Safeguarding

At Sedbergh Primary School, children’s safety and wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do. Naturally, the school plays a significant role in the safeguarding of children and young people. We operate in line with our statutory responsibilities, national guidance and local advice to support the needs of all children in our school.

Designated staff leads for safeguarding;

• Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL); Victoria Hudson –  Headteacher
• Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (Deputy DSL); Tracy Whetton – Deputy Headteacher, Betty Stephenson – SENDCo
• Governor with responsiblitity for Safeguarding; Charlotte Robson-Peall – Vice-Chair of the Governing Body

All staff and Governors routinely receive Safeguarding update training and revisit establishment policy, procedures and expectations. These updates include reference to the latest National Guidance, such as Keeping Children Safe in Education (September 2023). School policy, procedures and guidance are formally updated and then approved by the Governing Body on an annual basis.

All visitors to school are made aware of our Safeguarding procedures and offered access to guidance in the form of a leafelt (please see Summary Safeguarding Guidance section below). Any visiting speakers are made aware of our Safeguarding guidance and expectations (this guidance links to our PREVENT strategy).

We work very closely with families to support their needs, being able to offer support when families are facing any challenge or crisis. We always endeavour to work in partnership with families and other agencies to support families and secure the best possible outcomes for children.

In particular, the school works closely with the Local Authority and the Cumbria Children’s Safeguarding Partnership to access the best advice, training and resources for the families we work with.

Policy and Procedures

Use the links below to access our most up to date policies and guidance. These are also available on our policies page.

Summary Safeguarding Guidance

This guidance offers an overview of our approach to safeguarding at Sedbergh Primary School. In addition to accessing these guidance leaflets, adults visiting school should take the time to read and understand the more detailed information held in the above Policy and Procedure Documents.

Operation Encompass

We are an ‘Operation Encompass’ school. We work in partnership with Cumbria Constabulary and the Local Authoirty Safeguarding hub to provide immediate support to children and families affected by domestic abuse. Further information about this support is available on the link below.

Prevent

All staff at Sedbergh Primary School are trained about PREVENT, our duty to recognise and understand when and how children and young people might be at risk of becoming ‘radicalised’. We understand the important role we play in keeping children safe from harm and providing support when they are struggling or at risk.

Online Safety

Through our Curriculum and through our Safeguarding procedures we actively encourage and  teach children about how to stay safe when using online and digital resources. We also provide support to families in how to achieve this. Further information can be found using the links below.