Safeguarding

At Hall Orchard CE Primary School, we take our responsibilities for safeguarding and child protection very seriously.
As a school we will:

· Establish and maintain an ethos where all children (including those having protected characteristics under the Equalities Act 2010) feel secure and are encouraged to report concerns, talk, and are listened to;

· Make reasonable adjustments for disabled children and young people.

· Ensure that children’s wishes and feelings are taken into account when determining what actions to take and services to provide.

· Ensure that children know that there are adults in the school whom they can approach if they are worried or are in difficulty and that there are alternative ways to report concerns e.g. Worry Monsters, I have a Worry button etc.

· Include in the curriculum activities and opportunities for PSHE / Citizenship, Relationships, Sex and Health Education which equip children with the skills they need to stay safe from abuse.

· Ensure every effort is made to establish effective working relationships with parents and colleagues from other agencies;

· Operate safer recruitment procedures and make sure that all appropriate checks are carried out on new staff and volunteers who will work with children, including identity, right to work, enhanced DBS criminal record and barred list (and overseas where needed), references, and prohibition from teaching or managing in schools.

If you have serious and urgent concerns about the safety or well-being of a child, you should email DSL@hall-orchard.leics.sch.uk or call the school and ask to speak to a Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Named staff and contacts

· Designated Safeguarding Lead: Nadine Roodhouse – Deputy Headteacher

· Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead/s: Steve Dunn – Headteacher; Rebecca Harrison – pastoral lead; George Burdett – Assistant Headteacher

· Designated Teacher for Children in Care: Nadine Roodhouse – Deputy Headteacher

· Nominated Safeguarding Governor: Kayt Hennessey

If you have concerns out of hours, please contact Leicestershire First Response team on 01163050005 or follow the link below.
https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/education-and-children/child-protection-and-safeguarding/report-abuse-or-neglect-of-a-child

Operation Encompass

Operation Encompass poster

All Leicestershire schools are part of Operation Encompass which is an initiative to safeguard and support children and young people who are involved in or affected by incidents involving domestic violence and abuse.

Witnessing domestic abuse is really distressing for a young person, who can often see the abuse, hear it from another room, see a parent's injuries or distress afterwards or be physically hurt trying to stop the abuse.

Following such an incident, children will often arrive at school upset and unprepared. Operation Encompass aims to ensure that appropriate school staff are made aware early enough to support children in the best way possible.

How does Operation Encompass work?

After the Police receive a report of abuse in which children were present in the home or usually reside there, brief information will be shared with the school directly. This information will be handled by the school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead. This ensures support can be provided as quickly as possible and children can feel safe and listened to. The school will be informed that there was an incident and the name of the child. No further information will be given at this point.

If you would like to speak to someone is confidence about domestic violence or abuse, call the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0800 802 0028.