Dorchester, St Birinus School recognises its responsibility for Safeguarding and Child Protection. Our Safeguarding policy applies to all staff, governors and volunteers working in school and focuses on 5 main elements;
• Staff recruitment and selection – ensuring that all staff (including volunteers) who have unsupervised access to children, have been appropriately checked for their suitability through the CRB procedure.
• Raising awareness of child protection issues and equipping children with the skills needed to keep them safe.
• Developing and implementing procedures for identifying and reporting cases, or suspected cases of abuse.
• Supporting children who have been abused in accordance with his/her child protection plan.
• Establishing a safe and nurturing environment free from discrimination or bullying where children can learn and develop happily.
We recognise that because of the day-to-day contact with children, school staff are ideally placed to observe the outward signs of abuse and staff in school will therefore:
• Report any inappropriate behaviour / activities to designated staff member.
• Establish and maintain an environment where children feel secure, encouraged to talk and are listened to.
• Ensure that children know that they can approach any of the adults in school if they are worried and they will receive a consistent supportive response.
• Include in the curriculum opportunities for children to develop the skills they need to recognise and stay safe from abuse.
Staff in school will follow the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board Procedures in all cases of abuse, or suspected abuse, (these can be found at www.oscb.org.uk).
Please click the link to download our policy – Safeguarding Pupils Child Protection 2018