St Mary's Catholic Primary School

Safeguarding

At St Mary’s Catholic Primary School we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.

We have a number of policies and procedures in place that contribute to our safeguarding commitment, including our Child Protection Policy which can be viewed in the policies section on our website and lower down on this page.

Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies, when there are concerns about a child’s welfare. We will ensure that our concerns about our pupils are discussed with parents/carers first, unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child’s welfare.

If you are concerned about a child then The Lancashire Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) can be contacted on 03001236720 or out of hours 03001236722. If you think a child is in immediate danger – don’t delay call the police on 999.

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead is Mrs. Brogden and the Deputy Designated Safeguarding lead is Mr. Taylor. Our Safeguarding Governor is Deacon John Cliffe.

We are part of Operation Encompass. Details of which can be found below-

Operation Encompass is a police and education early information safeguarding partnership enabling schools to offer immediate support to children experiencing domestic abuse.

Operation Encompass ensures that there is a simple telephone call or notification to a school’s trained Designated Safeguarding Lead /Officer (known as key Adult) prior to the start of the next school day after an incident of police attended domestic abuse where there are children related to either of the adult parties involved. 

Information is shared with a school’s Key Adult (Designated Safeguarding Lead or Officer) prior to the start of the next school day after officers have attended a domestic abuse incident. This sharing of information enables appropriate support to be given, dependent upon the needs and wishes of the child.

 

At St Mary’s we are committed to supporting our families, to decide upon the support needed we refer to the Lancashire Continuum of Need.

At Level 1 support we might-

• Provide food parcels.
• Make use of our School Uniform Swap Shop.
• Provide some financial support through our ‘Helping Hands’ fund.
• Complete Early Help referrals to include other agencies.

At Level 2 support we might-

• Complete a Common Assessment Framework (CAF) document to identify the area of need.
• Involve other agencies such as Child Action North West (CANW) to signpost support available.
• Have regular (Team around the Family) TAF meetings to support the family and take views from different agencies.

Above Level 3 the support would be directed by Lancashire Social Care.

Our Safeguarding Statement and Staff Contacts can be viewed here.

Our Safeguarding Policy Safeguarding-Policy-23-24