FRESHFIELD PRIMARY SCHOOL

At Freshfield Primary, we are committed to:

• an ethos in which children feel secure, valued and confident of being listened to.
• giving children the confidence to talk to adults in the school about abuse and to make disclosures to them.
• establishing relationships with parents that build on an understanding of the school’s responsibility to protect children (and recognition that this may sometimes require referral of individual children to other child protection agencies).
• establishing appropriate expectations of interpersonal behaviour; and developing strategies to help children to protect themselves.
• providing training for staff in recognising signs, symptoms and behaviour which are symptomatic of abuse and in responding appropriately.
• establishing good procedures and practices in relation to record keeping.

It is the moral and legal duty of all adults in charge of children to be ready to protect children in danger from abuse. Education staff have a responsibility to observe, monitor and refer suspected abuse.

Any member of staff suspecting child abuse or neglect must refer their suspicions to one of the Designated Safeguarding Leads who will then refer to Social Services if appropriate.

It is important that staff are aware that many more children experience abuse than are registered as requiring protection.  It is therefore essential that school staff are vigilant in identifying abuse.

Our Safeguarding Team

Katie Smith

Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)

Hayley Ward

Head teacher, Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)

Dawn Gooderson 

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL)

If you are concerned about the welfare of any child at Freshfield Primary then please to speak to our designated safeguarding team as soon as possible. They can be reached via email at safeguarding@freshfieldprimary.co.uk

or by telephoning the school office on 01704-876567. 

If you are worried that a child may be suffering from significant harm, neglect or abuse, please follow Sefton's advice below:

· Call 0345 140 0845 (minicom 0151 934 4657) between 8am and 6pm.

· Contact the Emergency Duty Team on 0151 934 3555 for urgent advice outside of office hours (from 5.30pm Mon to

   Thurs, and 4.30pm Friday and weekends)

· If you think a child is in immediate danger, call for police assistance.

Please refer to our  Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy on the Key Information and Policies page to read more.

Visitors

We believe that additional adults in school have a strong influence on further improving our children's academic and social progress. We welcome students, parent helpers, community volunteers as well as adults with particular skills or areas of expertise. We ensure that we follow procedures to keep our children safe and that all adults who come into contact with our children have appropriate checks made. All visitors are given a copy of our Safeguarding Information  for Visitors upon arrival at the school. Safeguarding the children in our care is always our number one priority.

Other Useful Links:

Sefton Safeguarding Children Partnership

Further information regarding Safeguarding within Sefton can be sourced on the Sefton Safeguarding Partnership (SSCP) website here.

Child Sexual Exploitation CSE - Parent Online Training

Parents Against Child Sexual Exploitation (Pace) and the Virtual College teamed up to provide a short, free online course entitled ‘Keep Them Safe: Protecting Children from CSE’ designed to equip parents and carers with the knowledge to protect children against sexual exploitation.  Details are available via the following hyperlink - online course.

Early Help

When families needs extra support, we want to work with them to find the best way forward as soon as possible. Families and additional professionals work together, putting the family at the heart of decisions that are made about them. Early Help supports and helps families to make problems easier to understand and quicker to solve.  Click here for further information from SEFTON Early Help team)