School Policy Document
Safeguarding
(Child Protection) Policy
Ratified by the Governing Body
June 2016
Review Cycle
Annual
Review Date
June 2017
Contents
Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 2
Statutory Responsibilities ......................................................................................................... 2
The role of the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) ....................................................... 3
What all staff should know ..................................................................................................... 3
Allegations of abuse made against teachers and other staff.......................................... 5
Types of abuse and neglect .................................................................................................. 5
What to do if you are worried........................................................................................................9
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Introduction
Orchard School Bristol
Safeguarding is defined as protecting children from maltreatment, preventing impairment of
health or development and ensuring that children and young people grow up in
circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care in order to achieve
positive outcomes.
Orchard School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children by:
 The provision of a safe environment in which children and young people can learn

Fulfilling our statutory (legal) responsibilities to identify children who may be in need of
extra help or who are suffering, or are likely to suffer, significant harm (abuse or neglect)
All staff at Orchard School have a responsibility to safeguard pupils attending our school,
irrespective of their role within the school by;

Identifying concerns early, contributing to multiagency assessments and providing help
for children and young people, to prevent concerns escalating to a point where
intervention would be needed via a statutory assessment under the Children Act 1989.
In such cases a single assessment should be undertaken by a lead professional who
could be the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), SENCO, GP, family support worker,
health visitor or school nurse

Sharing appropriate information irrespective of whether this is reported by other children
or young people, members of the public, parents or relatives of pupils attending our
school. The Designated Safeguarding Lead will determine what action if any will follow
Statutory Responsibilities
All action taken by Orchard School will be in accordance with:
 Current legislation namely: Children Act 1989 and 2004; Education Act 2002 and 2011
and the Education and Inspection Act 2006.

Statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children (2015), which sets out the
multiagency working arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children
and young people and protect them from harm and the roles and responsibilities of
schools. The Designated Safeguarding Lead for [Any School] will support staff in their
safeguarding duties and they will liaise with other services, including Children's Services
where there are concerns relating to the welfare of pupils at our school.

Keeping Children Safe in Education (2015) is statutory guidance from the Department for
Education issued under Section 175, Education Act 2002, the Education (Independent
School Standards) Regulations 2014 and the Education (Non-Maintained Special
Schools) (England) Regulations 2011. Schools and colleges must have regard to it when
carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young
people.
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
The Teacher Standards 2012 state that teachers, including headteachers, should
safeguard children’s wellbeing and maintain public trust in the teaching profession as
part of their professional duties and sets out professional expectations to safeguard and
promote the welfare of pupils.

The Childcare Act 2006, Childcare Regulations 2009 and statutory guidance
Disqualification under the Childcare Act 2006 (2015) in relation to staff working in early
years provision, reception class, before and after school (breakfast and after school
provision) and lunchtime supervision for children under the age of 8 years.

In addition the school must follow specific legislation and guidance and advice
provided by the Department for Education (DfE) in relation to the wider safeguarding
agenda e.g. behaviour, health and safety, bullying, e-safety and medical needs.
The role of the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)
Each school is required to have a Designated Safeguarding Lead who is a senior member staff
to take lead responsibility for safeguarding. The DSL has the status and authority within the
school to carry out the role, including committing resources and, where appropriate,
supporting and directing other staff and is a member of the Senior Leadership Team.
The broad areas of responsibility for the DSL are:
 To support and advise staff on matters of child welfare (including contributing to early
help assessments) and safeguarding and to liaise with relevant agencies, including
Children's Services and/or Police where abuse and neglect are suspected.

To fulfil statutory responsibilities in relation to children and young people subject to a
child protection plan by attending child protection conferences and contributing to,
implementing and monitoring the multiagency child protection plan.

Liaise with the designated officer (NB in Bristol the procedure will for the time being
remain to contact the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO)) where there are
concerns about the conduct of or an allegation is made against a member of staff or
volunteer at the school (NB if there is an allegation against the Headteacher then the
Chair or Vice Chair of Governors will undertake this role).

To provide an annual report to the governing body on safeguarding and child
protection activity within the school.
What all staff should know
All staff must
 Be aware of who the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is and their nominated
deputy or deputies if they are not on site or available for consultation.

Be aware of who the Chair and Vice Chair of Governors are and how they can be
contacted.
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
Access, read and understand this policy as part of their induction and revisit the
policy at the annual safeguarding training event held at Orchard.

Be aware of and follow the school’s procedures in order to identify early help for
children and young people and to take appropriate action where there are concerns
for the welfare and protection of children and young people.

