St. Mary's C of E. (Aided) Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We are fully committed to ensuring that consistent effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support families, children and staff at school. All concerns are passed through the members of staff who are trained as "Designated Child Protection Officers" in school in compliance with the "sharing of information" guidance.

Designated Safeguarding Leads:

Headteacher: Mrs S Copus

Deputy Headteacher: Mrs S Hatcher

Class Teacher: Miss H Turner

Class Teacher/SENDCo: Miss M Wilkins

Named Governor for Child Protection:

Miss Sharon Ansell

Integrated Front Door (formerly MASH): 01403 229900

Local Authority Safeguarding Officers: 

Miriam Williams / Donna Tomlinson -

0330 222 6450

LADO@westsussex.gov.uk

Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser:

Colin Perkins 01273 425792

If you have any serious concerns about your child or any other pupil at St. Mary's, please do not hesitate to contact any of these members of staff.  Please ask at the School Office if you would like to see them.  They all know who to contact for the best advice and help and they are all experienced in using the appropriate degree of confidentiality.

For the best interests of all our children we use the following safeguarding measures:

Cause for Concern

Teachers are asked to report any cause for concern to the School Safeguarding Team, often verbally first, but followed up in writing – following school policy and protocol. All staff receive child protection training when they begin at St. Mary's. Refresher training is carried out every year, or sooner if required. Any concerns will be shared with parents as early as possible. Concerns may range from children being visibly upset to persistent lateness to children ‘disclosing’ concerns.

We are taking part in Operation Encompass. You can find out more about this initiative here.

Staff update training

Staff have half termly update training to keep their safeguarding up to date and current. This year we started with a staff questionnaire to see where the need was. 

Autumn 1 2022 - Safeguarding annual refresher training with PREVENT certificates. Anaphylaxis and Asthma training for all

Autumn 2  2022- Pupil safeguarding in school (anti-bullying, worry cards, worry boxes, pupil voice)

Spring 1 2023- Sexual harassment and sexual violence, Behaviour and CPOMs update training

Spring 2 2023- Neglect and 'A day in the life' training

Summer 1 2023 - Domestic violence 

Summer 2 2023 - Updates to KCSIE '22

4th September 2023 - Annual safeguarding Training for all staff INSET Day

Autumn 2 - Self Harm 

Pupil voice

'If you feel worried or unhappy, don't hesitate to tell someone.' Martina Y6

'If you feel like you need to use your worry card then USE IT!' Jack Y6

'When you are a bit wobbly then you can either tell a teacher of a friend.' Freya Y6

Attendance

All lateness and absences are recorded and reasons will be sought for all absence or lateness. Attendance is monitored through these systems and referrals to the Safeguarding Team can be made. Parents will always be informed of concerns regarding attendance at the earliest point. If attendance concerns continue, the school will refer to the Education Welfare Officer. There will be no authorised ‘Leave From School’, only in exceptional circumstances.

E-Safety

We support our pupils’ use of the internet and seek to underpin their knowledge of safe use and protection. We provide our pupils with an awareness of how to stay safe online, both in the school environment and beyond. We believe that children should adhere to the certification given to games, DVDs, etc. All of the games and DVDs used at school will be rated as U. Parental permission is sought for the use of any other material (such as appropriate clips from PG films in upper KS2)

Facebook/Social media sites

Children of primary school age are not entitled to use social media sites such as Facebook. Children will not be using social media sites during school hours. We also ask parent/carers not to name school, staff or other children on any form of social media, or share photographs of any school events.

Documents

All of our staff are familiar with 'Keeping Children Safe in Education', 'Working Together to Safeguard Children' and 'Positive environments where children can flourish'.