St Thomas' CE (VC) Junior School

Safeguarding

Our Designated Safeguarding Lead is:

 Ms A Matheson (Deputy Headteacher)

Our Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads are:

Miss J Beetham (Interim headteacher)

Miss R Spellman (Safeguarding officer)

Mr J Harris (Assistant Headteacher)

Mrs S Lord (SENDCO)

Mrs S Kenworthy (Attendance Officer) 

Should you have any concerns about a child in our school, please contact the above Safeguarding Leads as soon as possible on  01977 706063.

St Thomas' recognises the importance of providing an ethos and environment within school that will help children to feel safe, secure and respected; encourage them to talk openly; and enable them to feel confident that they will be listened to.  We are alert to the signs of abuse and neglect and follow our procedures to ensure that children receive effective support, protection and justice.

Safeguarding in school

We all have a statutory duty to “promote and safeguard the welfare or children” (Section 175 Education Act 2002)

 If you have any concerns about the health and safety of any child or young person in this school, or feel that something may be troubling them, you must share this information with an appropriate member of staff straight away. Some issues e.g. a child’s appearance, hygiene or general behaviour can be shared with any teacher or member of support staff here.

Do not worry that you may be reporting small matters – we would rather you tell us things that turn out to be small, rather than miss a worrying situation.

If you think that the matter is very serious and may be related to a child protection concern i.e. physical, sexual, emotional abuse or neglect, you MUST talk to one of the people below immediately.

 If you are unable to contact any of them you should ask the office staff to find them and ask them to speak to you straight away on an urgent and confidential matter.

 Any allegations or disclosure involving a member of staff, a child’s foster carer or a volunteer at this school MUST be reported directly to the headteacher, without delay. If the allegation involves the head teacher it must be reported to the Chair of Governors, again without delay.

The Chair of Governors is Mr Alan Ricahrds and the named Safeguarding Governor is Mr Stuart Boothman. They can be contacted via the school office.

The young people of Wakefield expect...

If we have a problem or need your help, we expect that, as adults, you will:

  1) Do your best to help us be safe
  2) When there are choices about what can be done consider our opinions and respect our wishes
  3) Always be ready to listen to us and speak with us
  4) Value us and always involve us
  5) Treat us with care and respect
  6) Be clear about how things work and what we should expect to happen
  7) Take what we say seriously
  8) Involve the right people, at the right time, when we need it
  9) Look after our information and take care how you use it
10) Get to know us and understand our lives

This has been taken from the Wakefield Young People's Safeguarding Charter.  You can view the document here.  

More support and guidance on safeguarding and wellbeing matters can be found on our Family Support page.

Concerned about a pupils safety in school or at home?  Please contact the school office and ask to speak to one of the safeguarding team.

REFERRAL TO SOCIAL CARE SERVICES

URGENT and IMMEDIATE concerns for the safety and welfare of a child or young person during office hours telephone Assessment Service:

Phone: 0345 8503 503

Minicom: 01924 303450 (type talk welcome)

Email: social_care_direct@wakefield.gov.uk

Thank you for supporting and safeguarding the children and young people at our school.

Please find below links for important safeguarding documents.

St Thomas Safeguarding policy

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024

Code of Conduct for Parents

Behaviour Policy

Anti-bullying Policy 

237918 Safeguarding Leaflet 3.pdf

WSCP Young People's Safeguarding Charter Poster (1).pdf

www.mindedforfamilies.org.uk/young-people

www.wakefieldscp.org.uk/parents-and-carers/

wf-i-can.co.uk

Equality, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

St Thomas CE Junior school understands that, under the Equality Act 2010, all schools have a duty to:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

• Advance equality between different groups.

• Foster good relations between different groups.

• Promote mental health and wellbeing.

Our school’s overall values are underpinned by our statutory duties under the Equality Act 2010. We are dedicated to ensuring that every pupil receives an education that offers them the best chance at fulfilling their potential, and to promoting mental wellbeing amongst our pupils. We are committed to supporting and celebrating all pupils’ individual identities. We have developed this policy to provide a clear framework for how we will achieve our school’s aims.

Our school’s demographic state is directly linked to our overall aims for achieving equality. Specifically, we aim to:

Celebrate the diversity in our community and raise awareness and respect for the variety of cultures and religions.

To achieve our aims, we will adopt the following methods:

•       Ensure that pupils have the opportunity to reach their potential in all areas of school life

•       Ensure that parents and pupils can make choices free from prejudice and stereotyping

•       Oppose any form of racism, sexism or any other form of discrimination

•       Value every pupil’s language and cultural background, promoting respect between cultures

Pupil Equality, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy