Safeguarding

Child protection and safeguarding are key aspects of College practice and policy. Every child has the right to feel and be safe both in and out of the College.

The College supports this expectation by making sure that all staff are trained to follow stringent procedures and practices in relation to the identification of potential child protection issues and the subsequent reporting of them.

We work closely with a number of outside agencies offering support and guidance to students and their families. We also provide a network of internal support structures designed to ensure that all students have the opportunity and trust to report concerns and issues.

If you are aware of any potential child protection or safeguarding issue you can report it to the College direct. Please ask to speak to a member of the relevant year team, who will pass on any concerns or issues to the College’s DSL.

Any Safeguarding Concerns, please email: safeguarding@wvc.tmet.org.uk

Operation Encompass

At Witchford Village College, we are working in partnership with Cambridgeshire Police and Cambridgeshire County Council to identify and provide appropriate support to pupils who have experienced domestic abuse in their home; this scheme is called Operation Encompass. In order to achieve this, Cambridgeshire’s Education Safeguarding Team will share police information of all domestic incidents, where one of our pupils has been present, with the Designated Safeguarding Lead(s) (DSL)/Domestic Abuse (DA) Lead.

On receipt of any information, the DSL/DA Lead will decide on the appropriate support the child may require. The Operation Encompass information is stored in line with all other confidential safeguarding and child protection information. All information sharing and resulting actions will be undertaken in accordance with the ‘Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Joint Agency Protocol for Domestic Abuse – Notifications to Schools, Colleges and Early Years settings’.

INFORMATION ON CHILD PROTECTION

Under the Education Act 2002 (section 175/157), schools must “make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children”.

We will endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued.

The school will therefore be alert to signs of abuse and neglect and will follow the safeguarding Children Partnership Board’s procedures to ensure that children receive appropriate and effective support and protection.

Parents/carers should know that the law requires all school staff to pass on information which gives rise to a concern about a child’s welfare, including risk from neglect, physical, emotional or sexual abuse. The school should make parents/carers aware that records of safeguarding concerns may be kept about their child. They should be informed that school staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with them including referrals to other agencies.

Local procedures state that “Consent should always be sought from an adult with parental responsibility for the child/young person before passing information about them to Children’s Social Care, unless seeking consent would place the child at risk of significant harm or may lead to the loss of evidence for example destroying evidence of a crime or influencing a child about a disclosure made.” This includes allowing them to share information without consent, if it is not possible to gain consent, if it cannot be reasonably expected that a professional gains consent or if to gain consent would place a child at risk.

Where there is a need to share special category personal data, the Data Protection Act 2018 contains ‘safeguarding of children and individuals at risk’ as a processing condition that allows professions to share information.

In accordance with legislation and local Information Sharing protocols, we will ensure that information is shared securely and sensitively. Information will only be shared with other services where it is deemed necessary and proportionate to ensure that children and young people are safe and receive the right service. In all circumstances, the safety of the child will be the paramount concern.

Schools will contact Children’s Social Care when they have reasonable cause to suspect a child may be suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. Occasionally, concerns are passed on which are later shown to be unfounded. Parents/carers will appreciate that the member of staff in the school with responsibility for child protection (known as the Designated Safeguarding Lead or Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead) was carrying out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acting in the best interests of all children.

Under Section 3 (5) of the Children Act 1989, any person who has care of a child “may…..do what is reasonable in all the circumstances of the case for the purpose of safeguarding or promoting the child’s welfare”. This means that on rare occasions, a school may need to “hold” a child in school whilst Social Care and the Police investigate any concerns further.

For other support and advice the following organisations may also be of use:

www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk
www.gov.uk
www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk
www.cambs.police.uk
www.nspcc.org.uk
www.childline.org.uk
www.childrenssociety.org.uk
www.theictservice.org.uk