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Safeguarding and Child Protection

At The Firs Lower School, we take child protection very seriously and our highest responsibility is safeguarding.

The Firs is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all our children.  We believe that:

  • all children have an equal right to be protected from harm

  • children need support which matches their individual needs, including those who may have experienced abuse 

  • all children have the right to speak freely and voice their values and beliefs

  • all children must be encouraged to respect each other’s values and support each other

  • all children have the right to be supported to meet their emotional, and social needs as well as their educational needs 

  • schools can and do contribute to the prevention of abuse, victimisation, bullying, exploitation, extreme behaviours, discriminatory views and risk-taking behaviours (behaviours which may be perceived to be ‘risky’)

  • all staff, volunteers and visitors have an important role to play in safeguarding children and protecting them from abuse.

We have a responsibility to educate our pupils on all Safety issues; teaching them the appropriate behaviours and critical thinking skills, to enable them to remain safe in all situations, including stranger danger, crossing the road safely and safe practices when using the Internet and related technologies.

The links to the left provide useful guidance about how we keep children safe, including the names of our designated staff for child protection and provide advice to parents that may be useful.

SAFEGUARDING CONCERNS

If you have any concerns regarding the well-being of a child, please discuss your concerns with one of the Safeguarding leads. Regardless of how small or insignificant you believe your concern may be, please report it. It may well be an important piece in a wider picture.  Your concerns will be treated sensitively, although it goes without saying that we are likely to have to act on any significant pieces of information relating to the safeguarding of a child.

Safeguarding concerns can also be emailed to the school at office@firslower.org

If you have immediate safeguarding concerns while the school is closed, you should contact one of the numbers below:

Central Bedfordshire Access and Referral Hub – 0300 300 8585 or by email - cs.accessandreferral@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk

In an emergency contact the police.

Operation Encompass

Operation Encompass has been designed to provide early reporting to schools of any domestic abuse incidents that occur in which a child was present, ordinarily resides at the incident location or with an involved party. We know that children can be significantly affected through witnessing or being exposed to domestic abuse and this operation will allow us to better support our pupils and our families.

There are some useful links below, to provide parents with important information and guidance to help keep our children safe. (More useful links and guidance are available by clicking on the 'Safeguarding Help and Support' tab in the top left-hand corner of this page.)

Central Beds Children's Safeguarding Board 

Think U Know - Internet Safety

NSPCC - 0808 800 5000

Childline - 0800 1111

  1. Op Encompass - Central Bedfordshire
    PDF File