Safeguarding and Support

We are committed to ensuring the welfare and safety of all children in school and, through our policies, procedures and attitudes, strive to promote a culture of shared responsibility for all aspects of safeguarding.  All North Yorkshire schools, including Goathland Primary School, follow the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Partnership procedures.

We are part of a project that runs jointly between all schools, academies and colleges in North Yorkshire and North Yorkshire Police called Operation Encompass. This project has been designed to provide early reporting to schools and any domestic abuse incidents that occur outside of normal school hours and that might have had an impact on a child attending our premises the following day. This information will be shared at the earliest opportunity between Monday to Thursday and, when an incident occurs on a Friday, Saturday or a Sunday, the police will contact us the following Monday. The Headteacher, known as a key adult, has received awareness training to enable them to liaise with the police. They use the information that has been shared with them, in confidence, to ensure that school is able to make provision for possible difficulties experienced by children or their families. Information will be shared where it is identified that a child or young person was present, witnessed or was involved in a domestic abuse incident. Please visit www.operationencompass.org for more information

We work hard to ensure that:

– we employ staff and volunteers who are suitable to work with children

– our policies and procedures are understood and adhered to by all staff at all times

– there are clear expectations and boundaries for behaviour of children, staff and volunteers

– children are taught strategies for recognising and dealing with dangers.

– all staff and volunteers are confident in dealing with concerns about the safety or welfare of a child, and that there are rigorous procedures in place for following up concerns.

The school will, in most circumstances, endeavour to discuss all concerns with parents about their child/ren.  However, there may be exceptional circumstances when the school will discuss concerns with Social Care and/or the Police without parental knowledge (in accordance with Child Protection procedures).  The school will, of course, always aim to maintain a positive relationship with all parents.  The school’s child protection policy is available on request from the school office or can be viewed by clicking on the link under Important Documents below.

What can I do if I am worried about a child?

If you believe that a child is in immediate danger from significant harm, dial 999 to report it to the Police

If you are concerned about a child and they are not in immediate danger, you can call 01609 780780 to talk anonymously to a North Yorkshire duty Social Worker or call the NSPCC Helpline: 0808 800 5000 or email: help@NSPCC.org.uk.

If parents, staff or volunteers have concerns about the safety or welfare of a child, the main point of contact in school is Mr Johnson, who is the Designated Safeguarding Lead, or Vickie Bordoli, who is the Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead. The governor with responsibility for overseeing child protection matters is Mrs Nicola Atkinson, who can be contacted via the school office or on natkinson@goathland.n-yorks.sch.uk. Staff should use CPOMs to record any concern; the paper-based reporting system is still in place if it can’t be accessed for any reason, or for visitors.

This is in line with our child protection policy, but if you do not feel able to talk to school staff, or are unable to contact staff for any reason, then you should telephone the North Yorkshire Multi-Agency Screening Team (MAST) on 01609 536993.

If your concern is about a member of staff, you should contact Headteacher Mr Johnson in confidence. If you are not able to speak to him for any reason, you can contact the duty Local Area Designated Officer (LADO) on 01609 533080.  If the concern is about the Headteacher, you can contact the Chair of Governors, Mr Nick Chambers on nchambers@goathland.n-yorks.sch.uk, or contact the LADO as above on 01609 533080 or lado@northyorks.gov.uk

The school uses CPOMS for recording and monitoring child protection, safeguarding, pastoral and welfare issues. Staff use the safeguarding procedures described in our school policy, and ensure that all concerns are shared on the same day with the Safeguarding Lead, her deputy, and other relevant members of staff.

The Designated Teacher for Looked After Children is Headteacher Mr Garry Johnson.

The Attendance Lead is Headteacher Garry Johnson; Deputy Attendance Lead is Vickie Bordoli.

Family Support

Support for families is available from the NSPCC here – NSPCC Support for Parents

Online Safety Advice – Getsafeonline

Applications

Age limits are there to protect children. Here is a useful reminder of the age restrictions of some popular platforms to help parents and carers decide how appropriate they are for a child to access and what level of supervision needs to be in place: