Safeguarding

Safeguarding and Child Protection 

The safety of our children at Brierley is our number one 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 and volunteers to share this commitment.

Overall responsibility for Child Protection and Safeguarding within school: Mrs McIntosh (Headteacher).

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 Leader for children is: Mrs Cunningham .

Our Designated Mental Health Leader for staff is Mrs Cunningham.

The Designated Safeguarding Governor is 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 reason 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  

Cheshire East HAF Programme

The Cheshire East HAF programme give eligible children and young people the chance to have healthy happy holidays so they can:

•    be more active
•    develop and learn
•    socialise, have fun and be happy
•    get a tasty nutritious meal
•    work together and stay safe

Over Christmas, the following clubs and activities are available. 

If you are interested in booking a place for your child, please visit the HAF programme's website and check your child's eligibility and book below:

https://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/schools/holiday-activities-and-food-programme-haf.aspx

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/ 

Uniform Intelligence Hub

The Uniform Intelligence Hub (UIH) is a database containing images of UK school uniforms which is now deployed in every UK police force and used on a regular basis to identify child victims of abuse who are present in images and videos wearing a school uniform. Investigators can search logos/badges/school ties and combinations of pieces of uniform that are within the dataset. If a match is identified, officers can locate the school and liaise with school safeguarding leads to identify and subsequently safeguard the child.

Brierley Primary School have uploaded images of our school uniform in support of this. 

NSPCC - Speak Out Stay Safe

Brierley Primary School has delivered the NSPCC Speak Out Stay Safe programme across years 1-6. Years 2, 5 and 6 completed additional workshops with NSPCC volunteers. 

For further information regarding the Speak Out Stay Safe programme, please visit the NSPCC website: https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/services/speak-out-stay-safe

In addition, the NSPCC offer a free parent and carer workshop that contains information on how to keep their children safe online. The 40 minute pre-recorded presentation covers topics such as online bullying, mental health, and social media, as well as signposting to resources and organisations for help and support. The workshop can be accessed by clicking on the link below. 

https://youtu.be/MY5NDhvVkG4 

Further Safeguarding Support and Guidance:  

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2 

Please see link below for Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025 (part 1) document translated into different languages: 

https://lgfl.net/safeguarding/kcsietranslate

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  

Water Safety - see poster on the 'Files' tab below.

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

Pupil Governors 

Our Pupil Governors represent pupil voice for the school. Their duties also include supporting the PSHE lead and Designated Safeguarding Lead to ensure school is a safe place. 

This year, our Pupil Governors were chosen by their peers as part of our ongoing work on democracy as one of our British Values. 2x children from year 4, year 5 and year 6 make up this year's Pupil Governors. 

September 2025 

• Pupil Governors chosen by peers through an annonymous vote.
• Received their governor badges and learnt more about their role as a Pupil Governor.
• Preparing to be the judges for a school road safety poster competition.

October 2025 

• Represented the school to greet Crewe Alex during their visit to Brierley.
• Judged the road safety poster competition. 
• Updated the child friendly safeguarding policy. 
• Helped launch the school poppy appeal.

November 2025 

• Shared pupil voice regarding golden time activities in school
• Shared pupil voice on upcoming Christmas 'challenges' in school 
• Met with Mr Parker - Brierley's safeguarding governor to share pupil voice. See picture below.

Mr Parker asked the pupil governor's the following questions related to safeguarding:  Do you feel safe when you are at school? Can you tell me why? Is there anywhere in the school where you do not feel safe? If so, where and why? Do you know how to get help if you are being bullied or if you see someone else being bullied? Are you aware of the adults in school you can go to if you need help or support? Have you been taught about how to keep yourself safe online and offline? Do you know what to do if someone makes you feel uncomfortable online? Do you feel that bullying is taken seriously by teachers and staff? Are there ways for you to report bullying or concerns anonymously? Do you feel included and respected by other pupils and staff at school? Are there any groups of pupils who might feel less safe or included than others? If you could change one thing to make the school safer, what would it be? Do you have any suggestions for how staff could help pupils feel safer or more supported? Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experience of safety and wellbeing at school?

December 2025 

Pupil governors meet with one of our governors, Mrs Wilson, to discuss the wider curriculum at Brierley. 

Safeguarding Assemblies

2.9.25 - Welcome back assembly and recap of our school rules. The children know that rules are in place in school and the wider community to ensure we are all safe.

3.9.25 - Invacuation and evacuation procedures. 

4.9.25 - Importance of looking after ourselves physically and mentally. 

5.9.25 - Honesty 

9.9.25 - Railway safety 

12.9.25 - Online safety

15.9.25 - Staying safe in school 

23.9.25 - History of canals with a focus on water safety 

25.9.25 - Road safety 

10.10.25 - World Mental Health Day

15.10.25 - Water Safety 

17.10.25 - Children's Rights (Part 1) 

22.10.25 - Halloween and Bonfire safety 

7.11.25 - Recap of school rules and how they keep us safe. 

10.11.25 - Anti-Bullying week 

11.11.25 - Remembrance Day with theme of respect. 

12.11.25 - Geography - Where do we come from at Brierley? (Part 1) Theme of celebrating diversity. 

14.11.25 - Children In Need

17.11.25 - Anti-bullying 

18.11.25 - Geography - Where do we come from at Brierley? (Part 2) 

19.11.25 - Celebrating differences 

20.11.25 - Playground safety 

25.11.25 - Bullying 

Family Hubs 

Cheshire East Family Hubs is a service to provide extra support to parents, children and families.

Please visit the following website for more information regarding Family Hubs here https://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/livewell/care-and-support-for-children//family-hubs/family-hubs.aspx

You can also find more information about what is on offer by joining the Cheshire East Family Hubs South on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CECFamilyHubsSouth/

The nearest Family Hub to Brierley Primary School is Crewe Lifestyle Centre Family Hub

Crewe Lifestyle Centre family Hub
Moss Square
Crewe
CW1 2BB

Opening hours:
Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm
Friday 9am to 4.30pm

The next nearest in location is Monks Coppenhall Family Hub:

Monks Coppenhall Family Hub
Remer Street
Crewe
CW1 4LY

Contact Details:
Email: mcccadmin@cheshireeast.gov.uk

 Phone: 01270 371 240

Opening Hours:
Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm
Friday 9am to 4.30pm

Files to Download