Safeguarding
SMFR Safeguarding Statement
St Mary’s Farnham Royal CE Primary is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. To achieve our commitment, we will ensure continuous development and improvement of robust safeguarding processes and procedures that promote a culture of safeguarding amongst our staff and volunteers.
We are committed to inspiring, challenging and safeguarding our pupils, enabling them to become:
- Successful learners, who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve.
- Confident individuals who are able to live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives.
- Responsible citizens who will make a positive contribution, both socially and economically, to society.
This is best achieved when we all work Together Towards Success
The designated safeguarding lead for SMFR is Mr James Farmer (Deputy Headteacher)
The other designated safeguarding leads for SMFR are: Mr Shane Broderick (Headteacher) and (Assistant Headteacher)
The designated governor for safeguarding is Mr Randall (Chair of Governors)
The designated lead for children looked after is Mr Shane Broderick (Headteacher)
All adults who work in school have a responsibility to read and understand all safeguarding policies.
All adults adhere to the DfE guidance: Keeping Children Safe in Education - September 2023
It should be read alongside statutory guidance Working together to safeguard children and departmental advice What to do if you are worried a child is being abused - advice for practitioners.
All adults at SMFR are made aware of the NSPCC Whistleblowing Advice Line on 0800 028 0285. This anonymous, free of charge service provides support to employees wishing to raise concerns about how their organisation has handled a child protection concern
External Safeguarding Audit July 2023
To access our Safeguarding provision, we engaged an external agency to visit and audit all aspects of Safeguarding at SMFR. This was a very positive experience.
Key Findings:
- What come across loud and clear at SMFR is that Safeguarding of everyone, pupils, staff, parents and visitors is of the highest priority. There is a very strong safeguarding culture that keeps the community safe. There is an incredibly welcoming and warm feel in the school and a calm sense of purposeful learning with a great deal of fun and enjoyment.
- Even prior to visiting, the auditor was impressed by the excellent website that demonstrates the priority given to not only safeguarding but the support offered to families and the community. The school is a focus of the community.
- It is important to recognise and pay tribute to the excellent work of the DSL Team, sensed even before visiting in person. Safeguarding is further reinforced through the commitment and focus of the Governors, particularly the Chair of Governors through his monitoring visits and reports.
- All staff are well trained and use systems well across the school. All actions taken are recorded in detail and the 'live' referral cover sheets are an excellent practise.
- The auditor found the attitude of all staff spoken with, not just the DSLs, to be infectious and pupils spoke highly of how safe they are made to feel, how they are supported with worries and issues that affect them and their families. Pastoral support is strong and effective.
- Whilst there is much to be proud of at SMFR and the DSL team should be specifically commended for their commitment , passion and professionalism, it is clear that nobody at SMFR thinks they have 'cracked it' when it comes to Safeguarding. The school has safeguarding at the centre of all it does and will continue to adapt and ensure that the strong culture of safeguarding continues to keep the community safe.
Safguarding policies can be found on our policy page.
Schools have a duty to safeguard children from radicalisation and extremism. This is referred to as the Prevent Duty.
Preventing Radicalisation in school
Building resilience in our young people and the promotion of fundamental British values is at the heart of preventing radicalisation. We do this by providing a safe place in which children can discuss issues, and we aim to give them the knowledge and confidence to challenge extremist beliefs and ideologies.
Our Prevent Duty, is carried out under the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, which legally requires us to take steps to prevent pupils from being drawn into terrorism. We take this duty seriously and carry out the four main actions responsibly, namely: risk assessment, working in partnership, staff training and IT policies. If we assess a child as at risk, we will refer to the Channel Programme, which focuses on providing support at an early stage to people who are identified as being vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism.
Staff have receive WRAP (Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent) and training to familiarise them with the Prevent Duty . In terms of internet safety, we ensure suitable filters are in place to keep children away from extremist materials, in keeping with guidelines.
We recognise that we play a vital role in keeping children safe from harm, including from the risks of extremism and radicalisation, and in promoting the welfare of children in our care.
What we do if there is a concern
If we have a concern about a particular pupil we will follow the school’s normal safeguarding procedures, including discussing with the school’s designated safeguarding lead, and where deemed necessary, with children’s social care. In Prevent priority areas, the local authority will have a Prevent lead who can also provide support.
We may also contact the local police force or dial 101 (the non-emergency number). They can talk to us in confidence about concerns and help us gain access to support and advice.
The Department for Education has dedicated a telephone helpline (020 7340 7264) to enable staff and governors to raise concerns relating to extremism directly. Concerns can also be raised by email to counter.extremism@education.gsi.gov.uk. Please note that the helpline is not intended for use in emergency situations, such as a child being at immediate risk of harm or a security incident In an emergency situation we will follow the recommended emergency procedures.