Keeping Children Safe in Education

Click here for Sir Thomas Boteler’s Early Help Statement.

Click here for our KSB newsletter for managing mental health during exam season. 

Click here for our Wellbeing and Safeguarding newsletters – Keeping Boteler Safe. 

Your Child’s Safety

Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School fully recognises its responsibilities to safeguard and promote the welfare of young people. We are committed to providing a safe and secure environment for students, staff and visitors. We promote a climate where students and adults feel confident about sharing any concerns which they may have about their own safety or the wellbeing of others to protect them from harm.

Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families has a role to play in safeguarding children. School staff are in a position to identify concerns early and provide help, support and guidance to prevent concerns from escalating.

Schools and their staff form part of the wider safeguarding system for children, this system is described in statutory guidance “Working Together to Safeguard Children 2022” and “Keeping Children Safe in Education” updated September 2022.

Reference should also be made to the Warrington Safeguarding Partnership and their safeguarding procedures which take the above into account.

Parents should be aware that the school will take any reasonable action to secure the safety of its students. Where there is reason to be concerned that a child may be subject to ill-treatment, neglect or other forms of abuse, staff have no alternative but to follow Child Protection Procedures and inform Social Services of their concern.

 

The Designated Safeguarding Leads are:                                       

SAFEGUARDING TEAM

Meet the Safeguarding Team at Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School:

Designated Safeguarding Lead and Strategic Lead – John Leonard, Assistant Headteacher 

Deputy DSL/Safeguarding Officer – Jemma ​Chilton

Additional;​

Deputy DSL – Beverley Scott-Herron, Headteacher Headteacher          ​

Deputy DSL – Chris Kinsey, ​Deputy Headteacher 

Mrs Linda Ashwin and Miss Kate Dowling in the Pastoral Team

 

KEY FUNCTIONS OF THE SAFEGUARDING TEAM

Key Functions of the Safeguarding Team

Below is a list of the some of the tasks that the DSL will undertake:

• Contribute to Combined Assessments, Early Help assessments, complete CSE screening tools.
• Make contact with Children’s Social Care/ Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) when there is an identified child protection issue.
• Support to students and their families, making referrals to appropriate statutory and non-statutory services for support.
• Attend and deliver Safeguarding Training (whole school training)
• Challenge practice and decisions in line with the LSCB Escalation Policy
• Have a thorough understanding of the thresholds for support from Children’s Social Care e.g. Children in Need of protection and children in need of care
• Support each other (De Briefing opportunities and reflective learning opportunities)
• Champion and know who the vulnerable students are. The Vulnerable students should be reviewed on a regular basis.

 

Safeguarding Officer and Mental Health and Wellbeing Lead

Our full-time Safeguarding Officer and Mental Health and Wellbeing Lead adopts a range of strategies to ensure the safeguarding of all students. We know that our vulnerable students are at high risk of suffering from mental health problems and their safety and wellbeing is our number one priority. Examples of the work carried out by our Safeguarding Officer includes:

·         Liaising with Social Care

·         Completion of Early Help Assessments

·         Attendance and contributions at Child Protection Conferences, Core Group meetings, Child in Need meetings

·         Supporting staff with the Completion of Early Help Assessments and referrals to partner agencies with the aim of supporting identified families

·         Creating in house systems to support and deliver mental health strategies to our young people

·         Planning and delivering of a Mental Health Awareness day.

 

Operation Encompass  

In conjunction with Cheshire Police, Sir Thomas Boteler is involved in an initiative called Operation Encompass.  The purpose of Operation Encompass is to safeguard and support children and young people who have been involved in, heard or witnessed a domestic abuse incident. Following such an incident, children will often arrive at school distressed, upset, worried and unprepared. Operation Encompass aims to ensure that appropriate school staff (called Key Adults) are made aware early enough to support children and young people in a way that means they feel safe and included.

This is a valuable initiative that means we can continue to support and help children and families within our school community when they need it the most. 

You can find our more by visiting www.operationencompass.org or by contacting our Key Adult.

“Everyone has a responsibility to make sure that children within Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School are safe, as ‘Every Child Matters’”

If you are worried about the safety of any young person in our school, you MUST report this to the safeguarding team.

