Designated Safeguarding Lead: Miss Harrington

At The John Wesley Church of England & Methodist Primary School, safeguarding is taken extremely seriously in order to keep all of our pupils safe. On our school leadership team, we have four trained Designated Safeguarding staff members and a Designated Governor for Safeguarding. Our role is to ensure that our pupils are safe both in and outside of school. If you have any worries or concerns about a situation that your child, or any other, is facing, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Our current Child Protection Policy is available to download on our 'Policies and Procedures' page:

The John Wesley CEM Primary School is a family community and all those directly connected (staff, governors, parents, volunteers, families and pupils) have an essential role to play in keeping it safe and secure. We recognise our moral and statutory responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children.

The John Wesley CEM Primary School recognises the importance of providing an ethos and environment within school that helps children to feel safe, secure and respected, encourage them to talk openly and enable them to feel confident that they will be listened to. In our school:

• It is a whole school responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of children as its paramount concern
• All children, regardless of age, gender, ability, culture, race, language, religion or sexual identity, have equal rights to protection
• All children have a right to be heard and to have their wishes and feelings taken into account
• All staff and volunteers understand safe professional practice and adhere to our code of conduct and other associated policies
• All staff and volunteers have a responsibility to recognise vulnerability in children and act on any concern in accordance with the school’s Safeguarding Policy.
• We listen to our pupils and take seriously what they tell us.

All school staff are trained annually in Safeguarding, and children are made aware of the adults they can talk to if they have any concerns. Staff are trained to look out for signs of physical/emotional harm or neglect and are required to report these to the trained Designated Safeguarding Leads, all of whom are members of our Senior Leadership Team.

The procedures we follow at The John Wesley CEM Primary School are consistent with those of Kent Safeguarding Children Multi-Agency Partnership (KSCMP) and each year the school adopts a Safeguarding Policy adapted from Kent’s exemplar Safeguarding Policy for Schools, based on DfE guidance with the latest and most current guidance and advise.

On occasions, our concern about a child requires us to consult other agencies. We will ensure that all concerns are discussed with parent/carers first, before any referrals are made, unless we believe that such a move may be contrary to a child’s welfare.

To promote a safe environment for pupils, our selection and recruitment policy includes all checks on staff, governors and regular volunteers’ suitability, including Disclosure and Barring Service checks, as recommended by Kent County Council in accordance with current legislation.

Designated Safeguarding Leads: Miss R Harrington; Mrs C Clark; Mrs T May and Miss K Hanks

There can be no issue of greater importance to parents and carers, or to schools, than the safety of their children; we need all the people working with our children to hold safeguarding at the same importance.

Safer Recruitment

The John Wesley CEM Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Any posts at the school are subject to an enhanced Disclosure Application to the Disclosure and Barring Service and a check against the ISA Barred List for children.

We also follow KCC guidelines in regard to DBS checks for volunteers that help at our school.

Kent Safeguarding Children Board

Kent Safeguarding Children Multi-agency Partnership works to protect and safeguard the children of Kent: https://www.kscmp.org.uk/
 

There is a wealth of information on the KSCMP website for professionals, parents, carers and young people.

Online Safety

With technology advancing at a rate faster than most of us can cope, and with the added pressure of children nowadays being at the forefront of exposure to this advanced technological age with regard to the internet, mobile phones, laptops, computers and tablet devices, we believe that online safety awareness and safe practice is of paramount importance.

While prevention is sometimes better than the cure as it is so often said, we understand and appreciate the need for children to learn of and embrace these technologies and as a result we equally understand the need to teach them to use it responsibly, ethically, wisely and to guide them on how to best prepare themselves to stay safe while online.

CEOP Safety Centre:
CEOP helps any child or young person under the age of 18 who is being pressured, forced or tricked into taking part in sexual activity of any kind.  You can visit the CEOP Safety Centre for information and advice and make a report directly to CEOP.

If you are experiencing online bullying or something else online has worried you please speak to an adult you trust, or you can talk to Childline at any time on 0800 1111 or at the Childline website.

Internet Parental Controls:
The four big internet providers – BT, Sky, Talk Talk and Virgin Media – provide their customers with free parental controls that can be activated at any time. Video tutorials on how to download and use these controls are available on the UK Safer Internet Centre website: www.saferinternet.org.uk/parental-controls

Safety Tools on Social Networks and Other Online Services: 
Information and advice on the safety tools, age requirements and terms and conditions for a variety of online services popular with young people. www.saferinternet.org.uk/safety-tools

Online Gaming:
Childnet’s guide contains helpful advice and information on supporting children and young people playing games online and many other resources for parents. No need to add contact details, just scroll down for all the parent guides.
https://nationalonlinesafety.com/resources/

Young People and Social Media:
Childnet's Social Media information aims to help parents understand the positive and creative ways young people are using social media (e.g. Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram). It also points out the potential risks of using these sites/ apps and ways to minimise these risks.
https://www.childnet.com/help-and-advice/social-media/

Social Network Checklists:
Free guides produced by the UK Safer Internet Centre that contain detailed instructions and information on privacy and account settings on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram.
www.saferinternet.org.uk/checklists

For more information, please visit our online safety page.

Operation Encompass

Operation Encompass is a police and education early information sharing partnership enabling schools to offer immediate support for children and young people experiencing domestic abuse. Information is shared by the police with a school's trained Key Adult (DSL) prior to the start of the next school day after officers have attended a domestic abuse incident thus enabling appropriate support to be given, dependent upon the needs and wishes of the child.

Children experiencing domestic abuse are negatively impacted by this exposure; domestic abuse has been identified as an Adverse Childhood Experience and can lead to emotional, physical and psychological harm. Operation Encompass aims to mitigate this harm by enabling immediate support, making a child's day better and giving them a better tomorrow.

Operation Encompass believes that children are victims of domestic abuse in their own right and should be acknowledged as such.

Further information can be found at Operation Encompass website - https://www.operationencompass.org/