Safeguarding

Safeguarding and Child Protection 

The safety of our children at Brierley is our number 1 priority.

Brierley Primary School and Little Bears Nursery are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all our children and families and we expect all staff, volunteers to share this commitment.

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is Mrs Cunningham (Assistant Headteacher)

Our Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads are Mrs McIntosh (Headteacher) and Mrs Faddes (Assistant Headteacher)

Our Designated Mental Health Leaders for children are: Mrs Cunningham, Miss Byford and Mrs Wootton

Our Designated Mental Health Leader for staff is Mrs Wootton

Overall responsibility for Child Protection and Safeguarding within school: Mrs McIntosh

Designated Safeguarding Governor: Mr Chris Parker

As a school we are passionate about keeping our children safe. We have a trained and designated safeguarding team who have the responsibility for day to day child protection issues in school. Mrs Cunningham is the designated safeguard lead (DSL) and is supported by the deputy team, Mrs McIntosh and Mrs Faddes.

We have a number of policies and procedures in place that contribute to our safeguarding commitment, including our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy (see below), which can be viewed in the policies section of our website.

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 children are discussed with the child's parents/carers first unless we have reson to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child's welfare.

What do I do if I have a concern about a child’s welfare? 

We are all responsible for the well-being of the children in our community. Our school operates a whistle-blowing policy for all staff and volunteers. If you have a concern about a child’s welfare it is important that you speak to one of the designated adults in school. They may ask you to write down or dictate your concerns so we have an accurate record. Designated staff then take full responsibility for following up with any further actions. All concerns are treated with utmost confidentiality. The Whistleblowing Policy is available below, and in the policies section of our website.

What about concerns in the community? 

‘It takes a whole village to raise a child. ‘– African Proverb 

All adults in a community bear some responsibility for keeping children safe, from driving carefully and slowly where children play, to noticing when children may be in danger, in their home or community. Sometimes adults living in the community have concerns regarding a child’s welfare which are not apparent in school. Safeguarding requires adults in a community to put the safety and well-being of children above any personal reluctance or the rights of other adults and their privacy. The designated safeguard lead in school can support adults in the community with their concerns. 

If you have a safeguarding concern about a child, contact ChECS (Cheshire East Consultation Service): 

0300 123 5012 

Out of Hours Emergency Duty Team: 0300 123 5022 

The Cheshire East Consultation Service (ChECS) is the ‘front door’ for access to services, support and advice for children and their families, from early help and support through to safeguarding and child protection. 

Cheshire East contact numbers for further support:  

Emergency - 999 

Adult Safeguarding – 0300 123 5010  

Adult Safeguarding Out of Hours – 0300 123 5022  

ARCH (Refuge, Community Support) – 01270 253957 

Barnardo’s (Refuge, Community Support) – 01625 501651 

Cheshire East Alcohol Service – 01625 443203 

Cheshire East Drug Service – 01625 422100  

Children’s programmes – 01270 250390 

Crewe Women’s Aid (Refuge, Community Support 24/7) – 01270 250390 

Domestic Abuse Family Safety Unit – 01606 363532 

Housing Options/Homelessness Team – 0300 123 5017 

NCDV (help with injunctions etc) – 0844 8044 999 

Police (24 hour, non urgent) – 101 

Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre – 01260 697900 

Samaritans:  

Crewe- 01270 216666 

Macclesfield – 01625 426000 

Victim Support – 0300 303 1979  

We are an Operation Encompass school!  

Operation Encompass operates in all police forces across England. It helps police and schools work together to provide emotional and practical help to children. The system ensures that when the police are called to an incident of domestic abuse, where there are children in the household who have experienced the domestic incident, the police will inform the key adult (usually the designated safeguarding lead (or deputy)) in school before the child or children arrive at school the following day. This ensures that the school has up to date relevant information about the child’s circumstances and can enable immediate support to be put in place, according to the child’s needs. Operation Encompass does not replace statutory safeguarding procedures. Where appropriate, the police and/or schools should make a referral to local authority children’s social care if they are concerned about a child’s welfare. More information about the scheme and how schools can become involved is available on the Operation Encompass website:  https://www.operationencompass.org/ 

Further Safeguarding Support and Guidance:  

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2023: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2 

Working together to Safeguard Children: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children--2 

Cheshire East Live Well: https://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/livewell/livewell.aspx 

Think You Know – An Introduction to Parents and Carers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ7TYRYoF4M 

Hidden Harm  

At Brierley we promote British Values and we actively support the Government's Prevent Agenda to counter radicalism and extremism.

Safeguarding Council

Our Safeguarding Council is made up of a group of Year 6 children who formally applied for this position within school. When possible they meet every half term. 

The Safeguarding Council created a child-friendly version of our Safeguarding Policy. 

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