PLEASE DO NOT:

• Decide to do nothing
• Leave the school without telling anyone

SAFE WORKING WITHIN SIR THOMAS BOTELER CHURCH OF ENGLAND HIGH SCHOOL

• Provide a good example and be a positive role-model by being respectful, fair and considerate to all.
• Treat all children equally – never build a ‘special relationship’ or favour a particular child above all others.
• Ensure that when working with individual children, that the door is left open, or that you can be visible to others.
• Do not photograph children (unless requested by the school staff) exchange emails, text messages, and phone numbers or give out your own personal details.
• Do not receive or give gifts unless arranged through school.
• Only touch children for professional reasons and when this is necessary and appropriate for the child’s wellbeing and safety.
• Have up to date training on all safeguarding law and legislations to ensure robust safeguarding is followed and both staff and students are kept safe.

Allegations

Any allegations should be reported to the Safeguarding Team in school. If the concerns are about the Headteacher please inform the Chair of Governors Mr Stuart Titchard.

If you are concerned that a child, young person is at risk of or experiencing abuse or neglect, or you yourself are a victim of abuse, you should report it straight away so that the appropriate services can take the appropriate actions to prevent harm.

• Report any safeguarding concerns about a child or young person to Children’s Safeguarding/Social Work Team on 01925 443322
• Outside of office hours ring on 01925 444400
• If you believe a crime has been committed contact the police on 101
• If you believe the adult is at immediate risk of harm dial 999
• Support around immediate mental health needs of young people -CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) 01925 575 904 / Out of hours 01744 627 618

We all have a responsibility to be alert to possible concerns and act to safeguard others in our families and communities who may be less able to protect themselves.

Volunteers / Visitors Responsibility

All those who come into contact with children through their everyday work whether paid or voluntary are responsible for their own actions and behaviour. You should avoid any contact which would lead any reasonable person to question your motivation and intention. At Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School, we all have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of our children. 

Always have identification documents available for staff to check.

Identity badges

All visitors within Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School must wear their visitors badge received from Reception. Any adults without a badge will be challenged.

DBS certificates

All staff, including supply staff, regular visitors and volunteers are subject to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificates. This is to help ensure that unsuitable people are prevented from working with children. Advice about DBS certificates is available from the school office.

Screening document

Visitors will be asked to sign our Screening Document available at the Reception Desk. By signing the document, you agree to comply with Child Protection Procedures within Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School, follow the Code of Behaviour and agree to disclose all criminal convictions spent or not. The Screening Document is updated annually.

Support with online safety

The school continues its work in educating students around online safety; however, we must work in partnership with parents and carers.

Below are some useful websites and links through NSPCC and ChildLine to support parents/carers in helping their children to stay safe online. More information is available at www.boteler.org.uk/teams

Child Protection

Parents should be aware that the school will take any reasonable action to secure the safety of its students. Where there is reason to be concerned that a child may be subject to ill-treatment, neglect or other forms of abuse, staff have no alternative but to follow Child Protection Procedures and inform Social Services of their concern. Click here for our Safeguarding Policy. 

Parent’s Protect is an information and resources website which aims to give adults the information, advice, support and facts, they need to help protect children.

 

WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE A CONCERN

If you have a concern about your child, a relative or another pupil who attends this school please contact us on the following:

Designated Safeguarding Lead and Strategic Lead – John Leonard, Assistant Headteacher​: [email protected]

Deputy DSL/Safeguarding Officer – Jemma Chilton: [email protected]

Deputy DSL – Beverley Scott-Herron, Headteacher Headteacher: [email protected]          ​

Deputy DSL – Chris Kinsey, ​Deputy Headteacher: [email protected]

You can also speak to any other member of the safeguarding team and contact them on the school number. Please leave a message and we will get back to you at the earliest opportunity.

Click here to view our concern form. 

Click here to view a flowchart of the process we go through regarding concerns raised to us. 

 

CEOP – Child Exploitation and Online Protection command. Are you worried about online sexual abuse or the way someone has been communicating with you online? Follow the link here to make a report.

 

 

County lines is the name given to drug running. Fearless is a service that allows you to pass on information about crime 100% anonymously. This means you don’t have to give any personal details. Follow the link here to make a report.

The below link may assist officers if dealing with any concerned parents/carer’s/guardians in relation to any nude images of their children or children in their care that may have somehow been shared online. A number of parents/carers do not want to pursue complaints and are keen just to get the image taken down – so by following this link, those concerned can then progress getting the image removed.

https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/online-mobile-safety/sexting/report-a-nude-image-online/