If you have any concerns about a child or children, please contact the headteacher via the Academy office as soon as possible.

Marleigh Primary Academy fully recognises the responsibility it has under Section 157 (Academies) of the Education Act, 2002 and the Education and Training (Welfare of Children) Act, 2021 to have arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. We make regular checks and audits to ensure full compliance with the latest version of ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education‘ DfE.

Through day-to-day contact with pupils and direct work with families, all staff in the Academy understand their responsibility to:

  • identify concerns early to prevent them from escalating;
  • provide a safe environment in which children can learn;
  • identify children who may benefit from early help;
  • know what to do if a child tells them he/she is being abused or neglected;
  • follow the referral process if they have a concern.

There are four main elements to our policy:

  • PREVENTION through the teaching and pastoral support offered to pupils and the creation and maintenance of a whole school protective ethos;
  • PROCEDURES for identifying and referring cases, or suspected cases, of abuse or exploitation.
  • SUPPORTING CHILDREN particularly those who may have been abused or witnessed violence towards them;
  • PREVENTING UNSUITABLE PEOPLE WORKING WITH CHILDREN

SAFEGUARDING AND CHILD PROTECTION STATEMENT

Under section 175 of the Education Act 2002 (as amended), *the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014, the Non-Maintained Special Schools (England) Regulations 2015, and the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 (as amended) to have arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

We will endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued.

The school will therefore be alert to signs of abuse, neglect and exploitation and will follow the Cambridgeshire Safeguarding Children Partnership Board’s procedures to ensure that children receive appropriate and effective support and protection.

Parents/carers should know that the law requires all school staff to pass on information which gives rise to a concern about a child’s welfare, including risk from neglect, physical, emotional or sexual abuse and exploitation. Parents/carers should know that records of safeguarding concerns may be kept about their child.  They should be informed that school staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with them including referrals to other agencies.

Local procedures state that “Consent should always be sought from an adult with parental responsibility for the child/young person before passing information about them to Children’s Social Care, unless seeking consent would place the child at risk of significant harm or may lead to the loss of evidence for example destroying evidence of a crime or influencing a child about a disclosure made.”  This includes allowing them to share information without consent, if it is not possible to gain consent, if it cannot be reasonably expected that a professional gains consent, or if to gain consent would place a child at risk.

Where there is a need to share special category personal data, the Data Protection Act 2018 contains ‘safeguarding of children and individuals at risk’ as a processing condition that allows professionals to share information.

In accordance with legislation and local Information Sharing protocols, we will ensure that information is shared securely and sensitively.  Information will only be shared with other services where it is deemed necessary and proportionate to ensure that children and young people are safe and receive the right service. In all circumstances, the safety of the child will be the paramount concern.

Schools will contact Children’s Social Care when they have reasonable cause to suspect a child may be suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. Occasionally, concerns are passed on which are later shown to be unfounded.  Parents/carers will appreciate that the member of staff in the school with responsibility for child protection (known as the Designated Safeguarding Lead or Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead) was carrying out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acting in the best interests of all children.

Holding power

Under Section 3 (5) of the Children Act 1989, any person who has care of a child “may….do what is reasonable in all the circumstances of the case for the purpose of safeguarding promoting the child’s welfare”.  This means that on rare occasions, a school may need to “hold” a child in school whilst Social Care and the Police investigate any concerns further.

Online Safety

We aim to:

  • have robust processes in place to ensure the online safety of pupils, staff, volunteers and governors;
  • deliver an effective approach to online safety, which empowers us to protect and educate the whole school community in its use of technology;
  • establish clear mechanisms to identify, intervene and escalate an incident, where appropriate.

For how we accomplish this please see our Online Safety Policy.

If you have any concerns relating to online safety, please contact the headteacher via the Academy office as soon as possible.

For general advice visit:

www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety

https://saferinternet.org.uk/guide-and-resource/parents-and-carers