Safeguarding

It is every school’s statutory responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, as outlined by the DFE in its publication Keeping Children Safe in Education, which was updated for September 2024.

This means that a school must protect children from maltreatment, prevent impairment of children’s health or development, ensure that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care and take action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

At St Michael’s, we ensure that everyone who comes into contact with children and their families is clear on the role that they play in safeguarding children. All staff and governors renewed their safeguarding training during September 2024. New members of staff are trained as part of their induction package.

St Michael’s is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for all children, staff and visitors. In addition, we promote an ethos where children and adults feel confident about sharing their concerns about their own safety or the well being of others.

Safeguarding Team

Our designated safeguarding leads are:

  • Mrs T Grogan (Headteacher)
  • Mrs N Camilleri (Assistant Headteacher)
  • Mrs Birkett-Rothwell (SENCO)

The governors with responsibility for safeguarding is  Mrs  Pritchard.

What To Do If You Are Concerned

If you are concerned about a child’s wellbeing, please share your concern with Mrs Grogan, the Head teacher and Designated Safeguarding Lead, at the earliest opportunity. Contact the Headteacher on 0161 766 6628 or contact the school office: office@stmichaels.stoccat.org.uk

If your concerns relate to the actions or behaviour of a member of staff or volunteer in school, then you should report this to the Headteacher who will consider what action to take and seek relevant advice.

If the concern relates to the Headteacher, refer the matter to the Chair of Governors: Mrs Colette Pritchard.

KCSIE-Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024

“Keeping Children Safe in Education” DFE Revised Document 2024

This DFE document places the following statutory duties on all schools:

  • Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families and carers has a role to play in safeguarding children. In order to fulfil this responsibility effectively, all professionals should make sure their approach is child-centred. This means that they should consider, at all times the best interests of the child.
  • Schools should be aware of and follow the procedures issued by Bury Intergrated Safegarding Partnership (BISP).
  • Staff should be vigilant to signs of abuse and to whom they should report concerns to.
  • Schools should have procedures in place which are disseminated to all staff for handling suspected or actual cases of abuse of pupils, including procedures to be followed in case of allegations against persons in a position of trust.
  • Every school should have a designated senior person who is a member of the senior management team as the person responsible for coordinating safeguarding/child protection work within the school and with other agencies.
  • Staff at all levels should receive training to raise their awareness of signs and symptoms of suspected or actual abuse at least every three years.
  • All schools should share information and work in partnership with other agencies where there are concerns about a child’s welfare.
  • Children included everyone under the age of 18.
  • No single professional can have a full picture of a child’s needs and circumstances. If children and families are to receive the right help at the right time, everyone who comes into contact with them has a role to play in identifying concerns, sharing information and taking action.

Click here to download the full document.

Operation Encompass

Operation Encompass

Bury Encompass

The purpose of Bury Encompass is to safeguard and support children and young people who have been exposed to Domestic abuse. This abuse impacts on children in a number of ways. Children are at increased risk of physical injury during an incident, either by accident or because they attempt to intervene. Even when not directly injured, children are greatly distressed by witnessing the physical and emotional suffering of a parent.

Encompass has been created to address this situation. It is the implementation of key partnership working between the police and schools. The aim of sharing information with local schools is to allow ‘Key Adults’ the opportunity of engaging with the child and to provide access to support that allows them to remain in a safe but secure familiar environment. A copy of the handbook can be downloaded here.

Following the report of an incident of domestic abuse, by 9.00am on the next school day the school’s Key Adult will be informed that the child or young person has been involved in a domestic incident. This knowledge, given to schools through Operation Encompass, allows the provision of immediate early intervention through silent or overt support dependent upon the needs and wishes of the child.

The purpose and procedures in Operation Encompass have been shared with all parents and governors in a letter which can be downloaded here.

Early Help Guidance

The Early Help delivery model has been developed through our multiagency Children Trust Partnership, and came into effect on Monday 7th October 2019.

  • There are 3 new locality Early Help teams based in Bury, Radcliffe and Whitefield and support all five neighbourhoods
  • The Teams are working with children and young people. age 0-19, and their families
  • The teams are linked to the schools, so that every school in the borough has an Early Help contact
  • Similar pathways to support are being developed for pre-school children and post-school
  • The Early Help teams link with partner organisations to ensure a joined up approach
  • A new Early Help assessment, the Story So Far, replaces the previous Early Help Family Support Plan and is already being successfully used by schools and other agencies

Whitefield Locality Team (including Prestwich)

Telephone Number: 0161 253 5077

Bury Integrated Safeguarding Partnership

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Bury Integrated Safeguarding Partnership

Thresholds

Online Safety

While there are huge benefits to being online in order to stay connected to friends and family, it’s important to have regular conversations with your children about staying safe online and encouraging them to talk to you if they see anything worrying.

What harms might my child experience online?

You may have concerns about specific harms that your children experience online including: abuse, criminal exploitation, exposure to radicalising content, consensual and non-consensual sharing of images/videos, cyber-bullying, exposure to age-inappropriate content and harmful content.

Where can I go for help?

These resources will support you to talk to your child about a range of online safety issues, set up home filtering in a child-friendly way and set up age-appropriate parental controls on digital devices:

NSPCC

The following are useful website if you are concerned at all about the safety of a child:

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/

https://www.childline.org.uk/

Reporting Criminal Content

https://www.iwf.org.uk/

Prevent

Report online material promoting terrorism or extremism- your report will be treated anonymously.

PREVENT

Key School Documents

Contact Us

St Michael’s RC Primary School
Ribble Drive
Whitefield
Manchester
M45 8NJ

0161 766 6628

office@stmichaels.stoccat.org.uk

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Safeguarding Announcement

St Michael's RC Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children ang young people and expects the whole school community to share this commitment. For more information please see our safeguarding website page.

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