Read Keeping children safe in education; Information for all school and
college staff (March 2015) (www.gov.uk/government/publications/keepingchildren-safe-in-education--2) issued by the DfE and sets out part one the
statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education (2015). In addition a
copy of which will be given to all new starters as part of their induction.

Attend annual whole school safeguarding training.

Report any concerns about a child or young person immediately or as soon as
practicable to the DSL and confirm this in writing on the Child Welfare Concern Sheet
In addition

Whereby staff fall within the scope of the Disqualification by Association under the
Childcare Act 2006 staff must self-declare if they live in the same household where a
disqualified person lives or is employed within the household. In such circumstances
the school will undertake a risk assessment or other relevant action as deemed
appropriate.

Orchard School has uploaded additional guidance via the Orchard School shared
platform: FROG where the DfE guidance; What to do if you are worried a child is being
abused - Advice for practitioners (2015) can be accessed to help all practitioners
identify child abuse and neglect.

If a child or young person makes a disclosure staff should always listen first, and report
this to the DSL as soon practicably possible. At an appropriate time they should make
a contemporaneous record of the disclosure including date, approximate time, the
disclosure as told, sign and date this record and hand this to the Designated
Safeguarding Lead (NB: this can be done electronically in accordance with the
schools IT policy).
On no account should a child or young person be asked to write an account of their
disclosure or concerns relating to the conduct of a member of staff. Free narrative
provides contextual information which is often lost when children or young people
write their accounts. In addition in circumstances whereby a child or young person
has a SEN, disability or whereby English is an additional language they are placed at a
significant disadvantage

Staff should be aware that if a child or young person goes missing from home, care or
educational setting this may be a potential indicator of abuse or neglect. Staff should
follow Orchard School procedures for dealing with children who go missing,
particularly on repeat occasions. They should act to identify any risk of abuse and
neglect, including sexual abuse or exploitation. Concerns should be notified directly to
the DSL and always confirmed in writing by the person reporting their concerns on the
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Child Welfare Concern Record. (NB: this can be done electronically in accordance
with the schools IT policy)
If, at any point, there is a risk of immediate, serious harm a referral should be made to Children's
Services [City Hall, College Green, Bristol, BS1 5TR. Telephone: 0117 922 2000 anybody can
make a referral and concerns should always lead to help for the child at some point.
Allegations of abuse made against teachers and other staff
 If you witness inappropriate professional conduct or a child or young person makes an
allegation against a colleague then you must report this immediately to the DSL or in
their absence to the Headteacher or if the concern relates to the Headteacher to the
Chair or Vice Chair of Governors

