KEEPING YOUR CHILD SAFE

 

At St Mary's Fields Primary School the health and safety, safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children is of paramount importance.

What we do in school to keep your children safe

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‘Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, every day’.

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Our first and foremost priority is to keep your child safe and healthy. Under the new OFSTED framework safeguarding is a key indicator of what constitutes a good school. Keeping your child safe means:

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• The health and safety of all children

• Making sure that the adults who work here have undergone safety and security checks

• Protecting children from deliberate harm

• Being an anti-bullying school

• Being proactive against racist behaviour

• Being proactive against attempts to indoctrinate children in to any form of extreme ideology

• Protecting our children from harassment and discrimination

• A positive approach to behaviour management including the use of physical intervention safely, when necessary

• Meeting the needs of children with medical conditions

• Providing first aid

• Protecting children from drug and substance abuse

• Children enjoying safe educational visits

• Caring for children’s personal needs

• Keeping children safe when using the internet and making sure they are aware of cyber bullying.

• Making sure our school is secure and safe

• Being a ‘listening school’.

• Ensuring they know who to go in school if they have a problem

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Your child and their health & safety are our number one priority.  We employ the following strategies to keep your child healthy and safe:

 

Child Protection

All staff receive appropriate training in Safeguarding and Child Protection to ensure that they are aware of the school’s procedures for child protection and their responsibilities.  We have a written policy and procedures for Child Protection (see link below) complying with Local Authority guidance.  The Designated Teachers for Safeguarding are Ms L Haycock (Acting Deputy Head Teacher and Special Needs Co-ordinator ) , Mrs H Nott(Headteacher) Mrs C Alba (Phase Leader for Key Stage 1) and Mrs P Hulait (Family Support Worker).  The designated governor for Child Protection is Raj Gill Harrsion.

Recording and Reporting Racist Incidents

Under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 and Home Office Code of Practice on reporting and recording racist incidents (2000) schools are required to record and investigate all racist incidents and to report them to the Local Authority on a regular basis. Definition of a racist incident: as recommended in the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report 1999:  ‘A racist incident is any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person.’

Preventing Radicalisation and Extremism

 

In line with the DfE's Prevent Duty advice (June 2015) we are committed to actively promoting the fundamental British values of democracy, the Rule of Law, Individual Liberty and Mutual Respect and Tolerance of those with different Faiths and Beliefs. Our core mission of diversity permeates all we do. We place a strong emphasis on the common values that all communities share such as self-respect, tolerance and the sanctity of life. We work hard to broaden our students' experience, to prepare them for life and work in contemporary Britain. We teach them  to respect and value the diversity around them as well as understanding how to make safe, well-considered decisions. We recognise that we have a responsibility to protect children from all forms of extremism and this forms an integral part of our Safeguarding Policy (see link above). This includes the use of internet filtering systems in school, to ensure children are safe from terrorist and extremist material when using the internet. If you have any concerns regarding radicalisation and extremism please contact one of our Designated Safeguarding Leads (Rebecca Dulieu, Laura Haycock, Helen Nott and Parmjit Hulait) at the school.

 

Collecting your child during the school day

Please try and make appointments out of school hours if possible. If you have to collect your child during the school day for a medical or dental appointment, please write a note to the class teacher or let the office staff know. 

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If your child is ill

Please keep them at home and notify us by 9am on the first day of any absence so that we know they are safely at home with you.  We have a policy of contacting parents / carers if we haven’t received a message by 10am. If your child becomes ill during the day they will be monitored and we will telephone you if we feel it is necessary to do so.  Any cuts and grazes resulting from normal play in the playground will be dealt with by our first aid trained staff.  Any bumps on the head will be reported to the child’s teacher and parents / carers will also be notified. We ensure that several members of staff have First Aid certificates.

 

Medicines

If a child is receiving ongoing medication, parents are allowed to come into school by prior arrangement to administer this. Medication cannot be administered by school staff without prior agreement: please visit the school office to discuss this. Medicine and tablets must never be given to a child to be brought into school. We will ask you to fill in a "REQUEST FOR ADMINISTRATION OF MEDICINES (GENERAL CARE PLAN)" if your child has medical needs.  You can read our policy about the administration of medicines by following the link above. Please advise the school if there are any changes to your child’s health which the school should know about.

 

Health Checks

In Foundation Stage 2 and Year 6 our pupils are visited by members of the school nursing team as part of "The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP)" . The NCMP measures the height and weight of children in reception class (aged 4 to 5 years) and year 6 (aged 10 to 11 years) to assess overweight and obesity levels in children within primary schools. This data can be used at a national level to support local public health initiatives and inform the local planning and delivery of services for children. Our School Nurse Team (see link below) offer "drop in" sessions for parents/carers to give them the opportunity to discuss any worries that they may have.  If the parent, nurse or teacher have any concerns, they can request a referral to the school nurse.

Jewellery

For the sake of safety we request that jewellery should not be worn to school, with the exception of small stud ear-rings and watches which may be worn at the owner’s risk. The Local Authority regulations state that all jewellery must be removed for P.E.

 

Fire Drill

Our fire bells are tested weekly and a fire drill is held each term to ensure the swift evacuation of the building.  If you are helping in school and the alarm sounds, please leave by the nearest exit and assemble in either the Key Stage 1 or Key Stage 2 playground whichever is closest.

 

Fire Safety

From time to time the school welcomes representatives from the local Fire Brigade who come to talk to KS1 and KS2 children about Fire Safety.

