Chiswick & Bedford Park Preparatory School

Chiswick & Bedford Park Preparatory School

Safeguarding and Child ProtectionPolicy

General

Chiswick & Bedford Park Preparatory School and Nursery (“the School”) is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of its pupils, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

The statutory definition of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is: “protecting children from maltreatment; preventing impairment of children’s health or development; ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes”. This statutory guidance defines child protection as part of safeguarding and promoting welfare. Child protection is the activity undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering or are likely to suffer significant harm.

We believe that our school should provide a safe, secure and caring environment which supports each child’s development in ways that will foster security, confidence and independence, ensuring that pupils and adults feel valued, respected and confident to share any concerns which they may have about their own safety or the well-being of others.

Designated Safeguarding Lead:Mrs C.A. Sunderland (Headmistress)

Deputy Safeguarding Lead:Mrs S. Daniell (Deputy Head)

Deputy Safeguarding Lead:Mrs G. Halcrow (Nursery Manager)

The Designated Safeguarding Lead at the School is Mrs Catherine Sunderland, Headmistress. In her absence the Deputy Safeguarding Lead at the School is Mrs Sally Daniell, Deputy Head. At Chiswick & Bedford Park Preparatory School Nursery Mrs Gemma Halcrow, the Nursery Manager, is the Deputy Safeguarding Lead. All concerns regarding child protection issues in the Nursery should be referred to Mrs Halcrow in the first instance and she will inform Mrs Sunderland.

The health, safety and well-being of all the children in our care are of paramount importance. Our pupils have the right to protection, regardless of age, gender, race, culture or disability. It is the responsibility of all staff and volunteers to be alert to all possible child abuse and to play a full and active part in protecting our pupils from harm.

All staff and volunteers must abide by the Staff Code of Conduct at all times.This policy applies wherever staff or volunteers are working with pupils even when this is away from the school, for example on an educational visit or at an activity centre.

Aims

In order to ensure that all staff and volunteers in our school have a clear understanding of their responsibilities and the actions required to carry out their duty of care with regard to safeguarding issues, the aims of this policy are:

To ensure that theSchool complies with all the relevant legislation, statutory requirements, recommendations and guidance, including Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) July 2015, Working Together to Safeguard Children March 2015, What to do if you are worried a Child is being Abused 2015, Information Sharing: advice for practitioners providing safeguarding services 2015, The Prevent DutyGuidance for England and Wales (March 2015), Safeguarding children and young people and vulnerable young adults policy February 2015, The Education (Independent Schools Standards) Regulations 2015, Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, The Children Act 2004, The Education Acts , the Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards (LSCB) guidance.

To ensure the awareness of all staff members and volunteers, of the need to safeguard children, and of their responsibilities in identifying and reporting possible cases of abuse.

To emphasise the need for good levels of communication between all members of staff and to create throughout the school a culture in which child protection and safeguarding issues are always on the agenda and able to be discussed.

To ensure that all members of staff receive regular training to raise their awareness of abuse and to maintain their knowledge of child protection procedures and requirements.

To have in place within the school,a procedure that will be followed in cases of abuse or suspected abuse.

To ensure that safe recruitment procedures are operated and that all adults within our school who have access to children, have been checked as to their suitability. (See Safeguarding & Safer Recruitment Policy).

To establish and maintain an environment in which children feel safe, secure, valued and respected, confident to talk openly and sure of being listened to.

To ensure children know that there are adults in the school whom they can approach if they are worried.

To enable pupils to develop an understanding of the boundaries between appropriate and inappropriate behaviour in adults.

To ensure that the curriculum provides opportunities for children to develop the skills they need to recognise, and stay safe from, abuse: communication skills, increasing self-awareness, self-esteem, assertiveness and decision making, so that pupils have a range of contacts and strategies for ensuring their own protection and understanding the importanceof protecting others.

To make appropriate links and reference to policies in related areas such as discipline, anti-bullying, safe internet use, etc.
To promote effective and supportive liaison with other agencies, responding to all concerns of abuse and working together for the protection and welfare of all pupils.

Types of Abuse

We recognise that because of the day to day contact with children, school staff members are well placed to observe the outward signs of abuse or unexplained changes in behaviour or performance which may indicate abuse.

Child abuse can be defined as the significant harming of a child. It may have considerable long-term effects on the child’s health, development or well-being. Abuse is mainly carried out by adults, but may also be perpetrated by other children/young people. Most cases of abuse of children are carried out by persons who are known to, and trusted by, the victim.

Child abuse takes a variety of forms:

Physical Abuse

A form of abuse which may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child.

Possible Indicators of Physical Abuse: Bruises, lacerations and burns may be apparent, particularly when children change their clothes for physical education and sports activities. Reluctance to change for physical activities, embarrassment about, or reluctance to explain, their injuries may indicate physical abuse.

Neglect

The persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development. Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse. Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to: provide adequate food, clothing and shelter (including exclusion from home or abandonment); protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger; ensure adequate supervision (including the use of inadequate care-givers); or ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment. It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs.

Possible Indicators of Neglect: inadequate clothing, poor standards of personal hygiene, constant fatigue, poor growth, hunger or apparently deficient nutrition.

Emotional Abuse

The persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and adverse effects on the child’s emotional development. It may involve conveying to a child that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. It may include not giving the child opportunities to express their views, deliberately silencing them or ‘making fun’ of what they say or how they communicate. It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. These may include interactions that are beyond a child’s developmental capability as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction. It may involve seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another. It may involve serious bullying (including cyberbullying), causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, although it may occur alone.

