At Allington Primary School, the health, safety and well-being of every child is our top priority. We expect all staff, governors and volunteers to share this commitment to safeguarding our pupils. In short, we believe that the safeguarding of children in our school is everyone’s responsibility.

It is important to us that our children feel heard- we listen to our pupils and take seriously what they tell us. All school staff are trained in Child Protection, and the children are made aware of the adults they can talk to if they have any worries or concerns. Our staff are trained to look out for signs of physical/emotional harm or neglect and are required to report these to the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL).

The procedures which we follow have been laid down by the Kent Area Safeguarding Team and the school has adopted a Child Protection Policy in line with this, for the safety of all. On rare occasions, our concern about a child may mean that we have to consult other agencies. We will ensure that all concerns are discussed with parent/carers first, before any referrals are made, unless we believe that such a move may be contrary to a child’s welfare.  

We are an Operation Encompass school which is a police and education early information safeguarding partnership enabling schools to offer immediate support to children experiencing domestic abuse.

Who to contact

The Designated Safeguarding Lead is Mrs Carolyn Howson (Headteacher).

The Deputy Safeguarding Leads are:

Mrs Lucy Abbasi (Deputy Headteacher)

Mrs Emma Burton-Grange (Inclusion Manager)

Mrs Karen Hughes (FLO)

Miss Lucy Brown (EYFS lead)

 

The Designated Person for Looked After Children (LAC) is Mrs Howson

The Deputy Designated Teacher for Looked After Children and Pupil Premium Champion is Mrs Burton-Grange, Inclusion Manager.

The governor with responsibility for safeguarding is Mrs Denise Burgess

The Kent Safeguarding Children Multi-Agency Partnership (KSCMP) can be contacted on 03000 42 11 26 or by email at kscmp@kent.gov.uk

Photographs and Videos

Whilst lots of parents and carers really enjoy seeing photos and videos of their children’s school life we are very mindful of our duty of care towards all our pupils. We take the issue of safeguarding very seriously and this includes the use of photographic and video images.

Any photographs or videos taken by parents, carers and relatives at school productions, sports days or other events are solely for the enjoyment of individual families. They must not be used in any way that could potentially place a child at risk. This would include publishing images in any form of print or on the internet, including social networking sites. This is emphasised before concerts and shows, and there is an expectation that parents will be mutually respectful of this.

We understand that in exceptional circumstances a parent or carer may not wish their child to be photographed or videoed in this way. There is an opportunity for parents to opt out of the photo and video permissions at any time by completing the Use of Images permission form. A copy of this is included below.

Occasionally, the local press will be invited to take photographs of school events and special achievements. We like to use photographs of our children on our website, in school documents, for parent information meetings, newsletters and on our display screens around the school. If you do not wish photographs of your child to be used for these purposes, then please indicate this on the Use of Images permission form.