Newsletters

What is a Designated Safeguarding Lead?

 The Governing Body ensures that St Bernard’s Preparatory School, designates an appropriate senior member of staff to take lead responsibility for child protection.

Key aspects of the ‘Designated Safeguarding Lead’ role include:

- Making sure all staff are aware how to raise safeguarding concerns

 - Ensuring all staff understand the symptoms of child abuse and neglect

- Referring any concerns to social care

- Monitoring children who are the subject of child protection plans

- Maintaining accurate and secure child protection records

- Raising awareness of the school’s safeguarding policies and procedures, and ensuring they are implemented and reviewed regularly

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2021

 Keeping Children Safe in Education is a statutory, Department for Education document which all schools must follow when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

It covers many aspects of safeguarding including different forms of abuse, early help processes, safer recruitment, how concerns must be reported and the role of the Designated Safeguarding Leads.

The Keeping Children Safe in Education 2021 document can be found here:

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as:

 - Protecting children from maltreatment

- Preventing impairment of children’s mental and physical health or development

- Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and

- Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

Online Safety

 Using online facilities to help with learning, keep in contact with others and to give some ‘down time’ is part of all of our lives, but it is important that we all know how to keep children safe when doing so.

The Net Aware website (https://www.net-aware.org.uk/) has superb guides to the most popular apps, games and social media sites, along with strategies for how to keep your child safe when online.

Did you know?  All social networking platforms and apps have minimum age limits. Some social networks use technologies that might not be appropriate for some ages, or engage with communities that are made up of people much older than your child.

What are the risks of an underage social networking account?

 - Many sites include an instant message function which allows private conversations. Not everyone your child meets online will be who they say they are.

- Most social networking sites have an app version, meaning your child will have access to the social network from their smartphone or tablet. Some app versions of social networks use the location of the phone.

 - Chat rooms and forums can connect people who are complete strangers and can be un-moderated.

- Information shared between friends can be easily copied and may spread.

- It isn’t easy to take back information that has been posted – and can be impossible if it’s already been shared.

 - Chat rooms and forums are one of the places online groomers go to connect with children. They can also be places where people use inappropriate language. This is sometimes done through video chat programmes.

What can I do to keep my child safe?

1. Think about online routines: Have a conversation with your child about online safety and agree some rules to help keep them safe.

2. Have a conversation about online pressures and cyberbullying: Remember to talk to your child about what they are doing online and who they are talking to. Check in with them regularly and remind them they can talk to you, another trusted adult, like a teacher, or a ChildLine counsellor about anything they are worried about. ( https://www.childline.org.uk/)

3. Set up devices safely: Make sure you set it up with your child, exploring any safety features. Remember to use parental controls!

4. Keep children safe on conferencing apps: Supervise your child when they use these apps; remind your child not to share chat links or passwords on social media; explore any security features like how to report and block; talk to your child about what they are sharing.  

Safeguarding Governor

Our Safeguarding Governor at St Bernard’s Preparatory School is Mr A Dias.

The safeguarding governor’s responsibilities include:

 - Behaviour and recruitment of both staff and volunteers, ensuring the school is following safe recruitment procedures.

 - Reviewing all activity and policy relating to the physical and emotional well-being of all children.

- Seeking improvement to ensure the school follows best practice in creating a productive and safe environment for all.

Mr Dias can be contacted via the school office: office@stbernardsprep.org

Thank you for reading the safeguarding newsletter, if you have any questions about safeguarding at St Bernard’s Prep please do not hesitate to contact me.

Amy Underwood DDSL