Orchard School Policy and procedure on the management of allegations is available
on the Orchard School shared platform: FROG
Types of abuse and neglect
Abuse and neglect is defined as the maltreatment of a child or young person whereby
somebody may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting harm, or by failing to act to prevent
harm. Children and young people may be abused by an adult or adults or by another child or
children.
The following are the definitions of abuse and neglect as set out in Working Together to
Safeguard Children (2015) however, the ultimate responsibility to assess and define the type of
abuse suffered is that of the Police and Children's Services – our responsibility is to understand
the signs and symptoms and how this can impact on the welfare and development of our
pupils and where we have concerns that a child or young person may be at risk of abuse and
neglect (one or more categories can apply) to take appropriate action as early as possible
At Orchard School we will always seek to work in partnership with parents and carers where we
have concerns share our concerns and seek consent to refer either to early help services or
Children's Services except whereby we have concerns that to do so will place the child or
young person at increased risk. In such circumstances will seek further guidance and advice
for Children's Services or the Schools Safeguarding Team.
As a school we will always listen to and take into account the wishes and feelings of the child
especially in light of the age and understanding. However, as professionals we have to
sometimes make a judgement about whether or not to take further action. We will however,
explain why to our pupil(s) and seek their consent to making a referral or to share information
(in light of their age and understanding).
Physical abuse: a form of abuse
which may involve hitting, shaking,
throwing, poisoning, burning or
scalding, drowning, suffocating or
otherwise causing physical harm to
a child. Physical harm may also be
caused when a parent or carer
fabricates the symptoms of, or
deliberately induces, illness in a
Neglect: the persistent failure to meet a child’s
basic physical and/or psychological needs,
likely to result in the serious impairment of the
child’s health or development. Neglect may
occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal
substance abuse. Once a child is born, neglect
may involve a parent or carer failing to: provide
adequate food, clothing and shelter (including
exclusion from home or abandonment); protect
a child from physical and emotional harm or
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child(FII)
danger; ensure adequate supervision (including
the use of inadequate care-givers); or ensure
access to appropriate medical care or
treatment. It may also include neglect of, or
unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional
needs.
Sexual abuse: involves forcing or
enticing a child or young person to
take part in sexual activities, not
necessarily involving a high level of
violence, whether or not the child is
aware of what is happening. The
activities may involve physical
contact,
including
assault
by
penetration (for example rape or
oral sex) or non-penetrative acts
such as masturbation, kissing,
rubbing and touching outside of
clothing. They may also include
non-contact activities, such as
involving children in looking at, or in
the production of, sexual images,
watching
sexual
activities,
encouraging children to behave in
sexually inappropriate ways, or
grooming a child in preparation for
abuse (including via the internet).
Sexual
abuse
is
not
solely
perpetrated
by
adult
males.
Women can also commit acts of
sexual abuse, as can other children
Emotional abuse: the persistent emotional
maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe
and adverse effects on the child’s emotional
development. It may involve conveying to a
child that they are worthless or unloved,
inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet
the needs of another person. It may include not
giving the child opportunities to express their
views, deliberately silencing them or ‘making
fun’ of what they say or how they
communicate. It may feature age or
developmentally inappropriate expectations
being imposed on children. These may include
interactions that are beyond a child’s
developmental
capability
as
well
as
overprotection and limitation of exploration and
learning, or preventing the child participating in
normal social interaction. It may involve seeing
or hearing the ill-treatment of another. It may
involve serious bullying (including cyberbullying),
causing children frequently to feel frightened or
in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of
children. Some level of emotional abuse is
involved in all types of maltreatment of a child,
although it may occur alone.
In addition to the above there are other areas of safeguarding Orchard School has a
responsibility to address specific areas of risk, these include
Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and Child
Trafficking involves exploitative situations,
contexts and relationships where young
people receive something (for example
food, accommodation, drugs, alcohol,
gifts, money or in some cases simply
affection) as a result of engaging in
sexual activities. Sexual exploitation can
take many forms ranging from the
seemingly
‘consensual’
relationship
where sex is exchanged for affection or
gifts, to serious organised crime by gangs
and groups. What marks out exploitation
is an imbalance of power in the
relationship. The perpetrator always
Female
Genital
Mutilation
(FGM)
professionals in all agencies, and
individuals and groups in relevant
communities, need to be alert to the
possibility of a girl being at risk of FGM, or
already having suffered FGM. There is a
range of potential indicators that a child
or young person may be at risk of FGM,
which individually may not indicate risk
but if there are two or more indicators
present this could signal a risk to the child
or young person. Victims of FGM are
likely to come from a community that is
known to practise FGM. Professionals
should note that girls at risk of FGM may
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holds some kind of power over the victim
which increases as the exploitative
relationship develops. Sexual exploitation
involves varying degrees of coercion,
intimidation or enticement, including
unwanted pressure from peers to have
sex,
sexual
bullying
including
cyberbullying and grooming. However, it
also important to recognise that some
young people who are being sexually
exploited do not exhibit any external
signs of this abuse.
not yet be aware of the practice or that
it may be conducted on them, so
sensitivity should always be shown when
approaching the subject.
Looked after Children: The most common
reason for children becoming looked