Possible Indicators of Emotional Abuse: excessive dependence, withdrawal from social interaction, and attention seeking. The emotionally abused child may also behave aggressively and/or inappropriately towards his/her peers.

Sexual Abuse

Involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example rape or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside of clothing. They may also include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse (including via the internet). Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children.

Possible Indicators of Sexual Abuse: victims of sexual abuse may exhibit physical signs, or substantial behavioural changes, including precocity or withdrawal. They may have sexual knowledge which is inappropriate for their age, or demonstrate sexually explicit behaviour.

Specific Safeguarding Issues

Bullying including cyberbullying;
Domestic violence;
Drugs;
Fabricated or induced illness;
Faith abuse;
Forced marriage;
Gangs and youth violence;
Gender-based violence/violence against women and girls (VAWG);
Mental health;
Private fostering;
Radicalisation;
Sexting;
Trafficking;
Children who run away or go missing;

Child sexual exploitation (CSE):

involves exploitative situations, contexts and relationships where young people receive something (for example food, accommodation, drugs, alcohol, gifts, money or in some cases simply affection) as a result of engaging in sexual activities. Sexual exploitation can take many forms ranging from the seemingly ‘consensual’ relationship where sex is exchanged for affection or gifts, to serious organised crime by gangs and groups. What marks out exploitation is an imbalance of power in the relationship. The perpetrator always holds some kind of power over the victim which increases as the exploitative relationship develops. Sexual exploitation involves varying degrees of coercion, intimidation or enticement, including unwanted pressure from peers to have sex, sexual bullying including cyberbullying and grooming. However, it is also important to recognise that some young people who are being sexually exploited do not exhibit any external signs of this abuse.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM): staff and volunteers need to be alert to the possibility of a girl being at risk of FGM, or already having suffered FGM. There is a range of potential indicators that a child or young person may be at risk of FGM, which individually may not indicate risk but if there are two or more indicators present this could signal a risk to the child or young person. Victims of FGM are likely to come from a community that is known to practise FGM. Staff and volunteers should note that girls at risk of FGM may not yet be aware of the practice or that it may be conducted on them, so sensitivity must always be shown when approaching the subject.

Preventing Radicalisation:

The Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 places a duty on all schools in England and Wales to prevent people being drawn into terrorism.

This is known as the “Prevent duty”.School leaders must ensure that staff understand the risk and implement the duty effectively.

Signs and indications can do no more than give rise to suspicion – they are not in themselves proof that abuse has occurred. But as part of their responsibilities teachers should be alert to all such signs. The designation of a co-ordinating teacher (Designated Safeguarding Lead) should not be seen as diminishing the role of all teachers in being alert to signs of abuse. All staff and volunteers have a responsibility to respond to all concerns about child abuse and play a full and active part in protecting pupils from harm.

Safeguarding Procedure at Chiswick & Bedford Park Preparatory School

In the event of any member of staff or volunteer having concerns about a child, e.g. noticing bruising or other injuries to a child or having other cause to suspect abuse or neglect for which no satisfactory account is given, they must immediately inform the Designated Safeguarding Lead.

If a member of staff receives a complaint of abuse involving a colleague the matter should be reported immediately to the Designated Safeguarding Lead.

If a suspicion of abuse is reported to the Designated Safeguarding Lead then other staff will only be informed on a need-to-know basis. All concerns should be treated confidentially.

The school will work in partnership with parents, but the interests of the child are paramount.

When a child makes comments to a member of staff, which give cause for concern

If a child confides in you, never promise confidentiality.

Be careful over expressions of emotion other than support and reassurance.

Make sure that the child knows that you are listening and taking it seriously but do not ask leading questions. Just establish what the child is telling you, listen and take note.

Make careful notes but not in front of the child. Keep careful written records of the conversation, with names, date, time, location and signature. Use the Child Protection Form (kept in the staffroom) to record the exact words spoken by the child as far as possible. Do not destroy original notes in case they are needed by a court. Signs of physical abuse should be recorded and kept in the ‘Child Protection Log’. Notes will be filed by the Designated Safeguarding Lead, separately from the child’s educational records and will be treated with confidentiality.

Above all: Do not try to be an expert.

Allegations against Staff

(see Allegations against Staff Policy)

The School will act fairly, quickly and consistently when an allegation is made against a member of staff or volunteer. The School has a duty to safeguard children and will take any such allegation extremely seriously. The School also has a duty as an employer to support the accused until an outcome has been reached to a case.

All allegations will be dealt with as quickly as possible to:

Minimise the risk to children; and
Minimise the impact on a child’s educational welfare; and
Ensure a fair and thorough investigation for all parties involved.

All allegations should be reported immediately to the headmistress.

Where the allegation concerns the headmistress or proprietors, the allegation should be reported directly to the Designated Officer at the Local Authority (see below).

If a person is deemed to be an IMMEDIATE RISK to children, the School will involve the police without delay.

Additional information

Contact Numbers

London Borough of Ealing

Local Authority Designated Officer - Ruth Lacey 020 8825 8364

Education Safeguarding Lead - Tom Galvin 020 8825 5501, Mob 07989 160 812

Children’s Services - 020 8825 8000

Out of hours - 020 8583 2222 and ask to speak to the duty social worker

London Borough of Hounslow

Child Protection and Safeguarding - You need to speak to Early Help Hounslow when requiring advice about these matters and making referrals.

Telephone Number - 020 8583 6600Option 1

Out of hours - 020 8583 2222

Education Safeguarding Lead - Lyn Wilson

Telephone Number - 020 8583 3066

London Borough of Hounslow Child Protection Line - 020 8583 3456

London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham

Safeguarding Line - 020 8753 6600

Out of hours service - 020 8748 8588