Safeguarding
Safeguarding and Child Protection
Worried about a Child?
If you are worried about a child please contact :
| Mrs S Dryden | Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) |
| Mrs G Riach | Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL) |
| Mrs D Giddings | Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL) |
You can speak directly to them or ANY adult that works in school.
Alternatively, you can contact the Central Bedfordshire's Access and Referral Hub directly:
Central Bedfordshire Access and Referral Hub on 0300 300 8585 (during office hours)
Office hours: 08.45 until 17.20 Monday to Thursday and 08.45 until 16.20 on a Friday
If you urgently need help outside office hours you can contact Social Care Emergency Duty Team on 0300 300 8123
Bedfordshire Police on 101 or in an emergency 999.
NSPCC 0808 800 5000
Child Protection and Child in Need Procedures
Our first priority is your child’s welfare. There may be occasions when our concern about your child means that we have to consult with other agencies even before we contact you. The Bedfordshire Area Child Protection Committee has laid down the procedures we follow.
Child Protection Referral
Section 47 (1) of the Children Act 1989 gives the local authority a duty to investigate when it is suspected or found that a child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. The local authority will then make enquiries from other agencies to enable them to decide whether they should take any action to safeguard or promote the child’s welfare.
Child in Need Referral
There may be other circumstances (which are not to do with child protection, but more related to meeting children’s needs) when we feel that you and your family may benefit from some support from other agencies i.e. social services. Before we can do this we will need to seek your permission. We will then complete documentation relating to a common assessment framework. This will enable the appropriate services to support.
As a school we have a statutory duty to assist social services department acting on behalf of children in need or enquiring into allegations of child abuse. As well as this statutory duty we have a pastoral responsibility towards our pupils and we recognise that pupils have a fundamental right to be protected from harm. Children cannot learn effectively unless they feel safe and secure. We therefore have a child protection policy, which reflects both our statutory duty and our pastoral responsibilities. If we have a concern that a child has been abused or is at risk of abuse, we have a duty to refer this to social services. In making any referral, the school is not making any judgement for example about individual parents or carers. It is for social services to decide whether there should be an investigation.
Security
As you will appreciate, security is a high priority in all schools. For the safety of the children we operate the following precautions:
Between the hours of 9.00 a.m. and 3.25 p.m. all gates to the main playground are locked.
Visitors may gain access via the main school entrance and are asked to report to the office and sign a visitors’ book whereupon they are given a visitor’s badge to wear. They are required to sign out on leaving the building. No visitor is allowed to be unaccompanied in school without a full DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service Check).
No child will be allowed to leave the school premises with anyone other than an adult with parental responsibility or an appropriate representative of that adult where prior notification has been provided to the school office.
Please go to our Parents tab to see up to date information and articles about keeping your child safe online.
We take safeguarding extremely seriously at Kensworth CE Academy. There are lots of ways in which we implement for example, child friendly posters that encourage children to 'keep a surprise, not a secret' and all staff and visitors wear identification badges on a lanyard
Our Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy can be found on this page and on our Policies page under Key Information.
The LADO (also known in Central Bedfordshire as the Allegations Manager) oversees investigations into allegations and concerns against adults who work with children and young people in both a paid and voluntary capacity.
If you have concerns about the conduct and behaviour of someone working with children and young people you can contact Central Bedfordshire’s LADO as follows:
LADO - tel no 0300 300 4832 or 0300 300 4833
We are a designated 'Safe Space' school
What is a Safe Space?
Bedfordshire Domestic Abuse Partnership (BDAP) Safe Spaces Scheme promotes that certain places in our local communities can:
Offer a safe space for someone to go to who needs to access support
Offer a safe space for someone to contact a support service to help them safely end an abusive or controlling relationship
A Safe Space is an area in a building that enables someone experiencing domestic abuse to be able to make a confidential call, use the internet safely to get help or to just be somewhere safe.
The Safe Space will display, if possible, information about the local and national services that can support victims. If these information details can’t be displayed for some reason, the Safe Space would provide access to the information for people who need it.
Staff who manage and work in the Safe Space do not need to be experts in domestic abuse. Just having information about support services displayed and providing a safe environment for someone affected by domestic abuse to make a call or access on-line services, could make a big difference.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bedsdv
Twitter: www.twitter.com/bedsdv
Website: www.bedsdv.org.uk
Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy and other related policies and documents
Please take a look at the live feed for internet safety in the parent zone tab.
There is more information in the safeguarding tab in key information.