BRINKWORTH EARL DANBY'S - SAFEGUARDING TEAM

At Brinkworth Earl Danby’s School, all our staff are able to identify children who may benefit from early help as a problem emerges and will discuss this with the DSL/DDSL.

The DSL/DDSL use:

· The Digital Assessment and Referral Tool as appropriate as part of a holistic assessment of the child’s needs.

· The Multi-Agency Thresholds guidance for Safeguarding Children on the Safeguarding Vulnerable People Partnership (SVPP) website about suitable action to take when a pupil has been identified as making inadequate progress or having an unmet need.

· Liaises with Wiltshire SEND service

· Various resources to identify and respond to behaviours that need support

KEEPING CHILDREN SAFE IN EDUCATION - documents from the Department for Education.

Information for Parents and Young People

Children and young people have a fundamental right to be protected from harm.

Families have a right to expect schools to provide a safe and secure environment.

All schools have a legal duty to work with other agencies, for example social services and the police, to safeguard children’s welfare.

Our school has a senior member of staff who is responsible for child protection matters affecting pupils at the school (the ‘Designated Safeguarding Lead’). It also has a Child Protection Policy, which explains how your school deals with child protection concerns, including allegations about the behaviour of members of staff.

Schools must follow:

• The law
• Guidance from the Department for Education
• Local multi-agency child protection procedures

If the school is worried about a pupil’s welfare, they must refer this on to a social worker.

The school will normally let the pupil’s parent(s) know when they do this. But they should not contact parents if they think that this could put a child or young person at risk of harm.

When a school refers a child protection concern to a social worker, they must share all relevant information about the pupil.

The Data Protection Act allows schools to share personal information with other agencies when there are child protection concerns about a child or young person.

The social worker, usually in consultation with other agencies, will decide what should happen next. This should happen within 24 hours of receiving the referral.

• They may decide that no further action is needed
• They may decide that it needs looking into further. What action is taken will depend on the circumstances. Any of the following may be appropriate:

o An Initial Assessment

o Child Protection enquiries; this includes agencies assessing the risks to any children based upon information shared, research and talking to those concerned.

o If the referral is about an allegation about a member of staff, usually a strategy discussion will take place between the school, the local authority, Children’s Social Care and the police to decide what should happen next.

They will contact you to let you know what is happening as soon as possible.