Safeguarding

At DGFS the health, safety and well-being of every child is our paramount concern. We listen to our pupils and take seriously what they tell us. Our aim is for children to enjoy their time as pupils in this school. We want to work in partnership with you to help your child achieve their full potential and make a positive contribution. To promote a safe environment for pupils, our selection and recruitment policy includes all checks on staff and regular volunteers’ suitability, including Criminal Records Bureau checks, as recommended by RBWM in accordance with current legislation.

In accordance with our responsibilities under section 175/157 of the Education Act 2002, we have a Designated Person for Child Protection who is a member of the senior management team, and has received appropriate training for this role. Miss Brown, is the Designated Safeguarding Lead, Mrs Sarah Vickers is the Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead and Miss Victoria Cetinich and Mrs Cindy Barry are the Designated Safeguarding Officers in our school. It is their responsibility to ensure that all staff in contact with children receive child protection awareness training on a regular basis.

There are occasions that our concern about a child may mean that we have to consult other agencies. Whilst we would always aim to work in partnership with parents there may be exceptions to this when concerns are raised for the protection of a child. On very rare occasions Social Care, whilst undertaking an investigation under s47 of the Children Act 1989, may want to speak to a child without parents’ knowledge. This would be a decision made in collaboration with partner agencies and would only be done in situations where a child might be at immediate risk. To gain consent at this point may increase the level of risk to the child or cause evidence of a crime to be lost.

The procedures, which we follow, have been laid down by the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board, and the school has adopted a Child Protection Policy in line with this for the safety of all. If you want to know more about our procedures, please speak to the Headteacher, or your child’s class teacher. The Policy can be found on the school website.

Security and Safety

The welfare of pupils and staff is a priority and so the school follows the RBWM procedures for safeguarding children. Over the past few years we have addressed the issue of security in a pro-active manner. We have had a number of video cameras installed around the site and inside school which record 24 hours per day. We have a remote switched front door and gate with a speech panel. Visitors sign in as they enter school and are asked to wear a visitor badge. Staff are always vigilant. Children are not allowed to wait at the gate for parents. They should be collected, but if there is a delay in collection, children are instructed to wait in the reception foyer. At this school, the health, safety and well-being of every child is our paramount concern. We listen to our pupils and take seriously what they tell us. We want to work in partnership to help all children achieve their full potential and make a positive contribution. On rare occasions our concern about a child may mean that we have to consult other agencies even before we contact you. The procedures, which we follow, have been laid down by the RBWM, and the school has adopted a Child Protection Policy in line with this for the safety of all. If you want to know more about our procedures or the policy, please speak to the Headteacher or your child’s class teacher.