Safeguarding and Child Protection

Safeguarding:

Safeguarding children is central to everything we do at Foley Infant Academy. 

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 who attend Foley Infant Academy.

The full suite of current and ratified Safeguarding policies is 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 Foley, 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 academy activities. All members of the academy 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 non teaching) 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. The academy will ensure that it provides written referrals on the correct form (MARF) and recognises the importance of attendance at all meetings called when there is a concern regarding the safeguarding of one of our children. 

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 academy and training will be given with regard to child protection.

Designated member of staff

The Designated Safeguarding Lead is:

Gemma Fox (Head of School)

and our Deputy Safeguarding Lead is:

Suzanne Hugo (Assistant Head and Year Two Teacher). 

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 this 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

The governor will review safeguarding procedures/practices including access to training through termly meetings with the Designated Safeguarding Leads. The governors will ensure that sufficient time is given to carry out the duties including accessing training. 

Children with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities

We recognise that statistically children with behavioural difficulties and disabilities are most vulnerable to abuse. All staff who support these students will be extra aware of the need for vigilance for signs of abuse.

Parents

We believe in working closely with parents and there is an open-door policy so that parents can feel able to visit at any time to discuss concerns. Email is used extensively by parents to contact members of staff directly including the Head of School. 

Operation Encompass

Our school is part of the Operation Encompass project which runs alongside South Staffordshire Police.
Operation Encompass reports to schools, prior to the start of the next school day, when a child or young person has been exposed to or involved in, any domestic incident.
Operation Encompass will ensure that a member of the school staff, known as a Key Adult, is trained to allow them to liaise with the police and to use the information that has been shared, in confidence, while ensuring that the school is able to make provision for possible difficulties experienced by children, or their families, who have been involved in or exposed to, a domestic incident. 

What to do if you have a safeguarding concern

If you are worried or concerned about the way a child is being treated and think they may be at risk of harm, abuse or neglect please report it.
The School's Safeguarding Team are always available during term time. If your concern is during holiday time or is related to a child that does not attend Foley Infant School please contact:
Children’s services referral and advice service (MASH) on 0300 555 0050 (Mon-Fri 9am to 5pm)

Key Numbers - South Staffordshire

Education Safeguarding and Advice Service:

01758595836

Staffordshire Children’s Advice and Support Service

03001118007

Key Numbers - Dudley
Emergency duty team on 0300 555 8574 (Out of office hours)

Or in an emergency call 999
Alternatively, you can call Childline on 0800 1111 or visit their website

South Staffordshire, how do I get help from my early help team?

To make a referral for Early Help Support, or to speak to the allocated Worker for a child, please call Staffordshire Childrens Advice Service on 0300 111 8007

For further information please see the getting access to support page.

Dudley’s Early Help Strategy

Providing early help is more effective in promoting the welfare of children than reacting later.
Early help means providing support as soon as a problem emerges, at any point in a child’s life. Early help can also prevent further problems from arising.
Effective early help relies upon local organisations and agencies working together to identify children and families who would benefit from early help and to undertake an assessment of the need for early help. For more information on Early Help please view the Dudley Early Help page, or speak to a Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Early help for children and families

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2022 - Translations (LGfL)
Our friends at the London Grid for Learning have translated Part One and Annex A of Keeping Children Safe in Education 2022 into thirteen community languages:
Arabic
Bengali
Chinese (Simpl.)
Chinese (Trad.)
Gujarati
Polish
Portuguese (Brazilian)
Punjabi
Romanian
Somali
Spanish
Ukrainian
Urdu
These translations were carried out by professional linguist with secondary proofing. However, the original English version should be treated as the official source of statutory school staff duties.
The translated documents can be accessed here: https://national.lgfl.net/digisafe/kcsie/kcsietranslate