Putting
Children
First
Safeguarding
Safeguarding Children is Everyone's Business
Dove Bank is Committed to Safeguarding
As a school we are strongly committed to safeguarding.
Safeguarding procedures at Dove Bank Primary School are underpinned by three key principles:
Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility: all staff, governors and volunteers play their full part in keeping our children safe and protecting them from abuse, neglect and other safeguarding concerns.
Dove Bank operates a child-centred approach: a clear understanding of the needs, wishes, views and voices of children.
All staff, governors and volunteers have a clear understanding regarding abuse and neglect in all forms; including how to identify, respond and report. This also includes knowledge in the process for allegations against professionals.
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Safeguarding Children and Reporting Concerns
At Dove Bank, therefore, we believe that it is of the utmost importance to have robust systems for protecting children and safeguarding their welfare, throughout all the activities which the school undertakes.
All our pupils have a right to be safe and to be treated with respect and dignity and we work effectively with outside agencies to ensure that this is the case.
The school's Designated Safeguarding Lead will deal with any safeguarding concerns you may have as a matter of the highest priority.
The Designated Safeguarding Lead is Mrs Andrea Fletcher (Head of School) and the Deputy Safeguarding Leads are Mrs Lydia Leeson and Mrs Alice Stanworth. The Nominated Safeguarding Governor is Ann Melville (Chair of Governors).
You can also contact the Children's Social Care office or the Local Authority's Allegations Manager, Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB) directly.
We are all responsible for keeping children safe
Staff and volunteers
The school have a duty to report concerns about a child, whether this means the child may be in need of additional support or help of some kind or whether it is thought that a child may have been abused or be at risk of abuse.
There are four categories of abuse: physical, sexual, emotional, neglect.
In some cases the school is obliged to refer children to children's social care staff, for children to be assessed for their needs or if an investigation into possible child abuse is required. In many cases there will already have been discussions between school staff and the parents of the child, and the situation and concerns will not be a surprise to the parents.
However, parents may not be told that the school has referred their child to children's social care if it is thought that this might put the child at risk.
If school staff need to express concerns about a child or refer a child to children's social care, it is appreciated that this can cause distress or anger for the child's parents/carers. It is important however that all parties – parents and school staff - try to discuss these matters as reasonably as possible so that the best interests of the child can be secured.
Children's social care also tries to carry out its enquiries sensitively. It has to gather information with parents about the steps being taken and it is therefore beneficial that discussions are as open and as constructive as possible.
