Safeguarding

Thameside Primary School is committed to safeguarding all of our pupils, staff and families; nothing matters to us more. Children who are safe and happy at school thrive and are able to learn.

Keeping children safe is EVERYONE'S responsibility. 

At school, it is the responsibility of all staff, governors and volunteers to ensure the safeguarding of our children and report any concerns to our designated safeguarding team. We have designated safeguarding officers who lead on ensuring any concern is followed up and dealt with immediately.

• Our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is Annette Polley (Interim Deputy Headteacher and Inclusion Lead). 
• Deputy DSLs are Laura Youngman (Headteacher); Hannah Russell (Interim Assistant Headteacher) & Alison Winder (Home School Link Worker)
• Our Safeguarding Governor is Mrs Elizabeth Cooper (ecooper@vale-academy.org) who oversees that policies and procedures are followed.

All staff and volunteers are provided with comprehensive safeguarding policies and are trained to ensure Thameside School is a safe environment. Both teaching and non-teaching staff are aware of their responsibilities to our pupils, and the procedures involved in protecting and nurturing individuals. All safeguarding policies are regularly reviewed and staff receive regular training refreshers, briefings and updates to ensure the best practices and procedures are in place.

We have a number of policies and procedures in place that contribute to our safeguarding and child protection commitment, which can be found on our policies page.  

If at any time you have a concern then please raise it with any member of staff or email office.2598@thameside.vale-academy.org. 

• Have you got a serious concern about the safety of a child or young person up to the age of 18?
• Do you think a child or young person is being harmed or is at risk of being harmed?
• Are you worried that a child is living in circumstances where they are treated badly and not cared for properly?

If you are concerned that a child or young person is being harmed through abuse or neglect you should you should call the MASH immediately

Tel: 0345 050 7666 (or the Police on 999 in emergency situation).
(This number will take you through to Customer Services who will ask a series of questions and triage into MASH where safeguarding concerns are raised)

If you would like further information about keeping your child safe, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to children (NSPCC) has lots of advice and guidance: www.nspcc.co.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 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 media networks sites. This is emphasised before concerts, shows and productions.

We understand that in exceptional circumstances a parent or carer may not wish their child to be photographed or videoed in this way. If this is the case, then please contact the school to discuss how this can be best achieved.

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 inform the school if you haven’t already done so. 

Prevent Strategy and cyber safety

As part of Thameside School’s commitment to safeguarding and child protection we support the government’s Prevent Strategy. All staff have received training covering the Prevent Strategy.

The Prevent Strategy is about safeguarding people and communities from the threat of terrorism. It is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.

All staff have also completed Cyber Safety training. 

Information Sharing with other agencies

At Thameside we consider that a child’s safety and welfare is of paramount importance for their emotional, social and academic progress.  In some circumstances decisions have to be made about sharing personal information with other agencies where the needs of children in our care are compromised.  The most important consideration in sharing information with other agencies is the need to safeguard and protect children.  We follow the following guidelines about information sharing:

• The Data Protection Act provides a framework for appropriate sharing of information.
• We are open and honest with the individual about whom the information will be shared with.
• We seek advice from other practitioners, if in any doubt, and will try to do so without disclosing an individual’s identity.
• We share information with informed consent, where possible, and share without consent if a child’s safety is at risk.
• We base information-sharing decisions on the safety and well-being of the individual or others.

Online Safety Information

Children at our school use the internet on a regular basis as part of their learning. In school, we have regular eSafety activities to remind children of the importance of keeping themselves safe online.

Report online abuse by clicking the button below:

Below are a few links to some very useful information regarding e-safety for parents, carers and children:

• Think U Know – containing internet safety advice for those aged from 5 to 16, along with parents and teachers, this site is produced by CEOP (the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre).
• Kidscape – An organisation which helps to prevent bullying and child abuse.
• Childline – ChildLine is the free helpline for children and young people in the UK.
• BBC Stay Safe – Test your Internet safety knowledge with Hacker and help the Horrible Histories gang stay safe online
• Childnet International – website to “help make the Internet a great and safe place for children”.

NSPCC Pantosaurus programme

Children at our school learn about the PANTs rule from the NSPCC to keep them safe from sexual abuse - we even had a recent visit from the Pantosaurus. This important message is covered in visits, assemblies and also via parent information sessions.  Links can be found here:  Let's talk PANTS with Pantosaurus! | NSPCC

     

THE THINGS I WISH MY PARENTS HAD KNOWN

The Children’s Commissioner has compiled a useful guide to help parents and carers in discussing online sexual harassment with their children: “The Things I Wish My Parents Had Known” draws together advice from teenagers about how parents should manage tricky conversations around sexual harassment and access to inappropriate content, including pornography. Although this guidance will be most useful to the parents of secondary school-age children, you will see that the overriding message from the young contributors is 'talk early, talk often'. They suggest broaching topics before a child is given a phone or a social media account, which is often around the age of 9 or 10. The children are asking for age‑appropriate conversations that evolve over time in line with their growing maturity; they want their mums and dads to create a safe, judgment‑free space for them to talk about these issues.