Safeguarding & Prevent
Safeguarding Statement
Annecy Catholic Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in all circumstances and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All staff are trained annually on the latest safeguarding requirements and it is a subject which is reviewed at each of our weekly staff meetings.
We all have a duty to safeguard our children from all forms of abuse:
- physical abuse;
- sexual abuse;
- emotional abuse; and
- neglect
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and also from the dangers of being drawn into extremism. All of these areas of abuse can come from online abuse and we need to safeguard our children from this too.
These duties and procedures are set out in our Safeguarding Policies and procedures, which can be seen in the Annecy Safeguarding policy. Parents and carers are able to read our Policies here on the website and are free to discuss issues surrounding our policies and practice with the Headteacher, Inclusion Manager or Chair of Governors.
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 his/her 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’s welfare, please record your concern, and any observations or conversation heard, and report to one of the DSLs as soon as possible the same day. Do NOT conduct your own investigation. You are able to make your own referrals to Children’s Services by clicking here
If your concerns relate to the actions or behaviour of a member of staff (which could suggest that s/he is unsuitable to work with children) then you should report this immediately to the Headteacher (or the CEO of Bosco CET if the concern relates to the Headteacher) – who will consider what action to take.
PREVENT Extremism
Prevent is part of CONTEST, the Government’s strategy to address terrorism. The main aim of Prevent is to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. Prevent focuses on all forms of terrorist threats, eg international terrorism, far right extremists (among others).
The Government’s Prevent strategy
Three key themes
- Safeguarding vulnerable individuals through the provision of advice and support and intervention projects.
- Working closely with institutions such as Universities, Schools, Prisons, Health, Charities and faith establishments.
- Challenging terrorist ideology by working closely with other local and national agencies, partners and our communities.
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The Prevent Engagement Team of officers and police staff aim to encourage discussion ensuring that terrorism is prevented from taking root in our communities. They support the wider engagement activities already taking place in schools, places of worship and community groups.
Through this work they aim to strengthen communities in order to challenge the ideologies and messages of hate which lead to terrorism.
Principles
‘Schools should be safe spaces in which children and young people can understand and discuss sensitive topics, including terrorism and the extremist ideas that are part of terrorist ideology, and learn how to challenge these ideas…Schools should be mindful of their existing duties to forbid political indoctrination and secure a balanced presentation of political issues’ (HM Government Prevent Duty Guidance for England & Wales, 2015).
At Annecy Catholic Primary School we ensure that these principles are adhered to. The Head of School monitors the school’s work in this regard. What we do in school ‘Safeguarding’ pupils is our number one priority at this school.
Safeguarding Leads
Our Governor responsible for Safeguarding is Mrs Siobhan Cox
