For any matters concerning safeguarding, including outside school hours or in the school holidays, please email the School's Designated Safeguarding Lead ('DSL'):safeguarding@clitherow.brent.sch.uk
"Safeguarding is everybody’s responsibility"
Children have a right to be cared for and protected, protecting them is everyone’s responsibility. Here at St Margaret Clitherow Primary School we have a duty of care to ensure that all users of the school are kept safe from harm. We are committed to provide a secure and supportive environment in which children can develop and grow into mature and responsible people. Safeguarding children is an essential part of our holistic approach to ensure that children are protected from abuse and neglect and that every child reaches their full potential.
The best interests of the children will always be our priority. As such, there are times we will need to record, monitor and share information with other agencies. We will share concerns about our pupils with the child’s parents/carers unless we have reason to believe that such a move would not be in the child’s best interest.
Our school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The governing body has a duty of care to pupils and all members of the school community. We ensure there are consistent and effective safeguarding procedures in place to support families, children and staff at school.
Safeguarding
Contact Name and Areas of Responsibility
Mrs Ilira Heath - Headteacher
Overall responsibility for Safeguarding, Confidentiality & Whistle blowing and Online Safety
Mrs Ilira Heath
Child Protection & Safeguarding. Designated Person for looked after children
Mrs Blaithin Nolan - Deputy Head and Deputy DSL
Attendance, Anti Bullying and Behaviour
Mrs Caroline Kailou - Inclusion Manager
Inclusion, Equality & Disability, Race and Gender. Responsibility for monitoring pupils with special needs and organising support for vulnerable children
Mrs Ilira Heath
SRE & Drug Education
Mrs Mary Boyle - Chair of Governors
Governor with specific responsibility for child protection
Mrs Ilira Heath
Educational Visits
Mrs Ilira Heath
Health & Safety, School Security & Risk Assessment
Mrs Patricia Forde
Governor with specific responsibility for Health & Safety
Mrs Ilira Heath
Welfare, First Aid & Medication. Meeting the needs of pupils with medical conditions. Providing first aid.
All staff
First Aiders (A number of staff have Paediatric First Aid)
Mrs Ilira Heath
Single Central Record and DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service)
If you have concerns about a child you can contact Brent Social Services
https://www.brent.gov.uk/children-young-people-and-families/keeping-children-safe#Reportchildabuse or
Brent Family Front Door on: 020 8937 4300 (option 1)
If you are calling outside normal office hours (9am - 5pm) please call our emergency duty team on: 020 8863 5250.
If you are a child who is feeling scared or worried please talk to Mrs Heath or Miss Nolan, your teacher or one of the other adults at school. If you are not at school, please visit the Childline Website where there are links for a helpline you can call or access their online support service.
Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO)
Cecilia Gabriel
Brent Council
Tel: 02089374593
Child Protection
Our school wants to work with children, parents and the community to ensure the safety and protection of children and to give them the very best start in life. We aim to create an environment in our school which is safe and secure for all children. Through providing activities and opportunities in the PSHE curriculum we aim to equip our children with the skills they need to stay safe. E.g. we enable children to have the self confidence and the vocabulary to resist inappropriate approaches and encourage children to develop a sense of autonomy and independence.
We follow the guidelines laid down by the Local Safeguarding Children Board and staff receive regular training in Safeguarding. We have a culture of vigilance with everyone living the values of Safeguarding.
We work with Brent’s Duty Social Work teams and if a report is to be made to the authorities, we take advice in deciding whether we should inform the child's parents at the same time.
Copies of our Safeguarding policies (including Child protection) are available by clicking here or from the main office.
School Security
St Margaret Clitherow Primary School provides a secure site, which has controlled entry, but the site is only as secure as the people who use it. We ask all people visiting the site to abide by our security procedures. Gates are locked except at the start and end of each day. Doors should be closed to prevent intrusion but to facilitate smooth exits. CCTV is in full operation to ensure maximum security of the site. Visitors, volunteers and parents must only enter through the main entrance and after signing in at the office window. Children will only be allowed home with adults with parental responsibility or confirmed permission. Children are not allowed to leave school alone during school hours, and if collected by an adult, they must be signed out.
Bullying
We take the issue of bullying very seriously at St Margaret Clitherow Primary School. We have an anti bullying policy which is reviewed annually. We investigate all reports of bullying from pupils, parents/carers and others and work with all the parties to talk through and resolve the situation. Bullying is defined as when a child is deliberately being made unhappy over a sustained period of time. We make anti bullying high profile through assemblies, our curriculum and our active participation in Anti bullying week every year.
Internet Safety
Whether on a computer or laptop at school or at home, a games console or mobile phone, children are increasingly accessing the internet, whenever they can and wherever they are. At St Margaret's we recognise that, in addition to the Internet being a great tool to support our children’s learning, there are a number of risks for our children when online.
At St Margaret's, we take Internet safety very seriously. All our staff and pupils are aware of their responsibilities to promote safe and secure use of the Internet and school computer equipment and to follow school Internet safety procedures.
All pupils cover Internet safety issues in ICT at the beginning of every school year. These issues are revisited and monitored by the class teacher on a regular basis. This includes ensuring that pupils know what to do if an Internet safety issue arises. All pupils have read and discussed with their teacher and signed an acceptable use of ICT policy. For more information about Internet safety for pupils, please click here.
At St Margaret Clitherow's parents/carers are encouraged to work in partnership with us. We also provide regular parent evenings with demonstrations and suggestions for safe home Internet use are also run at the school. For more information, please speak to the school office or email admin@clitherow.brent.sch.uk
Important documents
