Safeguarding

St. John's CE Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We have a number of policies and procedures in place that contribute to our safeguarding commitment, our Safeguarding Policy can be viewed below and any other policies can be shared on request. Please speak to Miss Hickey or Miss Callaghan in the main school office.

Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies, when there are concerns about a child's welfare. We will ensure that our concerns about our pupils are discussed with parents first, unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child's welfare.

Designated Safeguarding Lead

If you have a safeguarding concern please raise this with Mrs. Cope (Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead for the school) or Mrs. Hanson (Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead).

Safeguarding Team

Bury Encompass

St. John's is working with other schools across Bury and Greater Manchester Police on an initiative called Encompass. The purpose of Bury Encompass is to safeguard and support children and young people who have been involved in or who witness a domestic abuse incident. The police will contact our Safeguarding Team regarding any domestic abuse incidents that occur outside of the school day, but which may have had an impact on a child attending our school. Domestic abuse impacts on children in a number of ways. Children are at increased risk of physical injury during an incident, either by accident or because they attempt to intervene. Even when not directly injured, children are greatly distressed by witnessing the physical and emotional suffering of a parent.
Following the report of an incident of domestic abuse, by 9.00am on the next school day the school’s Key Adults will be informed. (Our Key Adults are listed above). This notification allows Key Adults to sensitively support children whilst they are at school. For more information on Encompass, please speak to Mrs. Cope.

The Difference between Safeguarding and Child Protection

People sometimes wonder what the difference is between the terms safeguarding and child protection.

In practice, Safeguarding is the policies and practices that schools and Governing Bodies employ to keep children safe and promote their well-being. This means everything from security of the buildings, to the safe recruitment of staff and everything in between. This diagram sets out what Safeguarding means in schools:

As the diagram shows, Child Protection is one aspect of Safeguarding. Child Protection is a term used to describe the activity that is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering or likely to suffer significant harm.