Safeguarding and E-Safety

Orchards Infant 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 ensure that consistent, effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support families, children and staff at school.  We work closely with multi agencies and endeavour to support all families. We will keep the needs of the child at the centre of all our decision making. All concerns are passed through the members of staff who are trained as 'Designated Safeguarding Officers' in compliance with the 'sharing of information' guidance.

The Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSL) is:  Ms Kelsey Martin (SENDco). The deputy DSL's are: Dr Paul Jones (Executive Headteacher), Ms Debra Wilkinson (Deputy Headteacher) and Elaine Nicholson (Business Manager).

Other members of staff are also trained to deal with concerns in the absence of the Designated Officer.

If you have any serious concerns about your child or any pupil at Orchards Infant School, a designated officer will always be available to listen to your concerns and let you know the best person to contact for support.

In order to ensure the safety of children, we use the following procedures in school.

Cause for Concern

Orchards Infant School ensures that all staff receive child protection training and this is refreshed every year.  Members of staff are reminded of school procedures annually and necessary updates are communicated throughout the year.  Members of staff report any cause for concern to the safeguarding team as soon as possible. A written copy of concerns is kept by the school.  Parents are contacted about any significant concerns including children disclosing information that may mean they are at risk of harm.  The school works closes with other agencies to ensure the safety of children.

Attendance

Absence from school and lateness is recorded daily by teaching staff and monitored by the attendance officer, Sandra Worsfold (Deputy Headteacher). Parents will be informed if there are concerns around lateness or absence and this could lead to a referral to the appropriate authority if it becomes a pattern of behaviour.  The Headteacher is unable to authorise absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.

E-Safety

We have a curriculum to support children's understanding of how to keep safe online.  We believe that parents need to support the school in keeping children safe by ensuring that access to the internet at home is monitored and confirmed to be appropriate.  We would expect that children are only accessing games that fall within the age range of the child when at home.  Inappropriate viewing at home could be considered a safeguarding issue.

Facebook/Social Media Sites

Children within the infant age range are too young to be accessing social media sites independently and we would expect parents to support this view.  We would ask that parental use of social media should not include the name of the school, staff members of other children.  We are happy for parents to take photos for their personal use at key school events, but these should not be uploaded to social media sites.

The school will only use images on the twitter account of children whose carers have agreed.