Safeguarding and Child Protection

Hillary Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare and safety of all children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We strive to ensure that consistent and effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support families, children and staff. Our school is aware of and assesses the risks/issues in the wider community when considering the well-being and safety of our pupils. We are aware of indicators of abuse and neglect and understand that children can be at risk of harm inside and outside of the school, inside and outside of the home and online. 

Hillary Primary School follows the child protection procedures as defined by Walsall Safeguarding Partnership, the multi-agency threshold guidance, Walsall Right Help, Right Time - A Continuum of Need. We work with partners to ensure the best outcomes for children and young people. We have policies and procedures in place to deal effectively with child protection and safeguarding issues, which include tackling radicalisation and extremism, together with recording and monitoring processes using CPOMS technology.

Our policy is shared with parents via email and is available on the school website via this page.

Our children understand our responsibility to keep them safe. We share a children’s version of our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy.

To promote a safe environment for children, Hillary Primary School employs a strict selection and recruitment policy which includes all statutory checks on staff and regular volunteers including Enhanced DBS (disclosure and barring service) checks.

Safeguarding training is attended by all staff and relevant governors; training is monitored, and comprehensive records kept by the DSL.

All concerns are passed through members of staff who are trained as Designated Safeguarding Leaders.  Staff are required to report any causes of concern to the school safeguarding team, all referrals are logged and monitored to make sure that they are followed up appropriately. Our belief is that “it could happen here” and “we have the interest of the children” as our priority.

Attendance of children is monitored closely and concerns shared as appropriate with parents/carers.  Hillary Primary School works effectively with other agencies and parents/carers when necessary to safeguard young people.

If you have any serious concerns about your child, another child or a member of staff at Hillary Primary School please do not hesitate to contact the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) who will be able to provide you with the best advice and help using the appropriate degree of confidentiality.

DSL & SPOC – Mrs. Alison Taylor

DDSL – Ms. Kiran Mahay

DDSL – Mrs. Donna Williams

DDSL – Mrs. Tammy Cooper

DDSL & Online Safety Lead – Ms. Joy Seward

What is the difference between the terms safeguarding and child protection?

In practice, Safeguarding is the policies and practices that schools and Governing Bodies put in place to keep children safe and promote their well-being. This includes everything from the security of the buildings and environment to the safe recruitment of staff and everything in between.

Child Protection is a term used to describe the activity that is undertaken to protect a specific child or children, who are suffering or liable to suffer significant harm.

OUT OF HOURS

Our Safeguarding team are available 365 days a year, it is our duty to ensure that our children are safe in and outside of school.

If any safeguarding partners need to contact the DSL (Alison Taylor) or the DDSL (Kiran Mahay) out of normal working hours the team can be contacted on 07801 269 718.