Safeguarding
Safeguarding is of paramount importance at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School. We have regular training for staff in safeguarding and updates.
The Designated Safeguarding Lead at St Mary’s Catholic Primary school is Mrs L. Concannon
The Deputy Designated Safeguarding at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School is Mrs Sammie Vale
The nominated Governor for Safeguarding is : Mrs D. Brimson
In addition the following members of staff and Governors have undertaken Safer Recruitment training:
Mrs Louise King
Mrs Rebecca Iley
Mrs Laura Concannon
All Staff- training update- Prevent/ Domestic Abuse/ Safeguarding/ Internet Safety/ Gender Stereotyping- discrimination/ Grooming/ Exploitation.
St Mary’s Catholic Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. All staff and governors must ensure that they are aware of these procedures.
As part of our commitment to safeguarding, all teaching staff at St Mary’s undertook refresher Prevent training in September 2024.
Annually Northamptonshire Police deliver their Blue Butterfly Project. Our school has embraced this and staff wear the Blue Butterfly as a reminder that children should share their worries this information was shared again in a visit in September 2024.
Some key government documents relating to safeguarding include:
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024
Operation Encompass
Who else you can contact if you have a concern:
Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) - 0300 126 7000 (option 1)
By e-mail to: MASH@northamptonshire.gcsx.gov.uk
West Northants:
E-mail
You can e-mail your query to ladoreferral@nctrust.co.uk or direct to Andy at Andrew.Smith@NCTrust.co.uk please include as much detail as possible as this will enable Andy to give you clear and accurate advice.
Phone
You can call the Designated Officer on 01604 362993 or Andy directly on 01604 367862.
Online Refferal: Seek advice from NSCP.
​When you raise a concern about a child’s welfare, your call or email goes to our dedicated team of child protection professionals, known as the Northamptonshire Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH).
Over 60 people from different organisations work together in the team, including social care, police, NHS, education, and probation services.
The Senior Team have undertaken training to support children affected by Domestic Abuse. Operation Encompass is explained below:
As part of the 'Journey in Love' teaching we teach children to recognise positive relationships.
In every force
Our aim is to ensure that schools have timely information about all police-attended incidents of domestic abuse, no matter where in the world the child lives.
In every school
Our aim is to enable staff in every school to understand how to support children who are experiencing domestic abuse, no matter where in the world the child lives.
For every child
Our aim is to ensure all child experiencing domestic abuse receive timely support in their school, no matter where in the world the child lives.
Operation Encompass is a partnership between police and schools, a school can only join if the local police force has already joined Operation Encompass. However Key Adults are welcome to access the Key Adult Training even if they are not part of Operation Encompass
One of the principles of Operation Encompass is that all incidents of domestic abuse are shared with schools, not just those where an offence can be identified.
Operation Encompass is very simple and easy to implement within a school.
Every school appoints a trained Key Adult – the Key Adult is the person who receives information about police attended Domestic Abuse incidents.
The Key Adult will be notified prior to the start of the next school day that the police have attended an incident of domestic abuse. This timely information sharing enables appropriate support to be provided for that child so that all interactions, from when the child first arrives at the school gates, are of a positive nature.
The Key Adult must be trained as a Designated or Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (or officer in some areas) and should attend a Key Adult Briefing.
An alternative to the attendance at a Key Adult Briefing is to complete the Operation Encompass online Key Adult training available on our website.
This online Key Adult training is free and available to all school staff and Governors.This training:
- creates an awareness of Operation Encompass throughout a school
- informs the participant about key facts concerning Domestic Abuse
- explains how Operation Encompass mitigates the effects of domestic abuse on children and explains its broader consequent benefits.
- explains to school staff how to communicate the school's Operation Encompass participation to the broader school community and stakeholders, for example by placing information on the school's website, in its prospectus, and by sending the joint police/school letter to parents.
Operation Encompass is an integral component in child safeguarding and protection policies and, as such, should be cited in the school's Safeguarding and Child Protection policies. Participation in Operation Encompass mandates a secure record-keeping trail, which may be electronic or paper based. Within Operation Encompass all records are managed at Child Protection level with the highest level of security and confidentiality, and in full accordance with GDPR. These records are held by police and schools only. Operation Encompass does not hold the records and never has access to these records.
