Child Protection

POLICY STATEMENT

Definitions

For this policy and procedures, a child, young person, pupil or student is referred to as a ‘child’ or a ‘pupil’ and they are normally under 18 years of age.

Wherever the term ‘parent’ is used, this includes any person with parental authority over the child concerned, e.g. carers, legal guardians, etc.

Wherever the term ‘Head teacher’ is used, this also refers to any Manager with the equivalent responsibility for children.

Introduction

All those working in education can contribute to the safeguarding and protection of the welfare of a child in need. According to the DfE, safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as:

providing help and support to meet the needs of children as soon as problems emerge;
protecting children from maltreatment, whether that is within or outside the home, including online;
preventing impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development;
ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care;
promoting the upbringing of children with their birth parents, or otherwise their family network through a kinship care arrangement, whenever possible and where this is in the best interest of the children; and
taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

Child protection is a part of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. It refers to the activity that is undertaken to protect specific children who are suspected to be suffering, or are likely to suffer, significant harm. This includes harm that occurs inside or outside the home, including online.

Effective safeguarding means practitioners should understand and be sensitive to factors, including economic and social circumstances and ethnicity, which can impact children and families’ lives.

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who has contact with children and their families and carers has a role to play in safeguarding children. To fulfil this responsibility effectively, all professionals 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.

The DfE statutory guidance ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ is our first point of reference for child protection and child welfare issues in the school. The guidance has been issued to, read and is followed by:

members of the governing body;
the school/senior leadership team.

Effective child protection is essential as part of wider work to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. However, all agencies and individuals should aim to proactively safeguard and promote the welfare of children so that the need for action to protect children from harm is reduced.

This Child Protection Policy and procedures must be read in conjunction with the school Overarching Safeguarding Statement (where this is in place) and other school Policies and procedures (See Section 6 below).

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