RothienormanSchool & Nursery

Child Protection Policy (22/08/17)

Education employees have an important role in the overall strategy to prevent child abuse. Teachers and other school staff are well placed to observe physical and psychological changes in a child, which might indicate abuse. (NESCPC Child Protection Guidelines)

The school’s programme of education in health and personal safety will help children at all stages to develop understanding of the need to protect themselves.

Principles

  • The first priority is the safety and well being of each and every child. Management of suspected abuse must put the safety of the child first.
  • All staff employed by Education are responsible for the implementation of procedures.
  • Prevention of abuse is as important as reacting to suspicions of abuse.
  • Management of abuse should always reflect the possibility of criminal investigation and subsequent charges. However the safety of the child has over-riding priority.
  • The child’s views should always be listened to and taken seriously.

The person with overall responsibility for child protection is the head teacher who is the designated child protection member of staff. Further information on Child Protection is available on the staffroom noticeboard. The school’s C.P. Policy is in each class’s folder.

Any member of staff who has concerns about a child, however minor, should report it immediately to the head teacher, or in the absence of the head teacher to the identified responsible person (indicated on staffroom noticeboard) or another member of teaching staff who will take appropriate action as described below.

What is Child Abuse or Neglect?

“Abuse and neglect are forms of maltreatment of a child. Somebody may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting, or by failing to act to prevent, significant harm to the child. Children may be abused in a family or in an institutional setting, by those known to them or, more rarely, by a stranger.” National Guidance for Child Protection 2014 (Page 11).

The Children Scotland Act 1995 highlighted each child or young person’s right to be protected from abuse, neglect or exploitation. This is key and guides the practice of the ECS (Education and Children’s Services), the school and individual practitioners in how we protect children and deliver services.

The 1995 Act has been strengthened and broadened by the 2014 act which amongst other things legislates for the Getting it right for every child provision and extends the rights of the child by recognizing the UN charter on the rights of the child within Scottish law.

Categories of Abuse

Category of abuse / Some of the features of this abuse
Physical abuse / •Physical abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning or suffocating.
•Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer feigns the symptoms of, or deliberately causes, ill health to a child they are looking after.
Emotional abuse / •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 involve the imposition of age- or developmentally-inappropriate expectations on a child. It may involve causing children to feel frightened or in danger, or exploiting or corrupting children.
Sexual abuse / •involves forcing or enticing a child to take part in sexual activities, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including penetrative or non-penetrative acts. They may include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, pornographic material or in watching sexual activities, using sexual language towards a child or encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.
Neglect / •Neglect is 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.
•It may involve a parent or carer failing to provide adequate food, shelter and clothing, to protect a child from physical harm or danger, or to ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment.
•Neglect may also result in the child being diagnosed as suffering from 'non-organic failure to thrive', where they have significantly failed to reach normal weight and growth or development milestones and where physical and genetic reasons have been medically eliminated.
•In its extreme form children can be at serious risk from the effects of malnutrition, lack of nurturing and stimulation. This can lead to serious long-term effects such as greater susceptibility to serious childhood illnesses and reduction in potential stature. With young children in particular, the consequences may be life-threatening within a relatively short period of time.

Indicators of Abuse

While we have the 4 categories of child abuse which groups abusive behaviour, the information below helps you to think about behaviour you might see which might indicate a potential child protection or wider wellbeing problem for a child

Physical Indicators

•Frequently dirty, hungry or inadequately dressed

• Left in unsafe situations or without medical attention

• Constantly put down, insulted or sworn at.

• Seems afraid or parents /carers

• Unexplained bruising in soft tissue areas, black eyes, repeated injuries

• Burns, scalds & bites

• Marks from implements

• Injuries to the mouth

• Inconsistent stories about the injuries

Behavioural Indicators

•Inappropriate sexual awareness or sexually active

• Domestic violence in the home

• Drug alcohol abuse in the home

• Unexplained changes in behaviour

• Difficulty in making friends

• Distrustful of adults

• Excessive attachment to adults

• Reluctance to go home

• Reluctance to remove clothing

• Change in attendance pattern

What to do if a pupil talks to you about possible abuse:

  • Do not promise to keep the information confidential. Advise that to help the child you must pass the information on.
  • Allow him/her to speak without interruption, listen to what is said, but do not investigate.
  • Be sensitive to the child’s feelings and do not make any judgements. Try not to react by showing any feelings of horror etc. you may have. The child may read this as a feeling that you have about them rather than what has happened to them.
  • Reassure the pupil. Let them know they were right to share this information with you.

