Child Protection

Child Protection at Herbert Thompson

At Herbert Thompson we aim to provide an environment that enables our children feel safe, secure, valued and respected and know how to approach adults if they need to talk. Developing strong relationships is so important, so that all children have key adults that they can go to if needed.

We regard child protection as vitally important and we follow a range of policies, including the All Wales Child Protection Procedures to keep our children safe.

Our policies enable us to:

• support our children’s development in ways that will foster security, confidence and independence;

• ensure a very strong awareness of signs of abuse, procedures and responsibilities amongst staff to identify and report possible cases of abuse;

• provide a systematic means of monitoring children known or thought to be at risk of harm;

• follow robust, structured procedures within the school for dealing with disclosures of abuse;

• develop and promote effective working relationships with other agencies, such as the police and children’ services;

• ensure that all adults within the school, who have access to children, have been checked as to their suitability to work with children (including having very robust recruitment procedures).

There are 4 main elements to our policy for child protection:

1. Prevention through the teaching and pastoral support offered to pupils and the creation and maintenance of a whole school safe environment where children know who to approach with any concerns about their welfare.

2. Procedures for identifying and reporting concerns about the welfare of a child.

3. Support To pupils who have/ may have been abused.

4. Preventing unsuitable people working with children through robust vetting and recruitment processes. Parents/Carers should be aware that schools have a responsibility to ensure the well-being of all pupils.

Our responsibility means that:

• we have a child protection policy and procedures, that is updated as needed;

• we endeavour to work with parents/carers regarding the welfare of their child and remain impartial if their child is being, or has been referred to other services;

• we aim to help parents or carers understand that if a referral is made to social services or the police, it has been made in the best interests of the child and that the school will be involved in any child protection enquiry or police investigation in relation to their child’s welfare and educational progress.

• we will keep parents or carers informed of the welfare and educational progress of the child. As a parent or carer, you may sometimes feel alone but there is always somebody you can talk to. Caring for children is not always easy and you may need to ask for help and support to protect your child.

Designated Child Protection Teachers

The designated child protection teachers at the school are Mrs Marsh (Headteacher), Mrs Jones (Deputy Headteacher) and Mrs Moore (ALNCo).

Up to date policies can be found on the link below:

https://www.herbertthompsonprimary.co.uk/school-policies