Safeguarding
Safeguarding is everybody's responsibility
Mendip Green is dedicated to looking after all our children the best we possibly can. Safeguarding covers children’s physical, social and emotional well-being and runs alongside our work on health and safety and online safety.
Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm. Safeguarding is everybody's responsibility. If you are visiting our school, please make yourself aware of our policy and procedures prior to visiting us. Thank you.
All visitors should ensure they comply with our procedures and understand what they need to do to keep children safe. Guidance and expectations for visitors to Mendip Green can be found here.
It is essential that anyone working with children must undergo the necessary vetting and barring checks. Any adult undertaking a 'regulated activity' or 'regulated work', they are required by law to have an enhanced vetting and barring check.
Safeguarding means:
- protecting children from abuse and maltreatment
- preventing harm to children's health or development
- ensuring children grow up with the provision of safe and effective care
- taking action to enable all children and young people to have the best outcomes.
Part of our responsibility in this area is to work with outside agencies such as Social Care, Children's Centres, Health Services, the Police and Family Wellbeing Team to make sure all pupils are kept safe. This means that at times we are obliged to pass on concerns or information to these agencies. The school will always do this in consultation with parents except in circumstances where a child is at risk. To do this effectively, we have one person in the school who co-ordinates this work, this person is known as the Designated Safeguarding Lead. They are supported by a safeguarding team and Safeguarding governor.
Mendip Green Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All staff and governors complete regular safeguarding training on an ongoing basis. All staff undergo annual safeguarding refresher training at the start of each academic year and any new staff joining Mendip Green midway through the year complete approved online safeguarding training prior to working with children. All staff recruitment panels include at least one person who has completed appropriate 'Safer Recruitment in Education' training.
Pastoral care is valued highly at Mendip Green Primary School where it is an important part of our commitment to core values, offering a warm, caring and supportive environment. When you spend time in our school you will get a sense of the respect our pupils have for each other and our visitors and the excellent rapport between adult and pupil. We also put a very high priority on keeping our site safe for all users and work closely with the Local Authority and all its services.
We believe that it is important to make children and young people aware of behaviour towards them that is not acceptable, and our PSHE curriculum and, where appropriate, additional nurture provision supports children in recognising when their personal safety is being compromised. The school also signposts access to support for pupils, by displaying Childline posters and contact telephone number.
Sharing a Concern
Any concerns about children’s welfare or wellbeing should be discussed with our Designated Safe Guarding Lead, Lorraine Young as soon as possible. If Lorraine is not available, please speak to other members of the Safeguarding team.
If you have any questions about Safeguarding, please speak to a member of the Safeguarding team. Our Safeguarding team can be contacted via the school office.
Additional members of the Safeguarding Team: Emma Parkins (Disadvantaged Lead), Ashleigh Melhuish (SENDCO) and Kerry Neate (SENDCO)
As a school we are part of ELAN and they also have a role in ensuring that we are effectively safeguarding children and families by nominating an ELAN Designated Safeguarding Lead, Mr Adam Matthews. You can get in touch with Adam on 01934 313390.
If you have any concerns about the behaviour of someone working or volunteering with children please contact the LADO – Local Authority Designated Officer via the Referral and Assessment Team.
Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) Telephone: 07795092692 or email lado@n-somerset.gov.uk
Safeguarding children and child protection guidance and legislation applies to all children up to the age of 18.
As part of ELAN we ensure that all of our staff undergo Enhanced DBS checks regarding their suitability to work with children prior to commencing employment. This is supplemented by annual mandatory safeguarding training to ensure that we are ALL compliant with safeguarding updates, policies and procedures. We are part of a wider safeguarding trust network which we attend regularly. Any changes to procedures or information gained from networks or changes in legislation is then disseminated to all staff by the safeguarding team as and when required.
All staff adhere to the ELAN Safeguarding Policy which is developed in line with recommendations from North Somerset Safeguarding Children Partnership (NSSCP) and Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE). The policy is reviewed annually by Extend Learning Academies Network (ELAN) and governors and is a working document that reflects our practice. Parents/carers can request a paper copy from the office.
Our ELAN Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy and ELAN Whistleblowing Policy (safeguarding) are available in the Policies section of our website.
Behaviour at Mendip Green
Mendip Green Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All staff and governors complete regular safeguarding training on an ongoing basis and all staff recruitment panels include at least one person who has completed appropriate 'Safer Recruitment in Education' training.
Pastoral care is valued highly at Mendip Green Primary School where it is an important part of our commitment to core values, offering a warm, caring and supportive environment. When you spend time in our school you will get a sense of the respect our pupils have for each other and our visitors and the excellent rapport between adult and pupil. We also put a very high priority on keeping our site safe for all users and work closely with the Local Authority and all its services.
We believe that it is important to make children and young people aware of behaviour towards them that is not acceptable, and our PSHE and SEAL curriculum supports children in recognising when their personal safety is being compromised. The school also signposts access to support for pupils, by displaying Childline posters and contact telephone number.
To find out more about how we view behaviour at our school, please go to Behaviour