Safeguarding and Child Protection

Definition of ‘Safeguarding’

‘Keeping children safe in Education, DfE, 2023, defines safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children 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 every one under the age of 18’.

Safeguarding within Bowlee Park Community School

Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families has a role to play in safeguarding children. School staff are particularly important as they are in a position to identify concerns early and provide help for children, to prevent concerns from escalating. Schools and their staff form part of the wider safeguarding system for children working with social care, the police and health services both to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm.

Every school is required to have a designated safeguarding lead or (DSL). At Bowlee Park this role is undertaken by Mrs Metcalfe-Designated Safeguarding Lead  (DSL) and Mrs Crombie, Mr Turner, Mrs Taylor, Mr Fairhurst and Mrs Hartshorne - Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads (DDSL). The DSL has a legal duty and responsibility to follow the law as outlined in the school's 'Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy'.  At times the DSL and DDSLs have to undertake difficult conversations and would be negligent in their role if they did not follow up on any potential safeguarding concerns identified. The responsibilities of a DSL are:

• Making sure all staff are aware how to raise safeguarding concerns
• Ensuring all staff understand the symptoms of child abuse and neglect
• Referring any concerns to Children's Social Care (Formerly Children's Social Services)
• Monitoring children who are the subject of child protection plans
• Maintaining accurate and secure child protection records
• Ensuring filtering and monitoring in school is up to date and monitored

Below are the school policies related to Safeguarding and Child Protection.

Private Fostering

Informing children’s services of a private fostering arrangement

If you are under 16 years of age (or if under 18 years, if you are disabled) and you are looked after by someone else who is not a close relative for more than 28 days, then you are being privately fostered.

A close relative is your brother, sister, aunt, uncle, grandparent, legal guardian or step-parent.

There may be many reasons why you are not living at home, it may be just your parent has had to go into hospital for a long stay, or your parents might be working or living in another country.

What the law says

If you are living with private foster carers then your parents and carers have to let children’s services know at Rochdale Borough Council.

If you think you are living with private foster carers and want to talk to someone for help and advice, please contact the our Early Help and Safeguarding Hub (EHASH) by calling 0300 303 0440 or emailing EHASH@rochdale.gov.uk

Early Help.

Every family goes through challenging times at some point, and it is ok to ask for help. Early help means working with you and your family so that small problems don’t become big problems, and help you be the very best family you can be. Early help is for everybody, for families with children and young people of any age. It is about helping as early as possible; It's available to families with a child up to the age of 19, or a child up to the age of 25 if they've got special educational needs or disabilities. It is about looking at what help you need as a family before you start to struggle. The earlier we can get the support, the better the outcome.

If you think you would like to access early help, please download the booklet below for further information.

PREVENT Duty

Children are encouraged to express and discuss their ideas, thoughts and feelings through a variety of activities and have access to a range of cultural opportunities which promote respect and empathy for others. As part of our new Prevent duty under s.26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 we are aware of the importance of building childrens’ resilience to radicalisation by promoting fundamental British values and enabling them to challenge extremist views.  Schools can build children's resilience to radicalisation by providing a safe environment for debating controversial issues and helping children and young people understand how they can influence and participate in decision making. 

On 1 July 2015 the Prevent duty (section 26) of The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 came into force. This duty places the responsibility on local authorities and schools to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.

Bowlee Park Community Primary School is fully committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all its pupils. As a school we recognise that safeguarding against radicalisation is as important as safeguarding against any other vulnerability.

All staff are expected to uphold and promote the fundamental principles of British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect, and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. We believe that children should be given the opportunity to explore diversity and understand Britain as a multi-cultural society; everyone should be treated with respect whatever their race, gender, sexuality, religious belief, special need, or disability.

All our staff have received training to familiarise them with the Prevent Duty. As part of internet safety, we ensure suitable filters are in place to keep children away from extremist materials, in keeping with Rochdale LA guidelines.

What we do if there is a concern

If we have a concern about a particular pupil we will follow the school’s normal safeguarding procedures, including discussing with the school’s designated safeguarding lead, and where necessary, with children’s social care. We may also contact the local police for confidential support and advice.

As part of our commitment to safeguarding and child protection we fully support the government's Prevent Strategy.

Safeguarding Advice and Support for Parents:

As part of our safeguarding duty at Bowlee Park, we send out  weekly advice about online safety, safeguarding issues and how to keep children safe.  The aim of this is to inform parents and carers of any up to date advice regarding any safeguarding aspect.