Safeguarding & Child Protection

At St Nicholas Church of England Primary School, all staff recognise their moral and statutory responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all pupils; this is placed at the centre of everything that we do.

Safeguarding legislation and government guidance says that safeguarding means:

Protecting children from maltreatment
Preventing impairment of children's health or development
Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
Taking action to enable all children and young people to have the best outcome

At St Nicholas C of E Primary School, we endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued. Through pastoral care we are concerned with promoting the moral, social, physical and emotional wellbeing of all pupils, in order for them to reach their full potential.

All children will have the same rights and same value regardless of age, race, culture, gender, disability or social/economic background.

We are alert to the signs of abuse and neglect and follow our procedures to ensure that children receive effective support, protection and justice.

In order to ensure we are doing this to the best of our ability we follow the DfE safeguarding documents:

Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2023
The Prevent Duty 2015

We also ensure that procedures followed are in line with legislation and are consistent with those of Blackpool Safeguarding Children Board (BSCB). All staff receive annual Child Protection and Safeguarding update training and are aware of the procedures for passing on concerns within the school.

If you have concerns regarding the safeguarding or welfare of any of our pupils, please contact Miss J Harper (Designated Safeguarding Lead) or Miss C Taylor (Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead).

You can read our current policy in relation to Safeguarding by scrolling to the bottom of this page.

Early Help

The Early Help Assessment is an intervention with a family to gather, explore and analyse with them information about all aspects of the child or young person (and their family's) life and then to identify areas where change will address support needs and positively impact on their lived experiences.

Your family's Early Help Assessment is available to all practitioners and professionals working with children, young people and their families across Blackpool. Working alongside families from a holistic, strength-based approach when areas of support are first identified will stop escalation towards crisis and the need for more intensive and specialist intervention.

The aim is to provide families with the right support at the right time.

Pan Lancashire Operation Encompass

St Nicholas C of E Primary School participates in Operation Encompass.

Following the report of an incident, school will be advised that the child has been involved.

The purpose of Operation Encompass is to safeguard and support children and young people and to ensure that schools have timely information about all police attended incidents of domestic abuse, no matter where in the world the child lives.

Operation Encompass has been created to address such situations that create a safeguarding risk to young people. It is the implementation of key partnership working between the police and schools. The aim of sharing information with local schools is to allow 'Key Adults' the opportunity of engaging with the child and to provide access to support that allows them to remain in a safe, but secure, familiar environment.

E-Safety

At St Nicholas C of E Primary School we believe it is vital to teach children about the knowledge and behaviours that can help them to use the online world safely. Our staff are trained to be aware of the risks that exist online and therefore support the specific needs of our children. Through our PSHE and Computing curriculums, children are taught about online safety in an age-appropriate way. Children are taught how to use technology safely, responsibly and respectfully. They are supported to understand where they can go for help should they have any concerns when using technology.

What is the Prevent Strategy?

Prevent is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorist or extremist causes. The Prevent strategy covers all types of terrorism and extremism, including the extreme right wing, violent Islamist groups and other causes.

How does the Prevent strategy apply to schools?

From July 2015 all schools (as well as other organisations) have a duty to safeguard children from radicalisation and extremism. This means we have a responsibility to protect children from extremist and violent views in the same way as we protect them from drugs or gang violence. Importantly, we can provide a safe place for pupils to discuss these issues so they better understand how to protect themselves.

What does this mean in practice?

Many of the things we already do in our school to help children become positive, happy members of society also contribute to the Prevent strategy. These include:

Exploring other cultures and religions and promoting diversity and tolerance
Challenging prejudices and racist comments
Developing critical thinking skills and a strong, positive self-identity
Promoting the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils, as well as British values such as democracy

We will also protect children from the risk of radicalisation, for example by using filters on the internet to make sure they can't access extremist and terrorist material, or by vetting visitors who come into school to work with pupils. We will carry out our Prevent duty in different ways, depending on the age of the children and the needs of our community.

You can read our Prevent Duty Policy below.