In all cases:

  • Record the facts as soon as possible. Include any key phrases used by the child if possible, do not change the child’s language or correct swearing. Do not offer any reasons for why someone did what they are alleged to have done. Sign and date.

3 Key Questions in Child Protection

•Is this child or young person at immediate risk?

•What is placing this child at immediate risk?

•What needs to happen to remove this risk now?

If the answer to the first question is yes then Child Protection protocols must be followed immediately

Procedures to be followed by management at Rothienorman School.

In the event of a report by a member of staff about concerns relating to child protection the following procedures should be followed:

  • Reference should be made of the Child Protection Decision Making Flow Diagram, which can be found at the end of this policy document.
  • Where it is judged that there is evidence of abuse or potential danger to the child, then Social Work must be contacted (this will include discussion as to how parents are engaged). Telephone 01888 569260/569263 and ask for duty officer.
  • Staff must not investigate any potential abuse because collection of evidence is a specialist Police/Social Work role. Inappropriate inquiries may prevent successful prosecution.
  • If it is considered that the child requires medical attention, contact should be made with the school Health Visitor, School Doctor, General Practitioner, Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital as appropriate. If there is a view that the child may risk further abuse if returned home, the Police and Social Work must be informed as soon as possible and preferably well before the end of the day.
  • Where required, children will have access to independent support/counselling.
  • If it is confirmed that further investigation is required before suspicions can be confirmed or rejected, contact should be made with Social Work or with any other agency who may be able to assist in such inquiries or who may have information about the child or family. This would include the school Health Visitor, the school Police Liaison Officer, the child’s General Practitioner and if appropriate, the Educational Psychologist. The Child Protection register should be checked.
  • The head teacher will ensure that new members of staff are made aware of child protection procedures, as it forms part of staff induction training.
  • While some aspects of the Children and Young person’s act have been carried through into practice, the Named Person part of the act did not become law in August 2016. The Named Person role continues to be provided on a policy basis.
  • All members of staff are trained/briefed on child protection procedures on an annual basis.
  • The head teacher may at any time draw to the attention of the Reporter to the Children’s Panel the circumstances of a child who is believed to be in need of compulsory measures of care. In all cases, incidents will be logged, action taken and recorded in written form. The following format shows the information which should be recorded.

Establishment – Rothienorman School & Nursery Date: ……………………….. Member of Staff:......
Child Protection Co-ordinator: Julie Symington, Head Teacher
Name of child...... Gender...... DOB......
Incident / Action taken
Signed: Date:

A copy of the report will be forwarded to the Quality Improvement Officer designated for the school.

  • It is necessary to maintain strict confidentiality in all child protection matters. Breach of confidentiality is a serious disciplinary matter and must be reported immediately to the line manager.
  • It is possible that employees are implicated in abuse. Disclosure should not be discounted because of the status or role of the alleged abuser. If the head teacher is the subject of an allegation the QIO should be informed and thereafter the school’s procedures will operate.

Chronologies

Every child in school and nursery has a chronology which is kept on SEEMIS. If you have any information which you feel should be added to this then pass it onto the administrator (there is a brown envelope kept beside the register and dinner board for this purpose). This could be useful in building up a picture of the child and help us to identify emerging issues and patterns of concern in a child’s life. If however you have any concerns relating to a child at risk from any form of harm, Child Protection Protocol must be followed immediately.

Further Supports Available

•Aberdeenshire GIRFEC website

•Aberdeenshire Protecting Children and Young People Documentation

•National Child Protection Guidelines 2014

•Training available through multi-agency Partnership

•Child Protection Co-ordinator/ Headteacher (Nursery/Primary)

August 2017

Review August 2018


The red flowchart is child protection. If after referral the advice is that it is not a child protection issue then the GIRFEC Aberdeenshire process must be adhered to.