Safeguarding Statement

Ensure every child feels nurtured, supported and safe

At Marlow C of E Infant School, the health, safety and well-being of every child is our paramount concern. Our aim is for children to enjoy their time as pupils in this school. We want to work in partnership with parents to help their children to achieve their full potential and make a positive contribution to society.

The staff and volunteers in the school are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare and safety of all students and our school policies and procedures have helped us develop a safeguarding culture of which we are proud.

The three key Government documents which are reflected in our culture are

• Keeping Children Safe in Education September 2023
• Working together to Safeguard children 2018
• Prevent Duty Guidance 2023

Our Vision

Our school Christian vision outlines our belief that every individual is created in God’s image and therefore is precious and valuable.  We believe in treating everybody with respect and dignity because we acknowledge everyone’s God given value and unique identity and this is at the core of our safeguarding culture.

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, in our likeness”. Genesis 1:26

Our Curriculum

Our school curriculum promotes the essence of this vision and pupils are taught the importance of respecting every single person and, through this, we aim to promote tolerance and understanding of each other. This is reflected in our Equalities Policy, which can be found on this page and with the rest of our school policies.

Pupil well-being is key to our commitment to safeguarding pupils and we are a school who place the mental health of our pupils on an equal footing for their physical health. This commitment can be seen through our MindUp curriculum and staff training as well as collaboration with other schools in Marlow. 

Recruitment

As part of our drive to create a safe learning environment for pupils, Marlow C of E Infant School employs a stringent Recruitment Policy, which includes all statutory checks on staff and regular volunteers, including enhanced disclosure and debarring service checks (DBS), as recommended by Buckinghamshire County Council and in line with current legislation.

Designated Safeguarding Lead

In accordance with our responsibilities under section 175/157 of the Education Act 2002 the Governors have appointed a Designated Safeguarding Lead and two Additional Safeguarding Leads. The Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) takes the lead responsibility for safeguarding and child protection (including online safety) and is trained appropriately for this role. The additional Designated Safeguarding Leads support and undertake tasks delegated by the DSL and are trained to the same level.

In our school the Designated Safeguarding Leads are as follows:

Mrs S Reynolds (Headteacher & DSL)

Mrs S Downing (Assistant Headteacher & Deputy DSL)

It is the Designated Safeguarding Lead’s responsibility to ensure all staff in contact with children receive child protection awareness training on a regular basis. We believe safeguarding and promoting our pupils’ welfare is everyone’s responsibility. We work together as a team to achieve this. We listen to our pupils and take seriously what they tell us.

Staff Training

As a minimum, all staff receive annual Child Protection and Safeguarding update training and deeper training which is refreshed every 3 years. They are all aware of the procedures for passing on concerns within school. Safeguarding practices and training are regularly reviewed and updates will be given throughout the year as and when deemed necessary to take account of national, regional and more local issues. In recognition of the changing landscape of safeguarding, all staff now complete online safety training and the school has a National Online Safety accreditation.

Other Agencies

There are occasions when concern about a child may mean that we have to consult other agencies.  Whilst we would always aim to work in partnership with parents, there may be exceptions to this when concerns are raised about the protection of a child.

On very rare occasions, Social Care, whilst undertaking an investigation under S47 of the Children Act 1989, may want to speak to a child without their parents’ knowledge. This decision would be made by the police and social care. We are required to work collaboratively with partner agencies and would therefore cooperate with direction given. This would, however, always only be done in situations where a child might be at immediate risk of harm.  To gain consent at this point may increase the level of risk to the child or cause evidence of a crime to be lost.

Child Protection Policy

The procedures which we follow have been laid down by Buckinghamshire Safeguarding Partnership, and the school has adopted a Child Protection Policy in line with this for the safety of all.

Should there be any serious concerns about a child, or a member of staff at Marlow C of E Infant School, the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) should be contacted, who will provide advice and help using the appropriate degree of confidentiality. Our Child Protection Policy can be found on this page and also with our other school policies.

If you are concerned about a child, you can also call the Buckinghamshire Social Care “First Response Team” on 01296 383962 or if a child is at immediate risk of significant harm call 999.