Safeguarding
Safeguarding
At St. Stephen’s School the health and safety of all children is of paramount importance. Parents send their children to the school each day with the expectation that we provide a secure environment in which their children can flourish. When parents leave their child at the school gates they are in effect agreeing to allow the teachers and other staff at the school to act ‘in loco Parentis’. In order to do this a wide range of measures are put in place:
Policies
Our policies ensure that pupils are provided a fair, secure and harmonious environment. They will be safe from harm, know that staff have their welfare at heart, and they know that their views will be listened to and respected. All safeguarding policies are reviewed at least annually.
Pupil Well Being
As a Rights Respecting school, pupils are given opportunities throughout the day to voice their opinions, concerns and worries, should they need to. They are encouraged to participate fully in the broad and balanced curriculum on offer and know there are trusted adults with whom they can speak should they feel the need. Our robust safeguarding curriculum ensures that young people know how to remain safe and secure and to speak out. We recognise the importance of a healthy balanced diet and as such provide every child with a freshly cooked school meal every day, provided free of charge. We have a duty of care to ensure that any concerns are recorded and referred to the safeguarding leads.
First Aid
In school there are always paediatric trained members of staff who oversee first aid. There are a number of first aid kits situated around school. When a child is ill, or has suffered an accident in school, there is a protocol for staff to follow ensuring that there are clear lines of communication between school and home.
Site Security
St. Stephen’s is a secure and safe environment for all members of the federated community. Security is regularly reviewed and monitored by the health and safety team.
Staff Vetting checks
All staff that work in the school must have an enhanced DBS. These checks are carried out by the School Business Manager.
Educational visits and risk assessments
The educational visits coordinator has attended LA training. Risk assessment records are carried out for all educational visits as well as all events on site.
Operation Encompass
The Children's Act 2004 states that in order to keep children safe, relevant partner agencies including schools, police and the NHS work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The police will contact the safeguarding lead should a domestic incident involving the child’s immediate family be reported. We, as a school, can then ensure that children are supported as necessary.
Roles:
The Head Teacher, Neena Lall OBE, has overall responsibility for Safeguarding across the federation.
The safeguarding team includes:
Nursery Safeguarding Team Lead: Janet Patterson
Primary Safeguarding Team Lead: Jenna Chapman
Children Centre Manager & Nursery Designated Safeguarding Lead: Marie Foley
Primary Designated Safeguarding Lead: Jennifer Ward
Health and Safety Coordinator: Mark Little
Primary Deputy Designtaed Safeguarding Leads: Georgia Dawson, Chetan Patel, Zahira Khonat, Rebekah Finlay and Esther Williams
Pastoral Manager: Misbah Dar
Behaviour Manager: Jo Fleming
Learning Mentors: Lalita Varsani, Jash Halai, Krupali Trivedi, Hazra Thawa, Gentiana Aga, Jahanara Ahmed and Aisha Khankhara.
