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Safeguarding

Safeguarding at St Thomas'

St Thomas' is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare and safety of all students and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.  We strive to ensure that consistent and effective safeguarding procedures are in place to support families, students and staff at school.

The Designated Safeguarding Lead is Louise Fry (Principal)* and the DDSL is Louise Cotton

Other staff trained in safeguarding and child protection matters are:

  1. Steph Viggars (Nursery Manager)
  2. Debbie Cooke (Assistant SENCO)

* Denotes named Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead.

St Thomas' has policies and procedures in place to deal effectively with child protection and safeguarding issues, which include tackling radicalisation and extremism, together with recording and monitoring processes.

To promote a safe environment for students, St Thomas' employs a strict selection and recruitment policy which includes all statutory checks on staff and regular volunteers including Enhanced DBS (disclosure and barring service) checks.

All staff are trained to a level appropriate to their safeguarding responsibilities ranging from basic awareness for all, to Level 2 for key staff. Other safeguarding training is attended by relevant staff and governors. The training is monitored and comprehensive records kept by the Designated Safeguarding Lead.

All concerns are triaged upon receipt by one of the staff named above in school in compliance with HM ‘sharing of information’ guidance, March 2015.  Staff are required to report any causes of concern to the school safeguarding team.  Referrals are logged and monitored to make sure that they are followed up appropriately.

Student attendance is monitored closely and concerns shared as appropriate with parents/carers, the Local Authority Education Welfare Service, Social Care and the school Safeguarding team.  St Thomas' works effectively with other agencies and parents/carers when necessary to safeguard children.

If you have any serious concerns about your child, another student or a member of staff at St Thomas', please do not hesitate to contact a member of our safeguarding team, who will be able to provide you with the best advice and help using the appropriate degree of confidentiality.

St Thomas' Designated Safeguarding Lead:

Louise Fry (Principal)

Please do not hesitate to contact the school if you are concerned about a child.  The school will protect the anonymity of referrers.  Referrals can be made confidentially, but confidentiality in regards the concern being raised is not assured, nor is it usually an option.

Remember that if you believe someone is at immediate risk of harm you must dial 999.