Safeguarding
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone who comes into contact with children and their families in our school has a role to play.
Here at St Margaret's at Troy Town we recognise the importance of providing a Christian ethos and environment within school that helps children to feel safe, valued and respected. We encourage our children to talk openly and enable them to feel confident that they will be heard and listened to.
It is important for children to feel safe. Our day-to-day practices, our curriculum and through the use of specialist organisations such as the NSPCC, help empower our children by teaching them how to recognise abuse, stay safe on and offline and to use their voices to speak out.
We encourage all children to speak to a trusted adult should they be worried about something at school, home or in the wider community. This can be done face to face and at SMATT we have a pastoral care room our 'Hive' where children can go if they are feeling worried about something to speak with our ELSA/DDSL. Or children can out a note in our Bee Hive Post Boxes that our ELSA/DDSL regularly checks and responds to.
Our Safegurding Team:
At times, we may need to share information, get advice or work in partnership with other agencies if we are concerned about a child’s welfare. We believe it is always better to be transparent with all parties at these times and work together to achieve the best outcomes.
There may be times when you need extra help and support. If this is the case, please come and talk to us. There are many ways in which we can help.
Policy and Procedures
Our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy is created in line with the latest government documents such as; Keeping Children Safe in Education, Working Together to Safeguard Children and the Education Act 2002. Our priority for devising our policy is to ensure that all adults understand their responsibilities, know how and when to report a concern and know how to support the welfare and safety of all of our children.
All staff and Governors are asked to read and sign to say that they understand the most recent version of Keeping Children Safe in Education document on a yearly basis.
The school uses CPOMs (Child Protection Online Management System) to store and record information about children in a secure way.
Our Safeguarding Governor ensure that monitoring procedures are robust and carried out effectively.
Safegurding and our curriculum:
Safeguarding is embedded within our curriculum.
SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development) is an area of the curriculum that focuses on the non-academic development of children, such as understanding and appreciation of different cultures or dealing with moral conundrums. It is essential for children and individual development as well as the development of society as a whole.
What to do if you are worried about a child?
Parents and carers play a role in safeguarding children in our community.
If you have any concerns, no matter how small, report them.
If you are worried about a child or would like some advice, then please do speak to a member of our Safeguarding Team or for advice if you are concerned about a child from Medway's Children's Services use the link below:
https://www.medway.gov.uk/info/200170/children_and_families/600/concerned_about_a_child
If you think a child or young person may be in immediate danger then call 999.
If you think the child is at immediate risk of harm then phone Medway's Children's Services straightaway on: 01634 334 466.
If you have concerns about a child or young person and think they may need help, you can report it to us online here:
https://www.medway.gov.uk/info/200170/children_and_families/600/concerned_about_a_child/2
What to do if you have a complaint?
If you would like to raise a complaint, please follow our complaint procedure. This can be found in the policy section of our website.