Safeguarding

Under the Education Act 2002 (Section 175), schools must make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

Parents and carers should know that the law (Children Act 1989) requires all school staff to pass on information which gives rise to a concern about a child’s welfare, including risk from neglect, physical, emotional or sexual abuse.  The staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with the parents/carers, and where possible, seek their consent to a referral to Social Care.  This will only be done where such discussion will not place the child at increased risk of significant harm.  Schools will seek advice from Social Care when they have reasonable cause to suspect a child may be suffering or likely to suffer significant harm.  Occasionally, concerns are passed on which are later shown to be unfounded.  Parents/carers will appreciate that the designated person for child protection was carrying our their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acting in the best interests of all children.

Online Safety

At Clapham Terrace, we believe that teaching our children how to stay safe online is extremely important. All children in our school are taught how to keep themselves safe when using the internet and how to use online devices safely.

Each year group learns Online Safety within our Computing Curriculum. We also actively participate in Safer Internet Day each February and hold Online Safety Assemblies, where the children share what they have learnt about keeping safe online.

We have a pupil voice group called COST (Carl’s Online Safety Team) including 2 pupils (COST Cadets) from Year 1 to Year 6. COST meets every half-term with Mr Filby (Our Online Safety Officer) to improve our school online safety provision.

Online Safety Tips
We hope the following tips are helpful at home. Some may seem irrelevant for the youngest children but it’s wise to be prepared.

• Tell your child to tell a trusted grown up if they feel worried about anything they experience online.
• Know what your children are doing online and who they are talking to.
• Ask them to teach you to use any applications you have never used.
• Keeping the computer in a family room means that you can share your child’s online experience.
• Help your children to understand that they should never give out personal details to online friends, including any pictures of themselves, their family or friends. If your child publishes a picture or video online, anyone can change it or share it. Remind them that anyone may be looking at their images.
• If your child receives spam or junk email remind them never to believe them, reply to them or use them. It’s not a good idea for your child to open files that are from people they don’t know. They won’t know what they contain — it could be a virus or an inappropriate image.
• Help your child to understand that some people lie online. They should never meet up with any strangers without an adult they trust.
• Always keep communication open for a child to know that it’s never too late to tell someone if something makes them feel uncomfortable.

 Online Safety Websites

You may find these websites useful if you wish find out more about internet safety:

• www.thinkuknow.co.uk – The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre has set up its own educational website which has been designed and written specifically for children, young people, teachers, parents and carers.
• www.saferinternet.org.uk – Tips, advice, guides and resources to help keep your child safe online.
• www.nationalonlinesafety.com – Safety guides on the latest social media apps and platforms.

Our Designated Child Protection Staff are:

Julie Miles
Head Teacher

Anoushka Clarkson
SEND and Inclusion Manager

Caroline Ashcroft

Kate Fletcher

Vicki Plumb

Harriet Alder

Health & Safety

In January 2017 the WES Health and Safety Advisor inspected our school.  The report was detailed and very positive, the overall inspection findings were that

‘Health and Safety appeared fully embedded into the school’s day to day operations with significant progress made since the last inspection in 2013.   All staff and pupils should be commended for their excellent housekeeping throughout the school.’ 

WES Health and Safety Advisor January 2017

To download a copy of our Health & Safety Leaflet please click on this link

‘The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Leaders, governors and staff use robust systems to keep pupils safe.’ –
Ofsted 2021