Safeguarding

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Nursery and Primary School is committed to safeguarding children and promoting children’s welfare and expects all staff, governors, volunteers, and visitors to share this commitment and maintain a vigilant and safe environment. Everyone has a responsibility to act without delay to protect children by reporting anything that might suggest a child is being abused or neglected. It is our willingness to work safely and challenge inappropriate behaviours that underpins this commitment. The school seeks to work in partnership with families and other agencies to improve the outcomes for children who are vulnerable or in need.

At Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Nursery and Primary School we strongly believe in and adhere to current safeguarding legislation which our practice reflects:

"Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone's responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families has a role to play. In order to fulfil this responsibility effectively, all practitioners should make sure their approach is child centred. This means that they should consider, at all times, what is in the best interests of the child."

(DFE - Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024, p6).

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Nursery and Primary School is committed to ensuring the safety of all our children. We have a detailed Whole School Child Protection Policy that explains the procedures that the staff must follow to protect our children.

The Safeguarding Team can be contacted at the school on 01704 568375 or by email on safeguarding@olol.pfcmat.org

We are a dedicated team of staff, with links to our pastoral team, the ELSA team and Mental Health Team. We will be more than happy to help with any concerns you may have.

Additional guidance can be found in the DFE 'Keeping Children Safe in Education (2024) and the document 'Working Together to Safeguard Children' (2024) based on the Government's strategy set out in Stable Homes, Built on Love (2023).

This guidance applies to all schools and is primarily for:

• Strategic leaders
• Headteachers, teachers and staff
• Governing bodies, proprietors, and management committees.

It sets out the legal duties you must follow to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people under the age of eighteen in schools and colleges.

Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSiE) 2023, sets out schools' responsibilities in terms of Filtering and Monitoring. As a school we use SENSO to filter and monitor the internet usage on our devices. The Designated Safeguarding Lead is sent an email at the time of a violation and a weekly summary report. These are then acted upon immediately.

Useful Links

Sefton LSCB website – https://seftonscp.org.uk/scp

Sefton Council website – https://www.sefton.gov.uk/childrens-services/

Childnet – https://www.childnet.com/

NSPCC – https://www.nspcc.org.uk/

Think U Know – https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/