At High Halden CEP School, the health, safety and wellbeing of every child is our top priority.  As a school we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all our children and we expect all staff, volunteers and governors to share this commitment. 

We have a number of policies and in place that contribute to our safeguarding commitment, including our Child Protection Policy which can be viewed in the policies section on our website. As well as consistent and effective safeguarding procedures in place to support families, children and staff at school.  

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

We actively support the Government's Prevent Agenda to counter radicalism and extremism.

The Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is the one responsible for all matters related to safeguarding in the school. This person is Kelly Burlton (Headteacher). Caroline Ridley (Assistant Headteacher) and Rachel Butcher (SENCO) are the deputy DSLs. 

Raising a concern

If you are concerned about the safety of a child, please contact one of our DSLs by calling into the office.

Alternatively, if the concern is urgent, then please contact 'Kent Safeguarding Children Multi-Agency Partnership (MASH)' on 03000 421126 or out of hours on 03000 419191, email kscmp@kent.gov.uk.

Or use the link below to report your concern:

 https://www.kscmp.org.uk/guidance/worried-about-a-child. 

Report abuse - Kent County Council

If a child is in immediate danger, call the emergency services using 999.

NSPCC

What to do if you're worried about a child

If you're worried about a child, even if you're unsure, you can speak to us about your concerns. Whether you want to report child abuse and neglect or aren't sure what to do, we're here to listen, offer advice and support, and can take the next steps if a child's in danger.

You can contact the NSPCC Helpline by calling 0808 800 5000 or emailing help@NSPCC.org.uk. Due to an increase in demand across our service, our voice Helpline is currently available 10am–8pm Monday to Friday. You can still email help@NSPCC.org.uk at any time for free, and you don’t have to say who you are. If you think a child is in immediate danger, please call the police on 999 straight away.

It's normal to feel anxious, nervous, or unsure about getting in touch with us. We're here to help and take that worry from you. Letting us know you're worried about a child could be the first step to helping to protect them from a lifetime of abuse and neglect.

More information can be found here: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/reporting-abuse/report/

Kent Safeguarding Children Board

Kent Safeguarding Children Board works to protect and safeguard the children of Kent: http://www.kscb.org.uk

There is a wealth of information on the KSCB website for professionals, parents, carers and young people.

Operation Encompass

High Halden Primary is part of Operation Encompass, which provides schools with information if any child who attends there is involved in an incident of domestic abuse (even if they are not hurt, but witness another harmed). Information will only be provided to Mrs Burlton, and will only be used for support of the child involved. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call the school office and ask for Mrs Burlton.

E-Safety

With technology advancing at a rate faster than most of us can cope, and with the added pressure of children nowadays being at the forefront of exposure to this advanced technological age with regard to the internet, mobile phones, laptops, computers and tablet devices, we believe that e-safety awareness and safe practice is of paramount importance.

While prevention is sometimes better than the cure as it is so often said, we understand and appreciate the need for children to learn of and embrace these technologies and as a result we equally understand the need to teach them to use it responsibly, ethically, wisely and to guide them on how to best prepare themselves to stay safe while online.

Internet Parental Controls: The four big internet providers - BT, Sky, Talk Talk and Virgin Media - provide their customers with free parental controls that can be activated at any time. Video tutorials on how to download and use these controls are available on the UK Safer Internet Centre website.www.saferinternet.org.uk/parental-controls

Safety Tools on Social Networks and Other Online Services: Information and advice on the safety tools, age requirements and terms and conditions for a variety of online services popular with young people. www.saferinternet.org.uk/safety-tools

Online Gaming: Childnet’s guide contains helpful advice and information on supporting children and young people playing games online.www.childnet.com/online-gaming

Young People and Social Networking Sites: Aims to help parents understand the positive and creative ways young people are using social networking spaces (e.g. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram). It also points out the potential risks of using these sites and ways to minimise these risks.www.childnet.com/sns

Social Network Checklists: Free guides produced by the UK Safer Internet Centre that contain detailed instructions and information on privacy and account settings on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram. www.saferinternet.org.uk/checklists

Safer Recruitment

High Halden Church of England 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.  Any posts at the school are subject to an enhanced Disclosure Application to the Disclosure and Barring Service and a check against the ISA Barred List for children.

We also follow KCC guidelines in regard to DBS checks for volunteers that help at our school.