after is as a result of abuse and/or
neglect.
Every member of staff at
Orchard acts as their corporate parent
and as such must ensure that any
concerns
are
shared
with
the
Designated Teacher of Looked after
Children in order to keep them safe.
All
types
of
bullying
including Forced marriage is not the same as an
cyberbullying and sexting Orchard arranged marriage, as it involves
School has a separate Anti-Bullying coercion and force and a marriage
policy which is accessible on the S drive
based on free choice. It affects both
males and females.
Domestic
violence,
Gender-based
violence/violence against women and
girls (VAWG) and teenage relationship
abuse involves any incident or pattern of
incidents
of
controlling,
coercive,
threatening behavior, violence or abuse
between those who are, or have been in
relationships
or
family
members
regardless of gender or sexuality and is
applicable to teenagers engaged in
abusive relationships
Gangs and youth violence. Teachers
and designated staff have a range of
powers in relation to discipline to tackle
problems, including violence, in the
school environment. Such powers cover
disciplinary actions, the power to restrain
violent pupils, and the power to search
pupils for prohibited items.
Drugs.
As part of school’s duty to
promote pupils’ wellbeing, we a role to
play in preventing drug misuse as part of
our pastoral responsibilities (health and
wellbeing/Healthy Schools) and to
support the Governments drug strategy
(2010) to provide information, advice
and support to pupils via the curriculum
Fabricated or induced illness. This
supplementary guidance Safeguarding
Children in whom Illness is Fabricated or
Induced (2008) sets out a national
framework within which agencies and
professionals at local level – individually
and jointly – draw up and agree upon
their own more detailed ways of working
together where illness may be being
fabricated or induced in a child by a
carer who has parenting responsibilities
for him or her.
Allegations of abuse made against other
children: further guidance is available
via the Bristol Safeguarding Children
Board and the South West Child
Protection Procedures which can be
accessed:
Faith abuse. The National Action Plan to
Tackle Child Abuse Linked to Faith or
Belief is intended to help raise awareness
of the issue of child abuse linked to faith
or belief and to encourage practical
steps to be taken to prevent such abuse
http://www.bristol.gov.uk/page/children-
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and-young-people/bristol-safeguardingchildren-board-professionals
http://www.onlineprocedures.co.uk/swcpp
Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
Good mental health and resilience are
fundamental to our physical health, our
relationships, our education, our training,
and our work and to achieving our
potential.
Boarding schools, children’s home and
host families: Schools and colleges that
offer residential accommodation should
be particularly alert to children’s
safeguarding, in particular alert to pupil
relationships and the potential for peer
abuse particularly in schools and
colleges with a significant gender
imbalance. Considerations for such
schools and colleges are set out in
Annex C in Keeping Children Safe in
Education (2014) which also covers issues
where children stay with host families.
Radicalisation: The school is aware of its
responsibilities under Section 26 of the
Counter Terrorism and security Act 2015
and the Prevent Strategy to safeguard
pupils at risk of radicalisation by
identifying and risk assessing individuals
who may be drawn into terrorism, violent
or non-violent extremism. We provide a
safe environment for our pupils to
explore, understand and discuss sensitive
topics, including terrorism and extremist
ideology. We use the curriculum and
pastoral support to educate our pupils
and to enable them to challenge these
ideas. Staff are aware of the risks posed
by other students and adults who may
have been radicalised and impact of
radicalisation via social media. All staff
have received appropriate training and
have the knowledge and confidence to
identify pupils at risk of being drawn into
terrorism and extremism and challenge
extremist ideals. Our IT filters are regularly
reviewed in order to prevent access to
terrorist and extremist materials on line at
school
Private Fostering is essentially one that is
made privately for the care of a child
under the age of 16 (under 18, if
disabled) by someone other than a
parent or close relative with the intention
that it should last for 28 days or more, a
person who is a relative under the
Children Act 1989 i.e. a grandparent,
brother, sister, uncle or aunt (whether of
the full or half blood or by marriage) or
step-parent will not be a private foster
carer. A private foster carer may be a
friend of the family, the parent of a friend
of the child, or someone previously
unknown to the child’s family who is
willing to privately foster a child. The
period for which the child is cared for
and accommodated by the private
foster carer should be continuous, but
that continuity is not broken by the
occasional short break.
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WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE WORRIED ABOUT A CHILD OR YOUNG PERSON
Member of staff has concerns about a child/young person’s welfare
Where a young person has disclosed abuse or neglect, they (and the alleged abuser) should not be
questioned further, but listened to unjudgementally, carefully, respectfully.
Use TED (Tell, Explain, Describe) to manage the disclosure.
A written record must be made of what has been said and this is passed on immediately to any
designated person (see below).
Contact the designated person/ Child Protection Officer (DCPO)
Amy Spencer 72031
Tim Cox 72414
Ingrid Hooper 72049
Debbie Piper 72029
(or in their absence Mr Coxon 07818039807/Dr Holman 07854691610 who then may contact the
LADO)
Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) Nicola Laird 0117 9037795
..............................................................................................................................................................
..........
These members of staff will then consider seeking information from parents / carers.
Discuss concerns either formally or informally with FIRST RESPONSE (0117 9036444 for Bristol ),
FIRST POINT (01454 866000 for South Glos)
Still has concerns;
Refers to a social worker
Telephone referrals followed up
in writing within 48hours
Social Worker and Manager
No longer has concerns;
No further child protection
action
Is the child in need of other support?
Consider with family and relevant agencies
1. Acknowledge receipt of referral
2. Decide on next course of action (within 1 working day)
3. Feedback to the referrer the outcome by 3.00pm that day or the following morning.
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