SAFEGUARDING & CHILD PROTECTION
SAFEGUARDING
Working together to keep your children safe
Ensuring that your child feels safe and secure at school is a key priority. All staff, both teaching and non-teaching, receive regular training to make sure they have an up to date knowledge of current safeguarding best practice in schools. This includes studying and learning from ‘serious case reviews’. Training is provided by Newcastle City Council, Clennell Education Solutions and by designated persons (Head Teacher and Deputy Head Teacher).
Select members of the Local Governing Committee and the Head Teacher also receive regular ‘safer recruitment’ training to ensure the selection process to recruit new members of staff includes important safeguarding checks.
DESIGNATED SAFEGUARDING LEADS
All staff and Governors have read the most up to date ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ document published in annually by the Department for Education. We also encourage parents/carers to read the document which is linked above.
The Designated Safeguarding Leads at St. Teresa’s are:
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Mr V Turner – Head Teacher
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Mrs K Mackenzie – Deputy Head Teacher and Year 5 class teacher
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Miss R McTernan – SENCo and Year 6 class teacher
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Mrs L Young – EYFS Lead and Reception class teacher
All members of staff receive regular training and updates. Staff at St. Teresa’s all use the CPOMS electronic recording system to record safeguarding concerns. If you ever have a concern about child safety or safety on the school site, please bring it to the immediate attention of a member of staff, so it can be responded to as soon as possible.
OPERATION ENCOMPASS
What is Operation Encompass?
The purpose of Operation Encompass is to safeguard and support children and young people who have been involved in a domestic abuse incident. Following an incident at home, children will often arrive at school distressed, upset and unprepared for the day.
Newcastle City Council, the police and nominated Key Adults in school (Mr Turner and Mrs Mackenzie) will be working together to make sure that school staff are made aware of an incident early enough to support pupils in school.
Why is Operation Encompass being introduced in Newcastle?
Operation Encompass was initially launched in Plymouth in February 2011 to address a shortcoming in the early sharing of information with schools. Since then several pilots have been set up across the UK, including Gateshead and South Tyneside, and has proved to very successful in providing appropriate support in a timely manner. Pilots across the UK have reported positive outcomes for many children and young people.
Northumbria Police and all schools in the borough take part in the scheme, to help provide additional new support which will benefit children and young people in Newcastle and improve multi-agency sharing of information.
How will it work?
Schools across Newcastle nominate two members of staff who will be known as Key Adults. All Key Adults will attend specific training to the role in preparation for Operation Encompass.
Each morning a police officer will review all domestic abuse incidents that occur outside of school but which might have had an impact on a child attending school the following day. Where children were present, witnessed or involved in a domestic abuse incident and aged between 4 and 16 years old, the officer will send this information to Children’s Social Care Service.
Staff will send this information in a secure format to the identified Key Adult. The Key Adult will check their emails every day and the staff in contact with those pupils will then be in an informed position to support them in a way that is right for the child.