Safeguarding

At St. Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, we regard the safeguarding of children as our main priority. We believe that we all have the right to be happy, to be safe and to learn; we all have the responsibility to make this happen. 

If you are concerned that a child is being harmed or neglected call Durham Social Care Direct:  03000 26 7979

If the child or young person is at immediate risk of harm call: 999

We will ensure that: 

• the welfare of the child remains paramount; 
• all children whatever their age, culture, disability, gender, language, racial origin, religious beliefs and/ or sexual identity have the right to be protected from harm; 
• all suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately; 
• all staff and volunteers working at our school have a responsibility to report concerns to the designated leads for Safeguarding: Mrs Burgess, Mrs Haveron, Miss Ryan and Mr Haveron 

Areas of Safeguarding

Our safeguarding policies cover all areas of school life and include: 

• staff & visitors – ensuring all are vetted, informed & trained; 
• children’s behaviour – promoting safer and happier behaviours & lifestyles; 
• parents & carers – promoting links and supporting families; 

• premises – keeping our building safe, pleasant and fit for purpose; 
• curriculum – providing positive, life affirming learning experiences; 
• outside school – ensuring safe environments and safe activities to enhance our curriculum. 

Members of Staff Responsible 

• All staff are responsible for ensuring that each child remains safe, however the Designated Lead for Safeguarding is Mrs Urwin – Headteacher.

• Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads are Miss Ryan, Mr Haveron and Mrs Cowan.

Safer Recruitment

We follow strict procedures to ensure that everyone who works with our children is vetted, keeping our children as safe as possible. Ongoing checks and ‘whistle-blowing’ are in line with current policy. 

Staff Training

All staff are: 

• trained in safeguarding and child protection issues and they are aware of the procedures to follow; 
• encouraged to be vigilant in order to maintain the safety of our children; 
• given a copy of the BWCET Code of Conduct  
• have access to ‘Keeping children safe in education’
• This applies to volunteers too. 

Child Protection with Safeguarding Policy

All staff have an up-to-date understanding of safeguarding children issues and are able to implement the safeguarding children policy and procedure appropriately. Policies are in line with current guidance and procedures. 

Staff are able to respond appropriately to any: 

• significant changes in children’s behaviour; 
• deterioration in their general well-being; 
• unexplained bruising, marks or signs of possible abuse; 
• signs of neglect; 
• comments children make which give cause for concern. 

All staff are aware of the need to maintain privacy and confidentiality. 

Please see St Joseph’s Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy 2024 – 2025 in our policies section. 

Information Sharing

We have an obligation to obtain necessary information from parents in advance of a child being admitted to school, including: 

• emergency contact numbers; 
• the child’s special dietary requirements, preferences or food allergies the child may have; 

• the child’s special health requirements; 
• information about who has legal contact with the child; and who has parental responsibility for the child. 

Written parental permission is requested, at the time of the child’s admission to the provision, to the seeking of any necessary emergency medical advice or treatment in the future. 

PARENTS & CARERS MUST TELL US OF ANY CHANGES TO THESE DETAILS. 

We take confidentiality very seriously. Any information which we hold is treated as confidential and shared on a ‘need-to-know’ basis. 

Links with External Agencies

Because our first concern must be the well-being of your child, there may be occasions when we have to consult other agencies before we contact you. The procedures we have to follow have been laid down in accordance with the local authority child protection procedures. 

We are fortunate to be supported by a range of external agencies which can be called upon to support the work we do in school. These include School Nurse, Health Practitioners, Educational Psychology, Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services, Behaviour Support, Social Services and Specialists in supporting Special Educational Needs. 

Reporting Concerns or Complaints 

Further to the above procedures, we have in place a concerns and complaints policy. This enables children, staff and carers to report anything they feel is of concern.  

Contact details are available from the school office. 

Please refer to the BWCET Complaint’s Procedure in the policies section. 

Operation Encompass Safeguarding Statement

Our school is part of Operation Encompass. This is a police and education early intervention safeguarding partnership which supports children and young people who experience Domestic Abuse.
Operation Encompass means that the police will share information about Domestic Abuse incidents with our school soon after they have been called to a domestic incident.
All Key Adults (DSL/DDSL) have attended an Operation Encompass local briefing as well as national online training.
Our parents are fully aware that we are an Operation Encompass school.
The Operation Encompass information is stored in line with all other confidential safeguarding and child protection information.
The Key Adult has also led briefings for all school staff and Governors about Operation Encompass, the prevalence of Domestic Abuse and the impact of this abuse on children. We have also discussed how we can support our children following the Operation Encompass notification.
The Safeguarding Governor will report on Operation Encompass in the termly report to Governors. All information is anonymised for these reports.
The Key Adult has used the Operation Encompass Toolkit to ensure that all appropriate actions have been taken by the school.

Review of Policy and Practice 

In order to ensure that best practice is maintained, our policies are reviewed at least regularly to incorporate the latest statutory guidance emerge. If you would like more information on safeguarding, please contact the school for all our policies or view our policies section on our website.