Safeguarding
Our Safeguarding policy outlines the particular roles and responsibilities of our staff, and the actions they must take if they have concerns about the safety or well-being of a child.
Head Teacher: Mrs Louise Woffendin
Designated Safeguarding Lead: Mrs Huma Raza
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead: Sofia Yaqub
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead: Emma Regan (maternity)
Designated Teacher for Looked After Children – Sofia Yaqub
Please contact one of these people if you have any concerns about the safety or well being of any child in our school.
School telephone number: 01274 579576
An automated message will give you instructions for reaching the Safeguarding Team. If no-one is immediately available, you will be able to leave a message.
The Bradford Children and Families Trust have a ‘report a concern’ button on there website.
Alternatively, these are the numbers that you can ring for advice and to make a referral:
- During office hours (8.30am – 5pm Monday to Thursday, 4.30pm on Friday) call Children’s Social Services Initial Contact Point on 01274 433999
- At all other times, Social Services Emergency Duty Team on 01274 431010
- If you have reason to believe that a child is at IMMEDIATE RISK OF HARM, contact the police on 999
- For all general enquiries, please contact Children’s Specialist Services on 01274 433999
NSPCC Helpline: 0808 800 5000
Childline: 0800 1111
Click Here for Parents information regarding PREVENT
As parents, you send your children to school each day, expecting that school provides a secure environment where they can flourish. To ensure that this expectation becomes a reality, we put a wide range of measures in place:
The Health and Safety Policy
The school’s health and safety policy is regularly reviewed and approved by the governing body. We schedule evacuation and invacuation drills each term to ensure our systems effectively keep our children safe. After every practice, we reflect and amend our procedures.
Every year we have an independently conducted Fire Risk Assessment to ensure our children and staff are kept as safe as possible.
First Aid
In school, several trained members of staff oversee first aid. There are several first aid areas and kits situated around the school. When a child has suffered an accident in school or on the playground, there are four steps staff follow:
- A first aider will assess the injury and, when needed, will administer first aid to the child.
- The incident is logged in the accident book, the child is given a first aid note to take home, and a wristband is given to the child.
- Parents will be informed about head or facial injuries as soon as possible.
Other injuries will be assessed, and parents will be informed accordingly depending on the nature of the injury so that they are informed before the end of the school day.
- If there is any doubt at all that the injury is serious, a parent is contacted with advice to take the child to hospital.
Site Security
Lidget Green provides a secure site but is only as safe as those who use it. So we ask everyone to follow a few simple steps:
- Our site managers will ensure access is available via the gates at the start and end of each school day. At all other times, the gates will be locked, and access will only be through the main office.
- If you are a visitor, volunteer or student, we ask you only enter through the main entrance and sign in at the office.
- If you need to collect a child during the school day, we ask you to contact the school office. Children will only be allowed home with adults with parental responsibility or confirmed permission.
Attendance
Excellent attendance is expected of all children, but when children are unwell, parents are expected to confirm the absence by telephoning the school. If the school has not given a reason for a child’s absence, the school has a policy of phoning home to find out why the child has not arrived. If we cannot make contact, we will make a home visit, and if we are concerned about the welfare of a child, we will contact the police, who will carry out a welfare check.
At Lidget Green, we take punctuality very seriously and may take legal action against parents who do not ensure good attendance and punctuality.
Full details of our Attendance Policy can be found on the school website (Our School/policies), and a guide to pupil attendance can be found in the parent’s section of the website.
Safeguarding Policy
Mrs Woffendin, Mrs Raza, Ms Yaqub and Mrs Regan are the designated safeguarding leads in school and deal with any incidents concerning the safeguarding of children. All allegations of abuse by or complaints about a teacher will be dealt with following the relevant procedures. A guide to child protection for parents is available in the parents’ section of the website.
Parental consent to the school taking photographs and photos for the local press, etc., is obtained during admissions and logged on the school management system for staff to see.
In school, we deal with safeguarding in different ways. In Personal, Social and Health Education, we use the You, Me, PHSE programme and resources to teach children about safeguarding issues. Children are encouraged to explore and discuss these issues. (See the Safeguarding Curriculum) During other lessons, safety issues within the subject are discussed, and safe practices are taught, such as using equipment properly in PE and Design and Technology. There must be appropriate staffing levels at all times, and when the curriculum is taken out of school, appropriate pupil/adult ratios are maintained. The lead adult carries out a risk assessment before visits, and the Headteacher authorises these.
Online/Internet Safety
Children should be encouraged to use the internet but in a safe way. Pupils are supervised whilst online, and teachers ensure this does not happen. School equipment is secured through firewalls, and a monitoring system is in place to ensure children do not behave inappropriately when using computers and the internet.
We also want to remind parents to monitor their child’s internet use at home and ensure they only play age-appropriate games.
Equal opportunities
At Lidget Green, we try to ensure that everyone is treated fairly, and we respect the nine protected characteristics of the Equality Act. All children are given equal access to the school and its curriculum and are all considered equal in the learning partnership. When children have additional needs, we will inform parents and design specific programmes to meet these needs.
Children with disabilities must be able to take a full and active part in every lesson, and every measure is taken to ensure this.
Behaviour policy
Good behaviour is expected at Lidget Green, and we have high expectations of the children. Although the emphasis is always on the positive, there are times when children must be disciplined to maintain the safety and security of all children.
Rewards are important so our children can receive dojo points, class rewards and certificates, and we celebrate good work and behaviour.
We use a warning system if a child chooses to break the rules.
Mrs Woffendin will deal with serious or repeated cases of bad behaviour.
A staff team has undergone Team Teach training, including restraining a child so they do not harm themselves or others.
Anti-Bullying
Bullying may be distinguished from other unacceptable forms of aggression in that it involves the dominance of one pupil over another or a group of others. It is pre-meditated and usually forms a pattern of behaviour rather than an isolated incident. Bullying can include several types of anti-social behaviour, including physical; verbal; intimidation; exclusion; damage to property, and cyber-bullying through texts or images using digital devices or the internet. It might be motivated by actual differences between children or perceived differences.
Prevention of bullying: Through our behaviour management, our school encourages self-discipline where respect and tolerance are fundamental qualities. Pupils are encouraged through the curriculum to develop a positive, caring attitude towards others. They are encouraged to understand and recognise bullying and to know how to manage their concerns to resolve a difficult situation.
Dealing with bullying: To show clearly that their behaviour is wrong, the school will apply disciplinary measures to pupils who bully. The school will always inform parents (of both the perpetrator and the victim) regarding the incident, and following thorough investigations, which are logged, we will notify parents of the outcome. All pupils concerned will be part of the investigation, and their accounts will be taken seriously. Disciplinary measures will be applied fairly, consistently, and reasonable considering the seriousness of the incident and any special educational needs or disabilities that the pupils may have and considering the needs of vulnerable pupils. It is also important to consider the motivations behind bullying behaviour and respond to any concerns for the safety of the perpetrator.
If you have any concerns or questions about safeguarding, please ask to speak to a member of our Safeguarding Team.