Telford Junior School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff, governors, volunteers and parents/carers to share this commitment.

We have number of policies and procedures in place that contribute to our safeguarding commitment, including our Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy. These policies can be viewed via the links below:

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Raising a Concern

If you have a concern about the safety of a child, please contact a member of our safeguarding team:

• Designated Safeguarding Lead: Richard Siviter (Head Teacher).

• Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads: Sarah Powell (Deputy Head Teacher) and Natasha Thompson (SENCO).

N.B. All staff members can be contacted through the school office (Tel: 01926 424664).

Parents/carers can also raise safeguarding concerns directly with Warwickshire's safeguarding hub:

                                                           Tel: 01926 414410.

If you need to raise a concern out of school hours or during school holidays, contact Warwickshire's safeguarding hub via the above telephone number. If the concern is of a serious and immediate nature, contact the Police.

Governor with Responsibility for Safeguarding

If you would like to talk to a member of the Board of Governors about a safeguarding concern, please contact Sara Maslowski, Governor with Responsibility for Safeguarding.

Safer Recruitment

The school is committed to safer recruitment pracitces, as set out in the Safer Recruitment Policy.  Richard Siviter (Head Teacher), Helen Scott (Business Manager) and Sara Maslowski (Chair of Governors) are all specifically trained in Safer Recruitment.

Warwickshire Safeguarding Board's Guidance to Families:

‘Under the Education Act 2002 (Section 175 for maintained schools/Section 157 for academies/free/independent schools), schools must make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.  Parents/carers should know that the law (Children Act 1989) requires all school staff to pass on information which gives rise to a concern about a child’s welfare, including risk from neglect, physical, emotional or sexual abuse.  Staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with the parent/carer and discuss the need to make a referral to Children’s Social Care if that is considered necessary.  This will only be done where such discussion will not place the child at increased risk of significant harm or cause undue delay.  The school will seek advice from Children’s Social Care when they have reasonable cause to suspect a child may be suffering or likely to suffer significant harm.  Occasionally, concerns are passed on which are later found to be unfounded.  Parents/carers will appreciate that the school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead carries out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acts in the best interests of all children.’

Operation Encompass

From the beginning of the academic year 2019/20, the school signed up to the jointly run operation called Operation Encompass, in partnership with Warwickshire County Council and Warwickshire Police. Many other schools in Warwickshire are also participating in the scheme.

Operation Encompass is a way of working initially developed in south-west England that is operating successfully in a number of other Local Authority areas. Its objective is to help schools provide support to children who are affected by incidents of domestic violence and abuse. There is a great deal of research evidence that children can suffer significant physical and/or emotional harm when they are present during, witness or are directly involved in incidents of domestic violence and abuse.

The Operation Encompass process is simply that after any incident of domestic violence or abuse attended by the Police, the Designated Safeguarding Leads at the school attended by any child in the household will receive a confidential and secure email on the morning of the next school day. The email will only inform the school that the Police have attended an incident and will request that the school is mindful of that in their care and responses to the child throughout the school day. The school will not be informed about the specific details of the incident. The only exception would be when Warwickshire County Council and Warwickshire Police deem the incident to be a child protection matter that requires further investigation. Information would then be shared with the school as part of Warwickshire County Council’s child protection checks and investigation, which is current practice and will not be changed by Operation Encompass.

The Designated Safeguarding Leads have entered into a formal agreement with Warwickshire County Council and Warwickshire Police to use the information shared to make sure that the right support is available for children who are present during, witness or are directly involved in an incident of domestic violence or abuse. This means that the school will also be in a position to offer parents and carers support as appropriate. The confidential information shared securely with the school will be managed and stored with sensitivity and discretion. It will only be seen by the Designated Safeguarding Leads, who will then use the notification discretely, to ensure that teachers and other staff directly in contact with affected children support them with due kindness, care and sensitivity. If you have any concerns or questions then please contact Richard Siviter, Head Teacher, via the school office.