Keeping Children Safe

At Great Sankey Primary safeguarding is EVERYONE's business.

Safeguarding runs through every strand of the work we do at GSP.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment at all times.

We regularly review our child protection policy and procedures, with frequent training provided for all school staff in order to offer a consistent, high quality approach to child protection and safeguarding.  Our policy can be found in the Policies section, under the 'School Information' tab. 

Our practice and procedures are informed and driven by the work of Warrington Safeguarding Partnership https://www.warringtonsafeguardingpartnerships.org.uk/ and we work collaboratively within our Trust to ensure the very best practice and procedures.

What to do if you are concerned

Should you have urgent concerns for the immediate safety of a child, you should contact the police.

If you are concerned about a child’s welfare, please record (in written form also) your concern, and any observations or conversation heard, and report it to one of the Child Protection members of staff at the earliest opportunity on the same day. DO NOT leave it for someone else to report or conduct your own investigation.

If your concerns relate to the actions or behaviour of a member of staff or volunteer in school (which could suggest that s/he is unsuitable to work with children) then you should report this to the Headteacher (or Deputy Headteacher in her absence) who will consider what action to take and seek relevant advice.

If the concern relates to the Headteacher refer the matter to the Chair of Governors: Mr Phil McEwan.

The sharing of information

Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies when there are concerns about a child’s welfare. We will ensure that our concerns about our pupils are discussed with his/her parents/carers first unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child’s welfare, or breaches statutory policy or guidance.

Our school has recruitment procedures that support the safeguarding of young people, as laid out in the Local Authority Safe Recruitment guidance.

The Challenge Academy Trust

As part of The Challenge Academy Trust we also work closely within a hub to ensure that consistent principles and effective policy and practice are in place across the Trust. We seek external support and challenge through the Local Authority as well as Strategic overview from a Safeguarding specialist consultant.

Key contacts at GSP

We have two teams who focus upon Safeguarding in the school. Our staff one is led by Mrs Lisa Wilding, the Designated Safeguarding Lead, the other team is led by our children in their Safeguarding Champions team.

All staff are trained in Safeguarding, receiving regular updates and training. We have a dedicated Safeguarding team who meet regularly to discuss any issues relating to our children at GSP. Our school recruitment procedures support the safeguarding of young people, followed by the Warrington Safer Recruitment guidance.

Governors also receive training and we have a dedicated and experienced Safeguarding governor who supports and reviews the school and team against safeguarding. 

Our named governor for Safeguarding and Prevent is Mr P McEwan. Mr McEwan has extensive experience and understanding of safeguarding due to his roles within the police force as a senior investigating officer and most recently as an inspector of police forces and the probation service. He remains up to date with training and attends termly meetings with the Safeguarding team. 

Lisa Wilding DSL Headteacher	Sarah Leah Deputy DSL, Early Help Lead	Tom Gawne Deputy DSL, Deputy Headteacher
Jayne Wrangles Mental Health Lead	Nia Williams SENDco