Schools have a duty to safeguard the children in their care, and we place their protection from harm or neglect above all other priorities.
Safeguarding is everybody’s responsibility, and we are committed to the highest standards in protecting and safeguarding the children entrusted to our care.
We have an expectation that all staff and visitors to our school will behave in a way which ensures our children are safeguarded at all times. This expectation involves a duty for any safeguarding concerns to be reported
Safeguarding means so much more than being ‘compliant’ with published expectations. At Pegswood, we put the children’s happiness and their interests at the heart of all we do. Our safeguarding culture is underpinned by our school values and school rules.
We carefully check that all staff and volunteers are safe to work with our children. All necessary checks are made, including DBS checks, references, ID and employment history. We keep a single central record of all this information, and this is regularly monitored. Visitors and volunteers are rigorously checked in much the same way staff are before they can have any unsupervised access to our children. All adults in school wear an ID badge with a Pegswood lanyard for quick identification.
As a school, we follow our safeguarding & child protection policy in order to follow our statutory duties. All staff must report any concerns they have about a child and not see these as insignificant. Staff will not assume a colleague or another professional will take action and share the concern. On occasions, a referral to Children’s Services is justified by a single incident such as an injury or disclosure of abuse. More often, however, concerns accumulate over a period of time and are evidenced by building up a picture over time; this is particularly true in cases of emotional abuse and neglect. In these circumstances, staff record and pass on concerns in accordance with our policy to allow the Designated Safeguarding Lead to build up a picture and access support for the child at the earliest opportunity. We are rightly required by law to ensure this priority is followed.
All concerns, discussions and decisions made, and the reasons for those decisions are recorded in writing on the school’s CPOMS system (an online system to monitor safeguarding, well-being and pastoral issues).
If you are concerned about the welfare of any child or vulnerable adult, then please discuss this with one of our Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL):
Andrew Waterfield, Robyn Provett, Jenny Smith and Lisa Vallons on 01670 512834.
Information from Northumberland County Council about what to do if you think a child is at risk is available by clicking here.
If you think a child is in immediate danger, then you should contact the police 999 or Northumberland County Council Children's Social Care Team:01670 536400.
Safer Recruitment
Pegswood Primary is committed to the principles of safer recruitment and, as part of that, adopts recruitment procedures that help deter, reject and/or identify people who might abuse children. Safe recruitment processes are followed, and all staff recruited to the school will be subject to appropriate identity, qualification and health checks.
Online Safety
We actively promote and monitor online safety. All pupils, staff and visitors to the school must read and sign our Acceptable Use Policy before any access to our systems is allowed. All usage is monitored by specialist software (Senso), and this is backed up by a robust firewall and web filtering. We buy these services from the Local Authority. Pupils are taught how to stay safe online, and this is regularly reinforced in computing lessons and what to do or who they can talk to if they are worried.
Curriculum
At Pegswood, we have a calm, secure and encouraging environment where children feel safe and their holistic development is enhanced through the delivery of our whole school curriculum, including our PSHE/RSE curriculum, school values and work with external agencies. We have identified opportunities across all curriculum subjects to directly teach the children about keeping safe and safeguarding. Please see the curriculum section for further information.
Health and Safety
We work hard to ensure that our site is as safe as possible. Staff closely supervise the children in all areas of the school, and they are visible and available to talk to at all times. The grounds are checked regularly by the site manager, and the building is maintained to the highest standards. External experts come regularly to ensure everything is fully functioning and safe.
We carry out regular fire alarm and evacuation tests, and all of this is recorded in our Fire Log. An annual Fire Audit and risk assessments reviews are carried out regularly.
The premises are accessible to pupils, parents and staff with additional needs.
Our catering facilities meet the highest standards of hygiene, and they are checked regularly by Environmental Health. We also meet the nutritional standards in place nationally, and we are proactive and knowledgeable about the food of all pupils with allergies.
Further material and websites that may be useful:
Keeping Children Safe in Education (Statutory guidance for schools and colleges)
Working Together to Safeguard Children
0800 1111
Some excellent online materials for parents and carers to help you keep your child safe online and guidance for them too.
If you are worried or concerned about the way someone is communicating online, you can make a report to CEOP.