Safeguarding Statement

At Moorcroft Wood Primary School the safety and wellbeing of all children is of paramount importance.  Parents and carers send their children to school each day with the expectation that school provides a safe and secure environment in which their children can flourish.

As such we take our responsibility for safeguarding, including our statutory responsibilities, very seriously. Only if children are safe and happy are they able to fulfil their potential in their learning. We expect all staff and volunteers to share our commitment.

We achieve this objective by:

• Establishing a safe environment in which children can learn and develop.
• Ensuring that all staff receive appropriate training, guidance and support to undertake the effective safeguarding of children.
• Raising awareness of child protection issues and equipping children with the skills needed to keep them safe. Pupils are taught about safeguarding as a part of the national curriculum through PSHE, SRE and Religious Education..
• Supporting pupils who have been abused in accordance with his/her agreed child protection plan.
• All concerns are passed to the designated safeguarding lead / deputy lead within school.
• We are fully committed to ensuring that consistent effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support children, families and staff at school.

Safeguarding is Everyone’s Responsibility

In order to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, our school will fulfil our local and national responsibilities as laid out in the following documents:

Teaching Online Safety in School

Working Together to Safeguard Children 

Walsall Safeguarding Children Partnership Procedures

Walsall Safeguarding Adults Partnership Procedures

The Education Act 2002 s175/s157

What to do if you're worried about a child being abused 

Information Sharing Guidance for Practitioners and Managers 

Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment between children in Schools and Colleges.

Education Inspection Framework

What is Safeguarding and Child Protection?

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as protecting children from maltreatment; preventing impairment of children’s 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 have the best outcome.

Child protection is the protection of children identified as either suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm as a result of abuse or neglect.

If you are ever concerned about the safety or well-being of a child within our school, please speak to a member of our safeguarding team or email safeguarding@mcw.lighthousefederation.com

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility: staff in school, parents, family members, friends and members of the public. If you are concerned about a child, remember it is your responsibility to report it straight away.

Safeguarding Support in Walsall

The Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub - MASH is the first point of contact for any professional or individual who has concerns about a child. They will provide consultation, advice and support and will make a decision regarding the most appropriate course of action.

MASH contact details: Telephone: 0300 555 2866 option 2

Opening hours:

Monday – Thursday          8.45-17.15

Friday                              8.45-16.45

Address: Civic Centre, 2^nd floor, Darwall Street, Walsall, WS1 1TP

Outside these hours, you should contact:

Initial Response Team - 0300 555 2922 

If the child lives out of borough, please contact the relevant safeguarding authority on the nubmers below. 

If the child lives out of the borough, please contact the relevant local authority on the numbers below:

Pupils living within Sandwell Borough: 0121 569 3100

Pupils living within Wolverhampton Borough: 01902 550477

Pupils living within Dudley Borough: 0300 555 0050

Alternatively, if you believe the child is at significant risk of harm and it is an emergency, please  call 999

Operation Encompass

We take part in a jointly run operation between Walsall Council, West Midlands Police and our school called Operation Encompass. (www.operationencompass.org)

This has been set-up to help schools to provide support to children who have been present at incidents of domestic abuse. We know that children can be traumatised when they are involved in, present or witness to domestic abuse and may be in need of emotional and practical support.

We will receive a confidential communication from the Police Operation Encompass on the morning after any police notification or attended domestic abuse incident.

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead and Deputy have received training to allow them to use the information that has been shared in confidence to make sure that the right support is offered at the right time, for our children, young people and families.

All information sharing and resulting actions will be undertaken in accordance with the 'Operation Encompass Joint Agency Protocol for Domestic Abuse'. We will record and store this information in accordance with the record keeping procedures around Safeguarding and the wellbeing of children and young people.

If you or anyone you know is affected by domestic abuse you can seek help through the school or through Black Country Women’s Aid who can be reached on 0121 553 0090 or via info@blackcountrywomensaid.co.uk. 

Helpful links

Walsall Early Help

Early Help is the term used by agencies in Walsall to describe how we provide support to children, young people and their families, as soon as problems start to emerge. The aim is for families to get help as early as possible, so things don't get worse.

With the right support at the right time, things can actually improve. As a family member this might mean that you access Early Help support yourself or that professionals work with you and your family.

The Walsall Local Offer

http://www.mywalsall.org/fis/walsall-send-local-offer/

The Local Offer tells you what support is available for children and their families in the borough. It includes information about:

• Advice, information and support services
• Childcare
• Children’s centres
• Education
• Employment, training and volunteering
• Health
• Leisure and youth services
• Money and welfare advice
• Parent support
• Post 16 information
• Special educational needs and disabilities
• Social Care

Walsall Safeguarding Partnership is made up of three organisations working to protect children and young people across the borough. Their website brings together information for children, young people and their families and the professionals who work with them.  Click the link below to visit their website.

https://go.walsall.gov.uk/walsall-safeguarding-partnership

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a national charity which works to fight child abuse. Click the link below to visit their website.

https://www.nspcc.org.uk

E-Safety

Technology and the internet can be fantastic – they can help our children to learn, to create amazing things, to communicate and to entertain themselves and each other. Our children are surrounded by this technology – it is part and parcel of their daily lives.   

Using technology and the internet well is about using it safely and responsibly.  Things can go wrong by accident or if behaviour is not sensible or respectful.  Our job is not to stop our young people from using technology but to ensure that they have the necessary knowledge, skills and understanding to successfully navigate themselves through the online world, so they become good digital citizens in an ever-changing world.

For further guidance and advice, please follow the below link to our specific "Online Safety web page".