CHILD PROTECTION POLICY
Child Protection Policy
AIMS
The final result we are aiming to achieve:
- Provide an understanding of what constitutes child protection and of the signs and indicators of concern.
- Provide staff with clear guidelines regarding how to respond appropriately to concerns about the welfare of a child.
- Promote at all times the central role of social, personal and health education in a cross curricular way as a vehicle in equipping students with the values, knowledge and skills to grow in the self awareness, respect and confidence necessary for safety.
- To promote a culture of safety and trust within GIS so that students feel confident to seek appropriate help.
- Ensure safe recruitment practices are always followed.
Rationale
The reason for which this policy has been written:
- Garden International School recognises its responsibilities for child protection.
- The policy applies to all staff working in the school.
- The student’s welfare is paramount and must override and underpin everything we do
- All students are entitled to protection irrespective of culture, age, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation or identity.
- Our aim should be to minimise damage to the student and promote recovery.
- Any person who has concerns about the welfare of a child must report within 24 hours.
- EYC, Primary & Secondary school will have one or two designated Child Protection Officers (CPO) with responsibility for Child Protection within their phase.
- All adults working within the school community understand that GIS has a Child Protection responsibility.
Guidelines
The principles/instructions/steps of the policy:
PERSONNEL
Principal and Heads of School will:
- ensure that the safeguarding and child protection policy and procedures are implemented and followed by all staff
- allocate sufficient time and resources to enable the CPOs to carry out their roles effectively.
- ensure that all staff feel able to raise concerns about poor or unsafe practice and that such concerns are handled sensitively.
- ensure that child’s safety and welfare is addressed through the curriculum.
Within Primary and Secondary, the designated CPOs will be members of PLT and SLT respectively, as defined each year.
Role of designated Child Protection Officers:
In all dealings with child protection issues the overarching principle is that the protection of the student is the most important consideration.
The responsibilities are as follows:
- To be known by name to all staff working at Garden International School
- To ensure all staff working within the school whether teaching or non-academic staff are made aware of their responsibilities to child protection during their induction. (Guidelines for line managers are available)
- To deal with written referrals as a matter of importance and to decide on the most appropriate action to take. In view of the need to consider each case individually, it is accepted that cases that sound similar may be dealt with in different ways. In all dealings to consider the safety of the student as the highest priority
- To safely secure paperwork relating to child protection issues including incidents, concerns and referrals
- To share information regarding child protection on a “need to know” basis
- To seek to promote an atmosphere of trust by where adults and students can voice concerns about unacceptable and/or abusive behaviour towards a student
- To participate as directed in professional learning that promotes expertise in the skills required to interview student in a sensitive and professional manner understanding and its implications for student.
Role of the Inclusion Team (Counsellors, Learning Support, EAL and Nursing Departments)
- In the event of disclosure will immediately report to CPO.
- In a case by case basis members of the inclusion team may form part of the Response Team as appropriate
- To use and update a resource of external agencies that are known to the school.
All Staff at GIS
- In the event of disclosure will immediately report to a CPO.
- All staff will know who the designated Child Protection Officers are.
- All staff will be familiar with Child Protection referral protocols as indicated in Child Protection Guidelines.
If you have any concerns about the safety or well-being of a student please refer immediately to the designated Child Protection Officer.
CHILD PROTECTION POLICY
Appendices
(Relevant Links & Attachments):
Appendix 1: Child Protection Guidelines
Appendix 2: Exploring disclosure of abuse
Appendix 3: Safe practice in recruitment
Historical Record | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Revision No. | Date | Brief Description of Change | Approved by | Next Review |
0 | 1/4/2009 | New Issue | Principal | |
1 | 1/12/2011 | Change – name person replace with ‘Deputy Head Pastoral’ | Principal | |
2 | 1/9/2014 | To change Deputy Head of Pastoral Primary to Assistant Head Pastoral, Policy Review | Principal | |
3 | 1/01/2015 | Various changes made in light of consultation with Robin Watts | Principal | |
4 | 25/01/2017 |
Ref: 01/2015