 

Road Safety

As part of our Travel Plan we have set a target to continue to increase the number of children walking and cycling to school.  We ask parents / carers to support us and ease traffic congestion by walking your child to school, or by encouraging them to scoot or cycle; this provides an ideal opportunity to teach your child about road safety and traffic awareness.  Zig-Zag lines are in force around the school so, if you do travel by car, please park well away from the school entrance for the sake of the safety of our pupils. 

Road Safety Officers visit the school from time to time to ensure that all children are aware of how to stay safe as pedestrians.

As part of the bikability training children in years 5 are taught how to cycle safely on quiet roads and about road safety awareness.

 

Safety in the playground

Before and after school

• Parents/carers are responsible for children in playground before they go into their classes for them.

• Please do not allow your children to ride bikes or scooters once in the playground at the beginning or end of the school day.

• Please do not bring dogs onto the school premises ever.

 

During school hours

We have very clear rules about behaviour and use of play equipment in the playground. Supervising adults are outside with the children every playtime and lunch time and additionally Playground Pals are present in the infant playground to help ensure that playtimes are a happy time for children in Reception and Key Stage1.

 

No Smoking Area

Our school building and grounds are a designated No Smoking area so we ask for your co-operation in extinguishing cigarettes before entering the site.

 

Security

 The school was built or has been adapted with security of pupils and staff in mind including:

• perimeter walls, fencing  and gates

• fenced nursery playground for our youngest pupils

• a sophisticated intruder alarm

• a modern effective fire alarm system

• door entry system with electronic signing in procedure for all visitors and staff

• all staff wear ID badges at all times

 

Although we want to have an open door policy we must balance this against the safety of pupils and staff and we request that parents / carers respect this. 

 

Visiting the school

Any visitors to the school must sign in and out as a visitor and wear their badge at all times.  Our staff are trained to challenge anyone not following this practice, so we apologise in advance. 

 

Gate Duty

At the beginning and end of each day there is always at least one member of staff at the gate to make sure that children stay safely inside the school playground once they have been dropped of by parents and do not leave without an accompanying adult (unless they are older pupils with permission to go home unaccompanied).

 

Drug Misuse, Sex and Relationship

As part of the national curriculum children cover age appropriate sex and relationship education. All parents receive a letter before the subject is covered explaining the topic and how they are taught. We ask parents/carers to make an appointment to speak to a member of the Senior Leadership Team if they have any questions about this.

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Year 5 study drugs and alcohol during Personal, Social and Health Education lessons (PSHE). Year 6 learn more about it at their trip to the Warning Zone.

 

Police/Community Officers

We have excellent relations with out local police and community officers who regularly attend our school events and are invited in to different classes to talk about a variety of topics.

 

Swimming

Children in years 4 and 6 go swimming throughout the school year.  They are accompanied by  members of staff who remain poolside during the lesson and closely supervise the children in the changing rooms. The children are taught swimming by fully trained instructors.

 

Risk Assessments and School Trips

All school trips involve the undertaking of a risk assessment

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Bullying

It is the responsibility of the whole school to ensure that school is a bully free zone. We are proactive in promoting a caring and positive ethos between all members of the school community. We have an anti-bullying policy with very clear procedures in place in the event of an incident involving bullying.  

Our Strategies for preventing bullying:

 

1. This ethos of good behaviour is the key to success in preventing bullying from arising in the first place.

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2. We have a Policy for Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education and programmes of study which underpin everything and everyone at St. Mary’s Fields School. The Anti-Bullying Policy is like an appendix to this Policy which captures all the strategies this school employs to ensure the social and emotional wellbeing of pupils.  Also, the school’s overall Behavioural Policy, which incorporates all types of anti-social behaviours, covers aspects pertinent to bullying.  The three Policies need to be read in conjunction, so that the wealth of strategies put into practise for preventing bullying can be seen.  This accounts for the outstanding safeguarding and pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development credited by Ofsted.

 

3. Here is a flavour of the strategies employed to help children  work and behave co-operatively, in order to minimise the possibility of bullying taking place:

· Thought for the Week

· PSHE programmes of study - active teaching with role play/drama/stories/SEAL/

· Assemblies addressing E-safety

· The RE teaching programme

· Safeguarding/equal opportunities

· School Rules

· Overall Behaviour Policy

· Circle Time/R Time/Persona Dolls

· School Council discussions

· Playground Routines and Spaces/high level supervision

· National Anti-Bullying week events (November)

· Playground Pals = Peer Support /Buddies

· Physical activity/Keep Fit programme

· After School Clubs 

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4. We also work with families to promote positive behaviours, in order to prevent any bullying on the way to and from school, and outside of school hours.

· Family support/Information to Parents

· PATCH group = Parental involvement

· Home/School Liaison

· Home Visits

· Community Police

 

You can read our full anti-bullying policy below.

Online Safety

E-Safety is taught as an integral part of the Computing Curriculum throughout a child's time at St Mary's . To maintain safe internet use in school we have clear rules for responsible use, which are covered with the children and are displayed in school and children from Year 1 have the rules for acceptable internet use explained and are asked to sign to say that they will keep to the rules. This is explained in the Acceptable Internet Use Policy (follow the link above to view). We have filtering systems in place to prevent children at school accessing websites considered to be unsafe or inappropriate, and encourage parents and carers to recognise the importance of being aware of the online material and websites that their children are accessing at home.

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Further information on how to help support e-safety at home is available for parents and carers on the Online Safety page (see link below)

You can read more about Safeguarding at St Mary’s Fields on our Safeguarding page and view our safeguarding team there too.