St William's Catholic Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children.

 The Designated Child Protection Officer is…

Miss Fiona Parker - Headteacher 

(Designated Safeguarding Lead)

Please report any concern over the welfare and / or safeguarding of a child to Miss Parker or any member of school staff as soon as possible.

More information about safeguarding in Bradford can be obtained from the working together to safeguard children The Bradford Partnership, to visit their website, please click HERE

St William's Catholic Primary School fully recognises the contribution it can make in protecting, supporting and promoting the welfare of the children in our school.  We are committed to ensuring that children are safe, that child protection practice is effective and that procedures are followed.  We make every attempt possible to ensure that children are safe from abuse or harm during their time at school and at home.

If you have any concerns relating to child protection, you can speak to one of the designated members of staff at school, or contact Children's Social Care 01274 437500 / 431010. 

Alternatively, you can contact the Police on 101 and ask to speak to a child protection officer

Safeguarding at St William's

Keeping children safe and healthy is a very important part of school life. There are many policies and practices in place to safeguard our children and they include: 

Child Protection

All staff receive regular training on Child Protection.

Our Child Protection Policy is on our website and can be downloaded, it is also available by request from the School Office. Miss Parker is the Designated Child Protection Officer.  Mrs. Fagan and Mr. Clayton are the Deputy Designated Officers.

There is also a named Governor for Child Protection, Miss Andrea Pritchard. We work together with other services for children and families to support the needs of children with the aim of protecting them from harm.

Behaviour

As you know high standards of behaviour are expected in school. However, as we all know children do fall out from time to time! Mrs. Battersby, our Learning Mentor and Miss Shackel, our Mental Health Champion are here to mediate and help resolve any issues. Rest assured that we would contact you if behaviour becomes a concern. We remind the children frequently about our high expectations and of the school's restorative approach. All staff help children to understand our three school rules which are there to keep them safe and happy.

Attendance

When a child is absent unexpectedly, and if no telephone call is received by 9.05am then office staff, will endeavour to contact a parent/carer. This is to safeguard the child as the parent/carer may be unaware they are not in school. Mrs. Gadd monitors children’s attendance on a daily basis and notable absences or patterns of absences are followed up by her and Miss Parker and in more serious cases, Bradford Council’s Attendance Safeguarding Team. Staff may also conduct home visits as part of these attendance and safeguarding procedures.

Health and Safety

Staff, parents and children have a responsibility to ensure children and adults are able to work in a healthy and safe environment. Many of the staff have had basic first aid training and we have several fully trained paediatric first aiders. We have completed many Risk Assessments to ensure a safe and healthy environment. 

Curriculum

We ensure that the issues of healthy eating, physical exercise and safety, including e-safety, are addressed in our Curriculum. This is enhanced by the many visitors to school, e.g. police officers who talk to the children about issues such as road safety, safe people and drugs awareness, fire officers etc

Safer recruitment and selection

All staff new to the school and volunteers who work in school on a regular basis undertake a DBS check and references are acquired before the person takes up post. We maintain an up to date list of current checks. You may notice that the staff are wearing identification badges as do all visitors in school.

Complaints

Should parents have any complaints the school staff will listen to your concerns and will follow up any arising issues. The Staff will always be happy to meet with you and help resolve any matters of concern. The school is committed to working closely with parents / carers for the benefit of the children. Remember no problem is too small and can often be prevented from becoming a bigger issue if you speak to us straight away. If you continue to feel an issue has not been resolved then you should complete the form within the complaints policy and return to school marked for the attention of the Chair of the Local Academy Council.

Recording of Concerns and Matters Causing Concern

At St William's we use a computerised system of recording and logging all matters linked to safeguarding and child protection.

The system we use is called CPOMS.

CPOMS is a software application for monitoring child protection, safeguarding and a whole range of pastoral and welfare issues.  By using CPOMS, we can ensure that students are safe and fully supported, whilst school staff can focus on teaching and providing support, instead of administration.

Every member of staff across school has an obligation to report any concerns which they may have. CPOMS allows them to record information in a central repository and have relevant people alerted immediately. Senior leaders are able to build a chronology around a student and can produce reports on vulnerable pupil groups for Case Conference Meetings, Governors and Ofsted at the touch of a button.