following staff members hold designated person roles:

Mrs T Edmonds: Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and Deputy Head Teacher

Miss V Paulding: Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL) and Head Teacher
Mrs S Carter: Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL), Class Teacher and SEND Co-Ordinator
Mrs J Churchill: Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL), Network Manager

It is the responsibility of the Designated Safeguarding Lead, supported by the Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads, to ensure that any concerns about a child are recorded accurately and referred to the appropriate agency quickly to ensure that necessary actions are taken to keep the child safe. It is also the Designated Safeguarding Lead's responsibility to ensure that all staff and volunteers are trained to an appropriate level and are confident in sharing concerns they have with the DSL.  This training takes place each year.

Each term the Designated Safeguarding Lead meets with the Safeguarding Governor to ensure that they are kept up to date with the developments in Safeguarding.  The Designated Safeguarding Lead also produces a termly report to Governors. At no point during these meetings, or in the Governors report, are individual cases discussed.

Our Safeguarding Governor is: Mrs Jo Tyler

Reporting Safeguarding Concerns:
Please contact any of the staff members above on 01525 752500, if you have concerns about a child.  You can also speak to any member of staff in school who will refer the concerns to either the DSL or DDSL as Safeguarding is Everybody's Responsibility. 

Alternatively, anyone can refer concerns about a child to the Local Authority Children's Social Care through Central Bedfordshire's Access and Referral Hub:  
Access and Referral: 03003008585
Out of Hours Number: 0300 300 8123

For more information about the importance of the role we all need to play in Safeguarding children, please see the following Department for Education website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2

Prevent

The Prevent strategy, published by the Government in 2011, is part of their overall counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST. The aim of the Prevent strategy is to reduce the threat to the UK from terrorism by stopping people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism or extremist causes.  The Prevent strategy covers all types of terrorism and extremism, including the extreme right wing, violent Islamist groups and other causes.

Prevent - Some questions you may have:

Isn’t my child too young to learn about extremism?
The Prevent strategy is not just about discussing extremism itself, which may not be appropriate for younger children. It is also about teaching children Values, such as Respect for others, which is what we do every day in school. We also teach children about our diverse country and the importance of respecting the views of everyone, through our Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) curriculum. Any discussions around this subject are always suitable for the age and maturity of the children involved.

Is extremism really a risk in our area?
Extremism can take many forms, including political, religious and misogynistic extremism. Some of these may be a bigger threat in our area than others. Through Values Education and our PSHE curriculum, we aim to provide children with the skills they need to protect themselves from any extremist views they may encounter, now or later in their lives.

For more information, please find a leaflet below to support parents/carers understanding about the Prevent strategy:

Online Safety

We are committed to ensuring pupils understand the importance of staying safe online - both inside and outside of school.  We also want to support parents with this important job at home.  

Online Safety at school:

Every year, each class has a series of lessons on Online Safety.  Online safety is also taught at every opportunity across the curriculum. We also actively support Safer Internet Day each year, which is promoted by the UK Safer Internet Centre. 

Online Safety at home:

Children are encouraged to talk to their parents about online safety.  A list of useful websites and documents can be found here:

www.thinkuknow.co.uk
www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/
www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers

Parents' Ultimate Guide to TikTok (Commonsense Media)
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/articles/parents-ultimate-guide-to-tiktok

TikTok app safety – What parents need to know (Internet Matters)
https://www.internetmatters.org/hub/esafety-news/tik-tok-app-safety-what-parents-need-to-know/

 

Our Safeguarding Policy can be found here on the Pyramid Schools Trust website.