Fairfields School, Northampton

Fairfields School is committed to creating a happy and safe environment for our children to learn.

We take our responsibilities for Safeguarding children very seriously and follow the agreed Northamptonshire Safeguarding Children Partneship’s procedures rigorously.

What is SafeguardingJPG

We closely follow the guidance specified in Keeping children safe in education 2023 (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Child Protection

Safeguarding

This is an important subject in which all staff receive regular training. Our priority is to work with you regarding the safety of your child, but there may be times when we also need to involve other people. Everybody has a responsibility to keep all children under the age of 18 safe. Harm is identified in four ways:

Physical —This is when a child is deliberately hurt or injured
Sexual —This is when a child is influenced or forced to take part in a sexual activity. This can be a physical activity or non physical, e.g. being made to look at an inappropriate image.
Emotional —This is when a child is made to feel frightened, worthless or unloved. It can be by shouting, using threats or making fun of someone. It can also be when children see their parents, or visitors to the home, fighting or using violence
Neglect —This is when a child is not being taken care of by their parents or carers. It can be poor hygiene, poor diet , not keeping appointments for additional support, not coming to school or being left home alone.

What School Must Do

A child should be able to go to school and feel safe so that they can achieve their very best. Anybody who works or volunteers at Fairfields is DBS checked to make sure they are safe to work with children and then trained to identify child abuse and what to do if they are concerned.

The school has a Designated Senior Person for Safeguarding, Sara Clarkson (Assistant Headteacher), along with other staff who have had extra training to know what to do when a concern is brought to them.

To ensure we are being extra vigilant to protect the children in our care, we may have to contact you to discuss or ask questions related to your child's welfare. Although this can be difficult for both parties, please be reassured, this is always done with sensitivity and in an open and honest way.

We will always listen to you and work closely with you if we are concerned about your child, but sometimes we may not be able to discuss our concern. The school has a safeguarding policy which tells you more about this and when we must speak to the police or children’s services. We will help your child to learn about keeping themselves safe both within the school grounds and in the wider world. Lessons can include healthy eating, online safety, and Relationships.

We work closely with parents / carers and multi-agency professionals to ensure that there is clarity and understanding of our procedures in relation to child protection.

What Parents Must Do

Parents are the most important people to keep their children safe.

You should always

Feel confident to raise concerns about your child.
Talk to school if you need help or support.
Let the school know if your child has a medical condition or has changes to their health needs
Let the school know if there is a change in your circumstances such as a house move, a new contact number, a change of name, a change of parental responsibility
Let school know who will be dropping off or collecting your child and provide two other emergency contacts. You must inform the school of any changes to agreed arrangements.
Let the school know if your child is going to be absent and the reasons why.

Support available for Parents:

Social care and early help - Local Offer

Working Together to Safeguard Children

Wider Safeguarding Areas

At Fairfields we recognise that Safeguarding is wider than Child Protection and this is reflected in our day to day practice.

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