Safeguarding Guide for Parents Brief explanation of the

Safeguarding Guide for Parents Brief explanation of the procedures.

What does Safeguarding mean? What is Child Protection? Safeguarding refers to many aspects of school life - finances, school grounds, school building, employment of staff, health and safety policies, visitors on site and of course our well-being of children, families, governors and staff. For children and young adults: Safeguarding is defined 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. Child Protection refers to the situation where a child is suffering significant harm, or is likely to do so, and action is required to protect that child. In essence, safeguarding is what we do to prevent harm, while child protection is the way in which we respond to harm.

Designated Safeguarding Leads ● The position of Safeguarding Lead (including Deputy Safeguarding Lead) is of a higher position that of Head Teacher. They are responsible for ensuring that the correct procedures are followed, concerns are recorded and the child’s safety is put first above all else. ● At Sacred Heart, we have 2 staff who are Designated Safeguarding Leads (Mr Mc. Dermott and Miss Wilde) and 1 Deputy Safeguarding Lead (Mr Gore). ● All 3 staff members are of equal importance and are all trained to the same standard.

Who is responsible for the safeguarding of children? We all are ! ● Most concerns raised by parents relate to things which occur out of school hours and do not involve school linked activities. The common features of parental concerns are around social media or the conditions children are living in - housing concerns and neglect. ● It is no longer just school’s responsibility to report any concerns parents / community members may have. ● To report a concern, please see the links in the school’s Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy - February 2021: https: //www. athertonsacredheart. wigan. sch. uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Child_Protection-and. Safeguarding-Policy-February-2021 -Wigans-model-policy-flow-chart-and-contacts-from-School-Bus 1. pdf

Who do I report my concerns to? If it is regarding the general welfare of a child / family, you refer to either of the following: ● Children’s Social Care Referrals - Contact details - Page 5 School Policy ● Wigan Safeguarding Children Partnership - Contact details - Page 5 School Policy Please note, these contact details often change without prior notice. We will update the policy with new numbers once known but there may be times when they’re out of date. If the concern is in regards to criminal behaviour - county lines, child sexual exploitation (CSE), female genital mutalation (FGM) etc then you report it to the police via: ● 101 or online https: //www. gmp. police. uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/ ● 999 - if you believe the child is at imminent risk.

What do I do next? You must inform school (if it is in relation to a child at our school) that you have made a referral or contacted the police and share the basic information of what you have reported. In most cases, the external agencies will contact school to inform us of the referral and ask have we been informed and have we any other concerns to support your referral. At times, depending on the concern raised, support will be offered via school. The CSE team (or Police online safety team) often offer this support. School will then inform you that we have been contacted by the appropriate authorities regarding your referral. Please note, we are not permitted to share with you any concerns that we may or may not have shared with the safeguarding hub/police to support your referral. We can share what actions school may make moving forward. However, if the referral does not involve your child, we cannot discuss this any further with you.

What happens if I don’t inform school ? Why wouldn’t you inform school ? If school is aware that you have concerns we will ask you to confirm whether you have reported these concerns and for the details of your referral. Social Care or the police will inform school that a referral has been made but unless there are significant concerns, they won’t share what you have referred. It is your responsibility to inform school of this information. If we aren’t aware of your concerns and we are contacted by external agencies, we will then contact you, informing you we’ve been contacted and then asking you to share your concerns. If you refuse to share this information with school, we will then inform you that we will have to make a referral to the safeguarding hub regarding the safety and well-being of your child - duty and procedurally bound to do so (school will ask several times before reporting). Why wouldn’t you inform school ?

What happens if I share a concern with school? School will generally advise you to make the referral following the steps above. After all, it is your concern that you are sharing. We may, depending on what you share (or other information / concerns we may have), support you by making a referral ourselves based on the information you have shared with us. We will then inform you of our actions and any general next steps we are making. We won’t then be able to discuss this any further with you, unless the referral is about your child.

Can we make a group referral? No, is the simple answer. You cannot report it as a group to school nor the police or safeguarding hub. If a group of you have the same / similar concern, then you must all report it individually. Procedures in and around schools are predominantly (if not all) based on 1 person and do not allow for group reporting. Also, what you all report may be slightly different and so the numerous reports ensure a more accurate picture is reported. Again, each of you should contact school informing us that you having made a referral and what it was about. School can support your referral by submitting our own. Again, we will inform you of our actions and any measures implemented in school. We are then unable to discuss it further with you, unless our referral is about your child.

What happens when school has a concern and makes a referral ? ● Depends on what our concerns are and if there’s any mitigating factors Covid-19 etc… ● We may informally record it and monitor the situation for a short while before speaking with the parent / carer. ● We may choose to refer straight away. Generally, before reporting it to the safeguarding hub or police, we will inform the parent / carer. ● If we feel by informing the parent/carer that this would put the child at imminent risk, we will refer without informing them (physical abuse, county lines, FGM, arranged marriage etc…). When we complete the forms, it asks school is the parent aware of the referral. If not, we state why not. ● We can contact the safeguarding hub and ask for advice before making a referral.

What happens after a referral is made? ● Usually, but not always, further contact with the person making the referral is made. ● The parent/carer of the child within the referral is contacted regarding the matter. ● The safeguarding hub/police then make an assessment and decide what happens next.

Am I informed of the next steps after making a referral? No. In most cases, the person making the referral is not contacted regarding the next steps. This is the same for school and within school (staff passing on concerns to DSLs). Our role is to pass on our concerns. Once we have passed these on, we are not involved in the next stages. If after the initial assessment further action is determined then school will be involved and we will be invited to subsequent meetings / conferences etc… If a parent or member of the community made the initial referral, then you will not be invited to these subsequent meetings.