Perivale Primary Safeguarding Team

Perivale Primary School is fully committed to meeting its responsibility to protect and safeguard the welfare of children and young people in our care. We recognise the important part we have to play in identifying children and young people at risk of abuse and neglect and in securing appropriate support for them and their families.

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined in the Department for Education’s (DfE) statutory guidance ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (KCSiE) as:

• Protecting children from maltreatment
• Preventing impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development
• Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care, and
• Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes ‘Children’ includes everyone under the age of 18.

The child’s best interests will remain our paramount focus. We recognise that effective child protection requires sound procedures, good inter-agency co-operation and a workforce that is competent and confident in responding to Child protection to Keep Children Safe.

Child Protection is part of the safeguarding process and focuses on protecting individual children who have been identified as suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. Sometimes we 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 a pupil are discussed with parents/carer first, unless we have reason to believe that such a discussion would be contrary to the child’s welfare. Working with outside agencies enables us to ensure that our families are getting the support they need.

Safeguarding team

If you are concerned about the safety or welfare of a child who attends this school; please speak to a member of the Safeguarding Team via the school office on 0208 997 0619

Operation Encompass

Operation Encompass is a partnership between schools, the local authority and the police, working together to support children who may have been affected by domestic abuse. When an incident is reported to the police where a child is present, our school is notified securely before the start of the next school day. This allows us to provide timely, sensitive support to ensure pupils feel safe, listened to and ready to learn. Information is shared on a need-to-know basis and treated with the utmost confidentiality. Being part of Operation Encompass helps us to strengthen our safeguarding procedures and provide the best possible care for our pupils during difficult times.

What to do if you are worried about a child?

If you are concerned about any child or young person you should contact the local authority’s Children and Families unit on (020) 8825 8000 (Ealing) and (020) 8937 4300 (Brent). If a child is in immediate danger you can ring the police on 999 or if you wish to take advice from the police you can phone 101.

If you would like further information about keeping your child safe the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) has lots of advice and guidance at www.nspcc.co.uk

Complaints or Concerns about a Member of Staff

Complaints or concerns about a member of staff should be made directly to the headteacher via the school office. Details of making a formal complaint can be found in our Complaints Policy. The Headteacher will always take professional advice from the local authority on how to proceed with all allegations against staff. Any complaint or concern about the Headteacher should be made directly to the Chair of Governors via the School Office. You can also contact the Local Authority Designated Officer on 020 8825 8930.

Online Safety

We encourage parents and children to visit the CEOP (Child Exploitation & Online Protection) website or the NSPCC website to find out how to stay safe online and to keep up to date with information about games, social media and apps.

The NSPCC Pants rule is a great tool to help children keep themselves safe. Visit the NSPCC Website below to get more resources and information including a Pack for Parents on how to start the conversation. nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/underw ear-rule/

Photographs and Videos

Whilst lots of parents and carers really enjoy seeing photos and videos of their children’s school life, we are very mindful of our duty of care towards all our pupils.

We take the issue of safeguarding very seriously and this includes the use of photographic and video images.

Any photographs or videos taken by parents, carers and relatives at school productions, sports days or other events are for the enjoyment of individual families. They must not be used in any way that could potentially place a child at risk. This would include publishing images in any form of print or on the internet including social media networks sites. This is emphasised before concerts and shows etc.

Occasionally, the local press will be invited to take photographs of school events and special achievements. We like to use photographs of our children on our website, in school documents, for parent information meetings, newsletters and on our display screens around the school. If you do not wish photographs of your child to be used for these purposes, please contact the school office to update your consent form.

Safeguarding Policies

Further Information

If you would like further information, please click on the titles below:

• Childline
• Extremism and terrorism
• Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
• Child Safe
• Hate Crimes
• Cyber Mentor Plus
• Private Tutors