Safeguarding

Martinshaw Primary School is strongly committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Everyone working with our children are expected to share this commitment. All employees, students and volunteers are subject to strict vetting procedures.
Neil Elson – Headteacher

Safeguarding children and young people is central to everything we do at Martinshaw Primary School.

This section of the school’s website gives an overview of the policies, partnerships, programmes and mechanisms that are in place to safeguard the children and young people who attend Martinshaw Primary School.

All Safeguarding policies are available to interested parties on request. However, the key policies are freely available to all, and are clearly signposted, as appropriate, on this website.

At Martinshaw, we fully recognise our responsibility for safeguarding children and young people. It is difficult to accept, but every child can be hurt, put at risk of harm or abused, regardless of their age, gender, religion or ethnicity. That is why we do everything within our power to:

protect children from maltreatment.
prevent impairment of children’s health or development.
ensure that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care.
take action to enable all children and young people to secure the best outcomes.

The action we take at our school to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children and families has a role to play and we recognise, and take our part very seriously in, this. We ensure that we operate a child-centred safeguarding system. We recognise that children want to be respected; have their views heard; to have stable relationships with their teachers, built on trust; and to have consistent support for their individual needs.

Our school recognises that it has a duty to ensure arrangements are in place for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and we will carry out this duty through our teaching and learning, pastoral care and extended school activities. All members of the community (including volunteers and governors) will at all times establish and maintain a safe and stimulating environment where children feel secure, are encouraged to talk to adults they can trust and are listened to. Through training, all staff (teaching and nonteaching) will be able to recognise the signs of abuse and understand their responsibilities when a child may be at risk of harm. Training of all staff will be updated annually.

Staff Recruitment

In line with the guidance ‘Safer Recruitment’, the Headteacher, SLT and some Governors have completed Safer Recruitment training. All staff including volunteers have been carefully selected and screened and all have had an enhanced DBS check prior to commencing work. Details of all checks are held in a central record. Staff will be inducted into the school and training will be given with regard to child protection.

Designated member of staff

The designated Child Protection Leader is Mr Neil Elson (Head Teacher), the deputy designated officer is Mrs C Brown (Deputy Head).

Our designated members of staff are fully trained and receive updated training every 2 years.

The Designated Safeguarding Lead ensures all confidential records are kept securely. It is the responsibility of the designated member of staff to have discussions with Social Care when concerns arise regarding the safety of a pupil in the school. All such pupils are closely monitored, including attendance, and where extra concerns arise these are always passed on to the appropriate agencies. The Designated Lead ensures that all staff are trained with regard to Safeguarding and Child Protection.

Designated Governor

Our school has a designated safeguarding governor, Mrs Julie Linford, who will act as the link person between the governing body and the Designated Leader. The governor will review safeguarding procedures/practices including access to training through regular meetings with the Designated Person. The governors will ensure that sufficient time is given to carry out the duties including accessing training. Where safeguarding concerns arise regarding a member of staff, the governor will liaise with the Chair of Governors, Mr Peter Griffin.

Parents

Our School believes in working closely with parents/carers and there is an open-door policy so that parents/carers can feel able to visit at any time to discuss concerns.

Our School is fully signed up to the Safeguarding of Children and our School Safeguarding Policy can be found below. Other relevant policies can be found here e.g. Special Educational Needs – Behaviour and Attendance etc.