Safeguarding

As a school, we prioritise the safeguarding of our children.  There are a range of policies and procedures in place which cover areas such as Child Protection, Health and Safety, Medical Needs, Behaviour and Anti-Bullying. 


Safeguarding Education

We teach children how to keep themselves safe and encourage children to talk to staff about their worries so that there is continuous dialogue between adults and children. We work closely with a range of outside agencies to support our work.

We teach children how to stay safe through our Safeguarding Curriculum.  This includes:

-Regular assemblies focused on an aspect of safeguarding e.g. Road Safety Week, Anti-Bullying Week, Talking about worries, Keeping our school safe

-Sessions run by outside organisations e.g. Inspirational Speakers, Sex and Relationships Education, Pedestrian Training, NSPCC sessions, Road Safety Team, Local Policing Team

-ICT lessons and PRHE sessions focusing on staying safe online and behaving responsibly when communicating online

-PRHE lessons focusing on a variety of issues including feelings, healthy relationships, challenging stereotypes, avoiding and recognising risky behaviour and keeping healthy

-Further smaller group sessions for those needing further support

-Individual sessions with external agencies including with our Education Mental Health Practitioner who works at Withinfields every Tuesday.


Reporting concerns about a child

Child Protection is one aspect of our safeguarding work.  We all have a duty to safeguard children and all staff and volunteers working in school have regular training and are familiar with the statutory guidance of Keeping Children Safe in Education (2022).  Staff are trained in the signs of abuse and are skilled at recognising these.  Any concerns are reported to our Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead is Mrs Helen York and she is ably supported by the Deputy Safeguarding Leads, Mrs Sian Barton and Miss Roxanne Rothery.  

Withinfields Primary School encourages all parents and carers to be vigilant to ensure that as a community we keep all our children safe.  If any parent or carer has concerns about their own child or another child, they should pass these on to Mrs York, Mrs Barton or Miss Rothery.  If a parent or carer has a concern about the way in which a member of staff has behaved towards a child, these concerns should be discussed with the headteacher, Mrs Helen York.  If the concern is relating to the headteacher, the concerns should be shared with the Chair of Governors.

Further advice and information for children can be found on Calderdale's Safeguarding Children Partnership website: https://safeguarding.calderdale.gov.uk/


Prevent

Prevent is part of the UK's counter terrorism strategy, aimed at preventing people from becoming involved in terrorism or supporting terrorism.  Prevent is a legal duty for schools under the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015.  This means that we need to be alert to the fact that people in Calderdale may be vulnerable to radicalisation, extremism and terrorism from different groups.

At Withinfields, we recognise our duty to keep children safe from extremism in the same way in which we prioritise them being safeguarded in other ways.  We promote British Values through our assemblies, our curriculum and additional events that we organise.  

If anyone associated to our school is concerned that a child or adult in the school community may be at risk of radicalisation, they should refer concerns immediately to the Designated Safeguarding Lead (Mrs York) or one of the deputy DSLs, Mrs Barton or Miss Rothery.  These people would then refer the matter to the Calderdale Prevent Coordinator.  

The government have also released an online reporting tool for any person who wishes to report illegal or harmful information, pictures or videos that they have found on the internet. A report can be made anonymously using the following link: www.gov.uk/report-terrorism


E-safety

We teach our children how to behave safely online and how to communicate appropriately with their friends using apps and through a variety of devices.  When information about a child's internet and social media use causes concern to staff members, this is passed to the Designated Safeguarding Lead who uses her training and expertise to assess whether the child is safe and whether they have put themselves or others at risk.  Communication with parents and carers is crucial in this assessment process.  Intervention or further referrals are made following this assessment.

We regularly provide advice to parents about keeping children safe online via the newsletter.  These updates often inform parents of new popular apps that may pose a risk or need monitoring at home.  

If parents or carers want further advice in relation to keeping their children safe online, they should visit 'ThinkUKnow' or 'UK Safer Internet Centre'.

Parents may find it useful to work through these activities with their children to ensure that they remain safe while online.

EYFS activity

Y1, 2, 3 activity

Y4, 5, 6 activity

Parent e-safety helpsheet

Please follow the links below to access activities which will support your child in understanding the potential dangers of playing games online.

EYFS Activity Sheet

KS1 Activity Sheet

KS2 Activity Sheet

Parent Video Guides


Mental Health Support

We are keen to ensure that all those associated with the Withinfields' community are able to maintain positive mental health.  However, we are aware that, for a variety of reasons, children, parents and staff can find that they need support with their mental health.  The Headteacher, Mrs Helen York, has completed Senior Mental Health Lead training and is a Trauma Informed Attachment Aware Lead.  The priority that we place on communicating effectively and developing strong relationships means that we can often identify when children, parents and staff need support and can offer this in different ways.

We have an Education Mental Health Practitioner attached to our school and Mrs York is able to provide information about making referrals to them.  

If any parent is concerned about their own or their child's mental health, please contact Mrs Helen York.  Alternatively, the following websites are available to support mental health:

Andy's man club - Andy's Man Club are a men’s suicide prevention charity, offering free-to-attend peer-to-peer support groups across the United Kingdom and online. They want to end the stigma surrounding men’s mental health and help men through the power of conversation. #ITSOKAYTOTALK

Open Minds Calderdale - This website provides advice, information, support and signposting on local and national emotional health and wellbeing services that help children, young people and families who are going through a difficult time.

Kooth - Kooth is a free, safe anonymous online counselling and support service for children and young people aged 10 to 25. It’s open until 10pm every evening, 365 days a year. Young people can access Kooth’s counselling service, self help resources, peer to peer forums and interesting articles written by young people for young people.

VitaMinds Calderdale - We all experience times when we feel like we can’t cope, sometimes this can start to affect our everyday lives and prevent us from doing the things we normally do. VitaMinds can help. They are your local NHS talking therapies service. It’s a free service. We offer a range of short-term psychological therapies to adults 18-years and over, who are registered with a GP in and live in Calderdale.

Night Owls - Night OWLS offers FREE emotional listening support and mental health crisis support for ALL children, young people, and their parents/carers across West Yorkshire between 8pm – 8am every night.


Head bumps

Although rare, sometimes children have a bump in the playground or during PE which results in them bumping their head.  We send parents a 'bumped head' text when this happens so that they can keep an eye on them when they get home in case there are delayed signs of concussion.  We also make sure that the staff that are with that child for the rest of the day are aware so that they can be alert to the symptoms.  If your child has bumped their head and you need further advice, please follow this link to the NHS website.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/head-injury-and-concussion/