Safeguarding

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The safety, wellbeing and happiness of every child is at the heart of everything we do at Bosley St Mary's CE Primary School.

Guided by our Christian vision of Every Learner Flourishing, we are committed to providing a safe, nurturing and inclusive environment where every child feels valued, listened to and protected.

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. We work closely with children, families, staff and external agencies to ensure that concerns are recognised, taken seriously and acted upon promptly.

We believe that children learn best when they feel safe, secure and supported, and we strive to ensure that every child knows there is someone they can turn to if they need help.

Our Safeguarding Team

We have a dedicated safeguarding team who are responsible for leading and coordinating safeguarding and child protection across our school.

• Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)
  • Ms Rebecca Hadfield – Headteacher
• Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads (DDSLs)
  • Miss Alice Forbes
  • Mrs Sandy Hall

All members of our safeguarding team can be contacted through the school office.

• Telephone: 01260 223280
• Email: admin@bosleyschool.co.uk

If you have a concern about a child, please speak to a member of our safeguarding team as soon as possible. You do not need to be certain that something is wrong before sharing a worry.

How We Keep Children Safe

Safeguarding is an essential part of everyday life at Bosley St Mary's. Our approach includes:

• A safe and welcoming environment: Creating a school where children feel secure, respected and confident to speak to trusted adults.
• Listening to children: Taking children's views, worries and experiences seriously and ensuring they know how to ask for help.
• A culture of vigilance: Ensuring that all staff and volunteers understand their safeguarding responsibilities and know how to recognise and report concerns.
• Safe recruitment and working practices: Following appropriate recruitment, training and safeguarding procedures to help keep children safe.
• Teaching children about safety: Helping children understand healthy relationships, personal boundaries, online safety and how to keep themselves and others safe through our curriculum and everyday school life.
• Working in partnership: Collaborating with parents, carers and external professionals to provide appropriate help and support when it is needed.

Working Together with Families

We recognise that family life can sometimes bring challenges, and that children and families may need additional help at different times.

We aim to build positive, trusting relationships with families so that concerns can be discussed openly and support can be offered at the earliest opportunity.

Where we have concerns about a child's safety or wellbeing, we may need to share information with other professionals, including children's social care, health services or the police.

Wherever appropriate, we will discuss concerns with parents and carers. However, there may be occasions when information must be shared without prior discussion if doing so is necessary to protect a child.

Our priority will always be the safety and welfare of the child.

Helping Children Learn to Keep Safe

Keeping children safe is not only about protecting them from harm; it is also about giving them the knowledge, confidence and skills to recognise risks, make safe choices and seek help when they need it.

Through our PSHE, Relationships and Health Education, Computing curriculum, collective worship and everyday school experiences, we teach children about:

• Healthy friendships and respectful relationships.
• Recognising and expressing feelings and worries.
• Personal boundaries, consent and understanding that their body belongs to them.
• Staying safe online and knowing what to do if something makes them uncomfortable.
• Recognising unsafe situations and identifying trusted adults.
• Understanding and respecting differences between people.

We regularly remind children that they can speak to a trusted adult in school about anything that is worrying them.

Our Safeguarding Policies

We have clear policies and procedures in place to protect children and promote their welfare.

Our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy explains how we recognise, respond to and manage safeguarding concerns, and how we work with other agencies to protect children.

You can read our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy and other school policies here.

We work in accordance with statutory safeguarding guidance and the procedures of the Cheshire East Safeguarding Children Partnership.

Further Information and Support

We have brought together a range of helpful resources for parents and carers covering safeguarding, online safety, family wellbeing and keeping children safe.

Please explore our safeguarding information and resources pages for additional advice and support.