Watlington Primary School is committed to all aspects of safeguarding.  We believe that all children have the right to be protected from abuse and harm. 

The Governing Body takes seriously its responsibility under section 11 of the Children Act and duties under 'working together' to safeguard and promote the welfare of children; to work together with other agencies to ensure adequate arrangements exist within our setting to identify, and support those children who are suffering harm or are likely to suffer harm.

We recognise that all staff and governors have a full and active part to play in protecting our pupils from harm, and that the child’s welfare is our paramount concern.  We ensure that anyone, paid or voluntary, who seeks to work in our school is safe to do so. 

Our school  provides a safe, caring, positive and stimulating environment that promotes the social, physical and moral development of the individual child free from discrimination or bullying where children can learn and develop happily.

Our Safeguarding Team:

The following members of staff are Designated Safeguarding Leads for Watlington Primary School:

• Mr Gale (Designated Safeguarding Lead)
• Mrs Sterjo (Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead)
• Miss Sharman (Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead)
• Mrs Doran (Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead) 

They can be contacted via the school office, or by telephone on 01491 612474.

The Designated Teacher for looked after and previously looked after children is Mrs Sterjo.

Our Safeguarding Link Governor is Mr Finbar McGaughey.

Cause for Concern

Our first priority is your child’s welfare and we are required to take any reasonable action to ensure the safety of our pupils. However there may be occasions when we have reason to be concerned that a child may be subject to ill-treatment, neglect or other forms of abuse.
 

We will ensure that our concerns about a child are discussed with his/her parents first, unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child’s welfare.  In this case we are obliged to follow our Safeguarding and Child Protection procedures established by the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board and inform Social Care of the concern.

If you are worried about a child's safety please do not hesitate to contact any of the Designated Safeguarding Leads straight away.

Early Help

All agencies that work with children, young people and families are responsible for listening to your concerns and worries and working closely with you to make sure you and your family get the right support at the right time.

At times children and families need a bit of extra support – and when that happens, it’s ok to ask for help. Early help is there to make sure worries don’t become bigger and you get the support you need at the right time.

You may have found out about how early help can make a difference from a teacher, health visitor, midwife, school health nurse, early years practitioner, doctor, voluntary worker or another trusted professional already working with you.

There are lots of different reasons you might need early help:

• You could be worried about your own or your child’s health, development or behaviour, or how things are going at school or nursery.
• You could be caring for others, or maybe you’ve had a bereavement in the family, and it’s made life a real challenge.
• It may be that you’re worried about money or housing and how it’s affecting your family.
• Maybe you or your family are affected by domestic abuse, mental health, drugs, alcohol or crime.

For more information about early help, see the leaflet below.

Keeping children safe during community activities, after-school clubs and tuition: Questions to help parents and carers choose out-of-school settings

The DfE has produce guidance that helps parents identify the safeguarding issues to consider when choosing an out-of-school provider or community activity. Keeping children safe during community activities, after-school clubs and tuition.

Parents can access the guidance by clicking here. 

You may also find the safeguarding web links below useful:

CEOP

Thinkuknow

Parent Info

Safer Internet Center

NSPCC

Childnet

Action for Children

Net Aware