Safeguarding

Oakdale Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare and health and safety of all children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Our Designated Child Protection Officers are:

Mrs K. Britton (Deputy Headteacher)

Designated Safeguarding Lead

The Safeguarding Lead is the first point of contact for any member of the school community who has a concern about the safety or well-being of a child.

Ms I. Wrigley (Headteacher)

Mrs D. Flynn (Safeguarding Governor)

Peterborough Local Authority has a Safeguarding Board. Please follow the link to view their website:

Safeguarding Children Partnership Board

The NSPCC online site offers information linked to all aspects of safeguarding:

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/

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 and neglect and will follow the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Safeguarding Children Partnership Board’s procedures to ensure that children receive appropriate and effective support and protection.

Parents/carers should know 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. 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.

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.

Below are some suggested websites to support families:

Safeguarding

Wellbeing

Keep your Head https://www.keep-your-head.com/cyp
Think U Know online safety support https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/
Kooth- support for children age 11+ Home - Kooth

Anna Freud: Parents and Careers | Advice and Guidance | Anna Freud Centre

Younited: https://www.cpft.nhs.uk/parents-and-carers/

Support from the school nursing service is available by contacting the school: office@oakdale.peterborough.sch.uk

A guide to keeping your child safe in the car - https://www.gocompare.com/car-insurance/car-seats-and-child-safety-in-the-car/

Young carers support: Young Carers Up to Age 11 - Centre 33

Safeguarding

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