Safeguarding
At Ysgol Bryn Gwalia, safeguarding and the safety of all of our pupils is paramount in all we do.
What is Safeguarding?
* Protecting children and those within our community from abuse, neglect or other kinds of harm.
* Meeting the needs of pupils with medical conditions.
* Provision of First Aid
* Effective risk assessment to ensure health and safety needs.
We Safeguard to ensure:
* All of our children are safe from abuse, neglect or other kinds of harm including Bullying and * Cyberbullying.
* Intimate care needs are met
* Anti-radicalisation
* Health and safety on educational trips and during school events.
How do we ensure we are effective in our role?
We educate tour learners to recognise the signs and dangers which impact upon the safety of our children, staff and local community.
Safeguarding is central to our everyday practice in order to prevent impairment of children’s health and development, ensuring every child grows up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care.
We are aware, responsive and pro-active in taking action to enable children to achieve their potential.
We work in partnership with outside agencies to safeguard children.
When concerns are sufficient it may be necessary to make a referral to Children’s services.
At Ysgol Bryn Gwalia we have a comprehensive safeguarding/child protection policy. All staff have undertaken safeguarding training that equips them to recognise and respond to child welfare concerns.
These concerns are then passed to the;
- Designated Child Protection Officer, Mrs Lorraine Dalton (Head Teacher)
or in her absence
- Deputy Designated Child Protection Officer, Ms Jo Wyatt, Mrs Kate Sturdy and Mrs Alice Garland form the safeguarding team.
They follow strict guidelines on how to deal with any concerns as set out in the All Wales Child Protection Procedures.
The nominated governor for Child Protection is Mrs Jo Lane
Are you concerned about a child?
Any person with concerns or suspicions about a child in Flintshire being harmed should contact:
The Duty Social Worker, Duty and Assessment Team, Social Services for Children, County Offices, Chapel Street, Flint, CH6 5BD.
Telephone: 01352 701000
If you wish to contact outside of office hours, please telephone the Duty Social Worker on: 0345 053 3116.
We will discuss your concerns with you and ask you for as much detail as possible. We will investigate your concerns and if necessary make a plan to protect the child. This may involve adding the child's name to the Child Protection Register. We will respect your right to confidentiality.
Flintshire County Council is responsible for leading and co-ordinating child protection services within the county. We work closely with schools, North Wales Police, health agencies, doctors, health visitors and other agencies.
Enquiries can be emailed to ChildProtectionReferral@flintshire.gov.uk Please be aware that this inbox is monitored weekdays, during office hours only
Kiva
At Ysgol Bryn Gwalia we are proud to be a KiVa school!
What is KiVa?
KiVa is an innovative school-based antibullying program which has been developed using cutting-edge research on bullying and its mechanisms
KiVa is an evidence-based program to prevent bullying and to tackle the cases of bullying effectively. The former is crucial but also the latter is important, as no prevention efforts will make bullying disappear once and for all; there need to be tools to be utilized when a case of bullying comes to light. The third aspect of KiVa is constant monitoring of the situation in one’s school and the changes taking place over time; this is enabled by the online tools included in KiVa. These tools produce annual feedback for each school about their implementation of the program as well as the outcomes obtained. KiVa is not meant to be a one-year project, but a permanent part of the school’s antibullying work that embeds our ethos throughout our daily school life.
Keeping learners safe
Operation Encompass Statement
OUR KEY ADULTS ARE:
Mrs L Dalton (Designated Safeguarding Lead)
Ms Jo Wyatt (Deputy DSL)
Mrs Kate Sturdy and Mrs Alice Garland form part of our Safeguarding Team and also are Deputy DSL's
Operation Encompass Safeguarding Statement
Our school is part of Operation Encompass. This is a police and education early intervention safeguarding partnership which supports children and young people who experience Domestic Abuse.
Operation Encompass means that the police will share information about Domestic Abuse incidents with our school soon after they have been called to a domestic incident.
All Key Adults (DSL/DDSL) have attended an Operation Encompass local briefing as well as national online training.
Our parents are fully aware that we are an Operation Encompass school.
The Operation Encompass information is stored in line with all other confidential safeguarding and child protection information.
The Key Adult has also led briefings for all school staff and Governors about Operation Encompass, the prevalence of Domestic Abuse and the impact of this abuse on children. We have also discussed how we can support our children following the Operation Encompass notification.
The Safeguarding Governor will report on Operation Encompass in the termly report to Governors. All information is anonymised for these reports.
The Key Adult has used the Operation Encompass Toolkit to ensure that all appropriate actions have been taken by the school.
Site Security
All staff and visiting adults sign in to school and wear identification tags. and sign in electronically The outer doors and gates are locked, and a fob system is in operation for access to the building. The site supervisor conducts perimeter checks every morning, and ensures that the site is secure. The school has risk assessed the premises, and children are not allowed to enter the school via the car park.