Safeguarding

At St James' C of E Infant and Nursery School, the health, safety and well-being of all our children is of paramount importance to all the adults who work or volunteer here.  All of our children have the right to protection, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or disability.  The School will regard Child Protection as an essential task of all its staff, governors and volunteers.

The aim of our Child Protection Policy is to safeguard and promote our pupil’s welfare, safety, health and guidance by fostering an honest, open caring and supportive climate and this is of paramount importance at St James' C of E Infant and Nursery School. The School recognises that an effective whole school child protection and safeguarding policy is one that provides clear direction to staff and all other adults in school, about expected codes of behaviour in dealing with child protection issues.  All of our staff receive regular training on Child Protection and Safeguarding.

Whilst it is the responsibility of every adult working in school to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, there are key people at St James' C of E Infant and Nursery School and in the LA who have specific responsibilities.

Mrs Alex Moore is the Designated Person for Safeguarding and Child Protection and

Mrs Clair Brown and Miss Stephanie Sapsed are the Deputy Designated Persons for Safeguarding and Child Protection

Mrs Pat Smith is the Designated Governor for Safeguarding and Child Protection.               

If you have a concern about any child, you can speak in total confidentiality to our Designated Person who can offer advice about your worries.

All staff are fully trained and procedures are detailed and followed in every case where a child may be at risk. Additionally, anyone who has a concern about the safety of a child, can make a referral to the Cumbria Safeguarding Hub on 0333 240 1727.

A copy of our full Child Protection Policy can be downloaded below.

There are a variety of key documents for child protection in school.  Please click on the links below to view or download them.

Prevent - Preventing radicalisation in Cumbria

With effect from 1st July 2015 the Counter Terrorism and Security Act gave specified authorities a legal duty to have "due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism".  All schools now have a Prevent duty.

Prevent's aim is to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.

For us as an infant school we have a duty to ensure that our pupils are not exposed to beliefs and situations where radical thinking and extremism can lead to them believing in and supporting terrorism of any kind.  We aim to identify and arrange support for children who are vulnerable to extremism and radicalisation.  All staff who work at our school have received training on Prevent but some key people have received additional training to enable them to help and advise staff, children and families.

The lead person for Prevent in our school is Mrs Alex Moore. 

In her absence Miss Stephanie Sapsed and Mrs Clair Brown are key people for Prevent.

Mrs Pat Smith the the Governor for Prevent.

St James' C of E Infant and Nursery School ensures that safeguarding and child protection is given the utmost priority in every aspect of school life.  Child protection is an essential task for everyone in school.  For further information on this visit www.cumbriasafeguardingchildren.co.uk.

There is no place for extremist views of any kind in our school, whether from internal sources – pupils, staff, visiting adults, governors etc. or external sources – school community, external agencies or individuals.

Any prejudice, discrimination or extremist views, including derogatory language, displayed by pupils, staff, visitors or parents will always be challenged and, where appropriate, dealt with.  Where misconduct by a teacher is proven, the matter will be referred to the National College for Teaching and Leadership for their consideration.  Misconduct by other staff will be dealt with under normal school disciplinary procedures.

We encourage pupils to respect the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect, and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.  We ensure that partisan political views are not promoted in the teaching of any subject in the school and where political issues are brought to the attention of the pupils, reasonably practicable steps are taken to offer a balanced presentation of opposing views to pupils.

Operation Encompass - Are you worried about domestic abuse?

Domestic violence can be controlling, coercive and threatening behaviour as well as violence.  When children are witnesses to the incidents or the aftermath then it can seriously harm their mental well-being, indeed statistics show 3,081 children in Cumbria witnessed reported domestic violence last year.

As a school we work closely with all safeguarding organisations to protect the children in our care.

Operation Encompass is a unique Police and Education early intervention safeguarding partnership which supports children and young people exposed to domestic abuse.

Operation Encompass is the reporting to schools before the start of the next school day when a child or young person has been involved or exposed to a domestic abuse incident the previous evening.

Mrs Clair Brown is the key person for Operation Encompass.

If you are worried about domestic abuse either for yourself or someone you know, please speak to her or another member of our safeguarding team, Mrs Moore or Miss Sapsed.

Online Safety

Keeping our children safe online or in the digital world is extremely important. We use filters in school so that the children do not access any harmful or inappropriate content whilst in school.  We do feel that it is important to teach them how to keep themselves safe online too so that they have the tools to use outside of the school environment. Our Online Safety Policy is regularly reviewed to keep up with fast moving developments in the digital world.

General

Any concerns or support sought by school will be via Cumbria Children's Services who strive to offer families with the support that they require. They will work with us to improve outcomes for our pupils and their families, More information is available from their website https://www.cumbria.gov.uk/childrensservices/aboutus.asp 

 "St James' C of E Infant and Nursery School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare and well-being of its pupils, engages with young people and staff in Policy and practice developments, proactively encourages feedback and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment”.

Please see our Rough Guide to Staying Safe leaflet below for more advice on helping your child to stay safe.  You can also download a guide to keeping safe online by clicking the link: