Safeguarding
Safeguarding Information during Covid-19 School Closure
If Parents and Carers have any safeguarding concerns please contact one of the school’s Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL) during term time between 8:00 and 4:00, by calling the main school office (01303 847540).
Outside of these times, if you are concerned a child is at risk, please contact Integrated Children's Services on 03000 411111 (office hours) or 03000 419191 (out of office hours). If a child is in danger, you should call 999.
Outside of term times, DSLs can be contacted by email - addresses listed below.
Advice for Parents from The Department for Education - 25th June - Click on link below:
Keeping Your Children Safe in School
Our primary concern is to ensure all children at Martello feel HAPPY and SAFE with us. If we can do this, then all of our children will be successful in their learning journey.
Designated Safeguarding Lead: Ruth Palmer - ruth.palmer@turnerschools.com
Deputy Safeguarding Lead: Hayley Prescott - hayley.prescott@turnerschools.com
Deputy Safeguarding Lead: Louise Lythgoe - louise.lythgoe@turnerschools.com
What is safeguarding at Martello Primary School?
Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm. The safeguarding of our children and families is paramount. We take swift action to ensure that all children have the best life outcomes. We work together to ensure that our children grow up experiencing safe and effective care.
What is child protection?
Child protection is part of the safeguarding process. It focuses on protecting individual children identified as suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. This includes child protection procedures which detail how to respond to concerns about a child.
Each school must write a child protection policy. This outlines the principles of safeguarding and child protection in our establishment. It is for staff, parents, children and governors. The policy also states all the procedures and government guidance that the school must follow.
A very important document for schools to understand is ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE). It is written by the government and is updated regularly. Schools must understand and follow this guidance as part of their safeguarding procedures and practices.
Keeping Children Safe in Education September 2022
What is a DSL and who are they at Martello Primary School?
DSL stands for ‘Designated Safeguarding Lead’. This is the named person for the school that leads and oversees safeguarding policies, procedures and practices. At Martello Primary School it is Ruth Palmer, SENDCo. The school also has a number of deputy DSLs who work alongside the schools DSLs including Hayley Prescott, Family Liaison Officer and Louise Lythgoe, Director of Primary Improvement. The DSL or deputy DSL’s must be informed of any concerns about a child’s welfare by members of staff in school. There are posters around the school and below which help you to identify the DSL and the deputy DSLs.
I am worried about my child, what do I do?
Your class teacher will be able to support you and your child with any classroom concerns. They may speak to a DSL or member of the pastoral support team if they believe there is a need for further support or advice. If you are worried about your child’s safety, physical or emotional health then you should speak to a member of the safeguarding team. You may, in turn, be signposted to other members of staff such as the SENDCO or FLO. They may offer you direct work or they may signpost you for external support. If you are concerned your child is at risk of immediate harm you must speak to the school DSL without delay, call the NSPCC helpline, integrated front door children’s social services on 03000 411111 or the police on 999.
I am worried about someone else’s child, what do I do?
Perhaps you are concerned about something you have seen or heard in relation to another child. The school DSLs can listen to your concerns and support you in the right course of action. You may contact the NSPCC helpline, integrated front door children’s social services on 03000 411111 or call the police on 999 if it is an emergency.
How can I get more support for child and myself?
The school has a FLO, short for Family Liaison Officer, Hayley Prescott. They can support with a wide range of concerns or issues that you or your child maybe experiencing. They can offer support and advice on a range of parenting topics. You may find it helpful to talk things through and seek their advice. The FLO will also be able to signpost you to specialised support available locally. If you would like to make contact with the FLO please feel free to stop in to the front office and request a call back or arrange a meeting with them.
You may wish to be referred by the school to Early Help services. Early Help workers look to support families for short periods of time, normally 6-10 weeks. Early help services can be delivered to parents, children or whole families, but their main focus is to improve outcomes for children. For example, services may help parents who are living in difficult circumstances provide a safe and loving environment for their child. Or, if a child is displaying concerning behaviour, early help practitioners might work with the child and their parents to find out the reasons for the child's behaviour and put strategies in place to help keep them safe and support their wellbeing. Early Help services will work alongside your school together.
This leaflet in the link below provides more information about Early Help Services
Leaflet for Families - Early Help
What do Martello do to support children and families?
At Martello, we believe in supporting children and families in all areas to ensure that they are able to come into school each day ready to learn. Some of the different strategies, agencies and support in place include:
FareShare - Each week, Hayley Prescott collects a FareShare donation from Tesco for parents/carers to take each week.
Salus - Salus adopts a strengths based approach to supporting children, young people and their families. Using a range of evidence based approaches and tools (such as FRIENDS) and through a team of talented mentors, we work to understand needs and implement an action plan to address these.
Early Help - Early Help is providing support to children, young people and their families at the earliest opportunity to ensure families and young people can get back on track.
Local Food Banks.
Food vouchers.
Salvation Army.
Rotary Club.
Therapy reading dog - Each week the school is visited by Poppy, the reading dog, to support identified pupils for a range of different reasons.
Social services - Social Services have a statutory obligation to safeguard and promote the welfare of vulnerable children and can offer a wide range of care services to children and their parents. Social Services' care department helps ensure children are healthy, safe, and well looked after.
To view our Safeguarding policies please visit our Policies page:
What is Safeguarding?
Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm.
Safeguarding means:
Protecting children from maltreatment
Preventing impairment of children’s health or development
Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
Taking action to ensure that all children have the best outcomes
Safeguarding children and child protection guidance and legislation applies to all children up to the age of 18.
Child Protection is part of Safeguarding and promoting welfare. It refers to the activity that is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering, or are likely to suffer, significant harm.
Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility
Everyone who works with children has a responsibility for keeping them safe. No single practitioner can have a full picture of a child’s needs and circumstances and, if children and families are to receive the right help at the right time, everyone who comes into contact with them has a role to play in identifying concerns, sharing information and taking prompt action.
Keeping Children Safe in Education - September 2022
Please click here to access the statutory guidance from the Department for Education.
The guidance above affirms that 'all staff members' should be aware of systems within their school or college which support safeguarding and these should be explained to them as part of staff induction. This should include:
The Safeguarding / child protection policy
The Whistle-blowing policy
The Behaviour policy
Anti-Bullying policy
Acceptable Use policy
Actions for children missing in education
The staff behaviour policy (sometimes called a Code of Conduct); and
The role of the designated safeguarding lead
It is imperative that all staff (including volunteers) read this guidance (Have to read at least Part 1) and provide consent that they have done so (a register exists to determine this) Schools must have regard to the guidance when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. This document contains information on what schools should do and sets out the legal duties with which schools must comply.
The Prevent Duty
As part of Martello's ongoing safeguarding and child protection duties we are fully behind the government's Prevent Strategy.
From 1 July 2015 all schools are subject to a duty under section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, in the exercise of their functions, to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. This duty is known as the Prevent Duty for Schools.
Martello is committed to safeguarding, and promoting the welfare of all our children and families. We build pupils’ resilience to radicalisation by promoting fundamental British Values and enabling our pupils to challenge extremist views.
All our staff and governors have completed safeguarding and e-learning training developed by the National Counter Policing Headquarters (NCTPHQ), in conjunction with the College of Policing which includes guidance on how to identify people who may be vulnerable to being drawn into Terrorism, and how to refer them into the Channel process. Channel is a key process within the Prevent strategy for assessing individuals’ vulnerability to being drawn into terrorism. It focuses on early intervention and diverting people away from risk.
Please click here to access departmental advice for schools on the Prevent Duty (DFE). Alternatively you can also refer to (Keeping Children Safe in Education) above for further information as well as our Safeguarding/Child Protection Policy and British Values statement.
Referrals to Children's Social Care (Front Door Service)
Central Duty Team - 03000 41 61 61
Out of Hours - 03000 41 91 91
social.services@kent.gov.uk
Procedure for dealing with allegations of abuse against staff/headteacher
The policy (in line with statutory guidance from the DFE) is designed to ensure that all staff, students and parents or carers are aware of the procedure for the investigation of allegations of abuse in order that all complaints are dealt with consistently, and as efficiently as possible.
Day to Day safeguarding: Collection at the end of the school day
Children in all classes must be collected from their classroom doors or the playground by a known adult. We ask you to please make the class teacher aware if there will be a different adult than usual collecting your child. We will not release a child to an adult we have not been made aware of. Children attending after school clubs will gather and register in the school hall. The youngest children will be escorted to the hall for after school club by class based staff.
All children will be dismissed from the main reception area. They can be met from the gate with written permission. They may also make their own way home, with written permission from parents. Without this, we will not dismiss children from school at the end of the day and will contact parents. Please email the school office at MartelloOffice@turnerschools.com to confirm permission.
Mandatory Reporting of Female Genital Mutilation: Procedural Information