St. Michael's CE School
Working Together For The Good Of All
“St. Michael’s Church of England School, established upon Christian foundations and living out the Christian faith, is committed to providing every child with an excellent education.”
SAFEGUARDING
All Safeguarding Concerns should be sent to dsl@stmichaels.wandsworth.sch.uk
Safeguarding is the ‘golden thread’ running through the ethos and culture of our school and in all that we do
"Schools and colleges and their staff are an important part of the wider safeguarding system for children. This system is described in the statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children.
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families has a role to play. In order to fulfil this responsibility effectively, all practitioners should make sure their approach is child-centred. This means that they should consider, at all times, what is in the best interests of the child."
At St. Michael’s we are acutely aware of the importance of ‘Keeping Children Safe In Education', and take notice of, and adhere to all the national and local policies and guidance in regard to Safeguarding Children and Young People. We also extend this to staff and visitors to our school.
We are fully committed to safeguarding and promoting the safety and welfare of children at all times. We expect all staff, governors and volunteers to share this commitment, and training, monitoring and reporting procedures are in place to ensure this commitment is realised.
We aim to provide a safe environment that is conducive to learning. We also aim to identify children who are suffering or likely to suffer significant harm, and take appropriate to keep them safe in school and at home when required.
As a school we ensure that safeguarding and child protection are at the forefront of all that we do and are part of the whole school policy and procedures. We view safeguarding not just as 'words' but as the all important actions we take to keep all those in our care safe.
Adults in our school take all welfare concerns seriously and encourage children and young people to talk to us about anything that worries them.
As a school we follow and adhere to Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) where it is stated: 'Good safeguarding requires a continuing commitment from governing bodies, proprietors, and all staff to ensure the safety and welfare of children is embedded in all of the organisation’s processes and procedures, and consequentially enshrined in its ethos.' (Paragraph 348)'.
At St. Michael's, safeguarding is the golden thread that permeates throughout all that we do both socially and academically and it an important part of our school ethos and culture. There is a whole-institution approach to safeguarding and all staff and governors at the school recognise their statutory role and responsibility to read Part 1 and Annex B of the document below. The school is compliant with this reading. We have also added the link for translation versions to ease the reading.
Furthermore, the staff sign a 'Safeguarding Declaration' as outlined in their annual job description, demonstrating a full commitment to safeguarding and all that it entails for those who work at our school.
Training: The school is fully compliant with the Safeguarding training requirements. These are regularly updated according to our policy.
We will always act in the best interest of the child. Below are the documents the school adheres to:
St. Michael’s CE School pupils are taught about safeguarding, including online, through various teaching and learning opportunities, as part of providing a broad and balanced curriculum. Children are taught to recognise when they are at risk and how to get help when they need it. Please refer to the relevant safeguarding policies.
General Safeguarding Role and Responsibilities
The Board of Governors and staff of St. Michael’s CE School fully recognise their statutory responsibilities and duties placed upon them to have arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of all pupils at the school. We recognise that all staff, including volunteers, have a full and active part to play in protecting pupils from harm. Members of the Board of Governors and all staff who work at St. Michael's sign the termly 'Safeguarding Declaration' confirming their understanding of their role and responsibility as outline in the Department of Education publication: "Keeping Children Safe in Education".
The Leadership Team and staff promote a culture of safeguarding that is the ‘golden thread’ running through all that we do to provide a safe, caring, positive, and stimulating environment where pupils can learn and which promotes the social, physical and emotional wellbeing of each individual pupil. We have developed a ‘child-friendly’ safeguarding policy for the children to develop an understanding of what it all means to them:
Safeguarding Appendices (to be read in conjunction with the school policy)
This very important page and additional information links below outline how we put ‘Safety and Security First at St. Michael’s’ and has direct links to the relevant pages on our school website and gives an overview of our school procedures. This page will be updated as/when information changes.
Useful Safeguarding Information for Parents
At St. Michael's CE School we adhere to the Department for Educations statutory publication entitled "Keeping Children Safe In Education" (KCSiE). In this document is is stated:
"Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families has a role to play. In order to fulfil this responsibility effectively, all practitioners should make sure their approach is child-centred. This means that they should consider, at all times, what is in the best interests of the child."
Our Leadership Team, staff and governors work to ensure that safeguarding, and all that it entails as outlined in KCSiE, is demonstrated as part of our positive school culture and ethos and is an important part of our school's everyday life.
Part of this culture also involves keeping parents and carers informed of the policy and procedures we have in place as well as signposting them to relevant websites and external agencies for information and support.
The links below are signposts to support parents and carers.
NSPCC
The general parent support page from the NSPCC has a wealth of information to support many issues
Talk PANTS and Pantosaurus is a fantastic NSPCC resource to support children. Talk PANTS helps children understand that their body belongs to them, and they should tell someone they trust if anything makes them feel upset or worried.
Government
Advice to parents and carers on keeping children safe from abuse and harm is a government website and brings together sources of information about the main risks children may be particularly vulnerable to during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and signposts you to help and support available.
Wandsworth Council
Thrive Wandsworth supports safeguarding from the Local Authority.
LADO: Local Authority Designated Officer
Wandsworth Safeguarding Children Partnership (WSCP)
At St. Michael's, as part of our Vision we work in partnership with external agencies to support and keep children in our care, Wandsworth Safeguarding Children Partnership (WSCP) is one such partnership.
WSCP is jointly led by the Police, Clinical Commissioning Group and the Council. We are responsible for protecting children and young people in Wandsworth from harm, abuse, neglect and exploitation, and promoting their welfare.
Please click on the link below to find out more about WSCP
The Ofsted publication: “Inspecting safeguarding in early years, education and skills settings” outlines the expectations for the Inspection Body when visiting the school.
This overview of our Safeguarding arrangements (below Tabs) are intended to give an overview of the policy and procedures we have in place at St. Michael’s CE School for Staff and Governors. It is not an exhaustive overview, rather one that is reviewed and updated regularly. The main safeguarding portfolio is the central source of evidence for the school.
...so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God... Colossians 1:10