Protection of Children and Young People
Also in this section:
Summary for Parents and Carers
Introduction: The School’s policy and procedures on the Protection of Children and Young People have recently been reviewed. This is a summary of the key points. The full text of the policy is on the School’s website.
The right to be protected from harm: The Royal Blind School puts the needs of each pupil at the centre of its work. In relation to the protection of children and young people, the School recognises the rights of children and young people to have their views and opinions taken into account and be protected from all forms of abuse and exploitation.
Duty of care: The staff of the school has a duty of care to ensure that each pupil is protected from risk of harm. Risk of harm includes but is not restricted to: physical, sexual, emotional and financial abuse, neglect and exposure to domestic violence and substance abuse. The risk may be posed by an adult, child, young person or environment.
All staff receive regular training in how to respond to Protection matters.
Procedure: If a member of staff reasonably suspects that a pupil is at risk of harm, they will report the matter to their Line Manager who in turn will report it to the Principal, who is the Designated Person for the Protection of Children and Young People.
The Principal will investigate the situation to determine whether the risk should be managed within the school or whether it needs to be reported to an external agency such as the Local Authority, the Social Work Department or the Police. If the matter needs to be reported to one of these external agencies external, school staff will work in cooperation with that agency to resolve the matter.
What you can expect: If your child is identified as being at risk of harm, the Principal will:
- Put strategies in place to ensure the risk of harm to your child is controlled and minimised
- Put strategies in place to provide support to your child
- Notify you in a timely manner of the concern that your child may be at risk of harm although details may not be available until an investigation is commenced. The amount of detail disclosed may depend on advice from the Police or Local Authority
- Work cooperatively with other relevant agencies to resolve the situation. Cooperative working requires that information regarding the Protection matter be shared with relevant others. However, this will be done in a sensitive manner so that confidentiality is respected.
- Keep you informed of the progress of the investigation
- Keep written records of the investigation. Such records will then be securely stored.
- Advise you of the outcome of the investigation.
We all hope that children and young people will not be placed in a situation where they are at risk of harm. However, it is important to have robust procedures in place to ensure that should this situation arise, it is dealt with safely, quickly, sympathetically and effectively. Should you wish to discuss Protection procedures within the school, please contact me.
Julie Fardell
Principal
Link to Protection of Children and Young People Policy and Procedures
