At Otterbourne Church of England Primary School, our ethos is that "safeguarding is everyone's responsibility".  We are strongly committed to ensuring the happiness, safety and welfare of all children in our care and to delivering a school curriculum that focuses on wellbeing so children continue to learn how to also safeguard themselves.  

We safeguard our pupils by:

* Identifying pupils who may be at risk from harm

* Helping pupils by reducing the risk of harm and securing the appropriate support

* Managing risk, through safer recruitment practices and consistent procedures

We all work together to achieve this through:

* regular updates that reinforce the importance that is placed on safeguarding

* regular training to ensure all staff remain aware of safeguarding processes and procedures

* regular newsletter announcements to the whole school community

* following consistent, effective safeguarding procedures

* support the wellbeing of anyone involved in safeguarding concerns

Safeguarding is a responsibility shared by everyone within our school community, and in school, Mr Martin Geraghty (the Headteacher) and Miss Reid (Class Teacher) are trained Designated Safeguarding Leads who oversee safeguarding across the school.  The school's Safeguarding Policy can be found on our 'Policies' page.

There are also two fully trained Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads: Hannah Whitbread (Class Teacher and SENDCo) and Kay Davenport (School Business Manager).

All staff have completed PREVENT training and receive regular full safeguarding training or update training on a regular basis in line with statutory requirements and in response to changing safeguarding concerns. 

The Prevent Strategy

Prevent is one of the 4 elements of CONTEST, the government's counterterrorism strategy. It aims to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. 

The Prevent Strategy:

• responds to the ideological challenge we face from terrorism and aspects of extremism, and the threat we face from those who promote these views
• provides practical help to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensure they are given appropriate advice and support
• works with a wide range of sectors (including education, criminal justice, faith, charities, online and health) where there are risks of radicalisation that we need to deal with.

Otterbourne Church of England Primary School Prevent Strategy

The Otterbourne Prevent Strategy has been written in response to and in line with government guidance and forms part of the government’s counter terrorism strategy which seeks to:

• Respond to the ideological challenge of terrorism and aspects of extremism, and the threat faced from those who promote these views
• Provide practical help to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensure they are given appropriate advice and support
• Work with a wide range of sectors where there are risks of radicalisation which need to be addressed, including education, criminal justice, faith, charities, the internet and health All schools are required by law to teach a broad and balanced curriculum which promotes the spiritual, moral and cultural development of students and prepares them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life.

The purpose of the Otterbourne Prevent Strategy is to protect students from harm and to ensure that they are taught in a way that is consistent with the law and British values. To this end it acts to;

• Raise awareness
• Provide information
• Enable learners to make a positive contribution
• Safeguard young people

At Otterbourne Primary School students participate in a curriculum that promotes active learning and develops critical personal thinking skills. The school’s focus on active learning and questioning enables students to explore social and emotional aspects of learning throughout the curriculum. The School actively promotes diversity and shared values between the school community, the local community, the national and global community. We do this by celebrating our own school values of Trust, Respect and Determination. These School Values form the basis of our students understanding of wider communities and there are numerous academic and pastoral opportunities that embed this ethos.

The school challenges all prejudices including Islamophobia and anti-Semitism recognising students who are at risk of isolation. The emphasis on pastoral care through Rewards and Consequences, assemblies, PSHE and enrichment activities ensure that the school is a safe place to learn and that anti-bullying strategies minimise hate and prejudice based bullying. The school seeks justice for incidences of such bullying and uses restorative approaches to repair harm when caused.

For recording and monitoring of all aspects of child welfare, including safeguarding, wellbeing and pastoral issues, the school uses CPOMS.  The supports the robust processes and procedures for reporting and ensures that all relevant information is shared in a timely manner. 

Otterbourne Church of England Primary School is at the heart of a close community and all stakeholders (staff, governors, parents, families and pupils) have an essential role to play in making the school and the surrounding environment safe and secure for all. Otterbourne Church of England Primary School recognises its moral and statutory responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children.

The school also recognises the importance of providing a culture and environment that will help children to feel safe, secure and respected; encourage them to talk openly about challenges and worries; and enable them to feel confident that they will be listened to. All staff members and governors are alert to the signs of abuse and neglect and follow the school's safeguarding procedures to ensure that children receive effective support, protection and justice.

If you have any concerns regarding a child's safety in or out of school, you can always contact us to share your concerns by calling one of the DSLs named above on 01962 712020.

If you would like to make your own referral to Children’s Services if you are worried about a child or family please use the following contact details:

External Support

There is a lot of external support for you and your family too. Please use the links below to see if any of these services could offer support. If you would like to discuss any of them please do also contact the school and we would be very happy to help.

Hampshire County Council; Safeguarding children and young people:

https://hiowhealthcare.nhs.uk/

NSPCC website:

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

Early Help services in Hampshire:

Identifying as early as possible if a child or family need support and helping them to access services is achieved with many support services working together to offer a child, young person or family ‘the right help at the right time’. Early Help will support any extra help a family needs.

https://www.hants.gov.uk/

Hampshire Safeguarding Children Partnership:

https://www.hampshirescp.org.uk/parents-and-carers/

NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE

Please note that subsequent safeguarding newsletters and updates are part of the fortnightly school newsletter.