Safeguarding, Online Safety and Wellbeing at Lings Primary School
At Lings we believe safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. We have a duty to keep children safe and to be alert at all times to their welfare and well-being. Any concerns about a child, however small, is reported through our MyConcern recording system to the Safeguarding Team.
The Safeguarding Team is:
Jo Whiting - Inclusion Leader - Designated Safeguarding Lead
Karen Rolf - Headteacher - Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Matthew Bushell – Deputy Head - Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Nicola Mann – Family Support Worker- Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Helen Fox – Family Support Worker - Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Gemma Kinsella - Assistant Head - Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Lings has a strong pastoral team who are very experienced in dealing with family support and safeguarding. Mrs Mann and Miss Fox (Family Support Workers) are available to work with children and their families. This may include supporting children in school with social and emotional difficulties or helping families in difficult circumstances.
At Lings, we promote an ethos of 'professional curiosity' and believe that all children have a right to grow up and learn in a safe and secure environment. If we have any concerns about a child's safety, we will speak to you as parents in the first instance. Often by talking things through, the concerns that have been raised are explained. In some cases, we can support you as a family through our extensive experience within school. Occasionally, we may feel that further support is required. This may include early help intervention or referral to outside agencies, such as health. If we believe a child to be at immediate risk of harm, we will refer to social services through the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH). This process enables us to protect children at risk and we make no apology for taking the attitude that where there are grounds for suspicion it is better to be safe than sorry. We will always try to work with families, with your consent, to support you through this process.
If you have any concerns about the welfare of a child in our school, please contact one of our safeguarding leads.
You can do this by popping into school, by talking to us on the playground before/after school, by phoning the family support team on 01604 410369 (option 2) or by email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. If your concern is urgent, please speak to us directly.
Safeguarding Documents
MASH
The Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) deals with referrals from professionals and members of the public who may have concerns about a child’s welfare. It makes the process of dealing with referrals quicker and more effective by improving the way county council: Children’s social care, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS), Youth Offending Service (YOS) and education, work alongside other partner agency colleagues including Northamptonshire Police, Northamptonshire Health partners, National Probation Service, and the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) to share information.
To contact MASH phone 0300 126 7000.
If a child is in immediate danger phone 999.
Northamptonshire Safeguarding Children’s Partnership (NSCP)
Help for Parents from West Northamptonshire Council
Staying Safe Online
At Lings, children and staff are taught to use technology safely. They participate in Online Safety lessons and learn how to stay safe and use social media sensibly. Outside agencies come into school to share the latest learning with the children and parent workshops are offered regularly to ensure children and adults are aware of the latest developments.
Advice from NCSP about on-line safety
CEOP Think U Know:
A useful guide to internet safety for parents and carers
On-line Safety - Parental Controls on the use of the internet at home:
Guides to show how to keep your children safe when using the Internet at home
NSPCC:
Advice to keep children safe on social media
Parent Zone:
PREVENT
AT NPAT we want to support our children and families from being drawn into terrorism, becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism or extremism in any form or guise. As a Trust, there is no place for extremist views of any kind whether from internal sources; pupils, staff or governors or external sources' school community, external agencies or individuals. We recognise that extremism and exposure to extremist materials and influences can lead to poor outcomes for children. PREVENT is a programme that aims to protect vulnerable people from being exploited by extremists by putting a package of support in place.
Our pupils and staff should see our schools as a safe space to explore controversial issues safely and our teachers encourage and facilitate this to happen through their Personal, Social, Health, Education and wider curriculums. All NPAT staff are PREVENT trained and are aware of the signs and indicators of radicalisation and extremist behaviours. We work closely with the police and other agencies where any concerns are raised.
Further information on the Prevent programme, the signs of radicalisation and what to look out for:
Northamptonshire Police Prevent
Protective Behaviours
Protective Behaviours is a framework for personal safety that has two themes:
- We all have the right to feel safe all of the time
- We can talk with someone about anything, even if it feels awful or small.
We cover Protective Behaviours work with all children at Lings through our PSHE curriculum and through the work of our pastoral staff and family support team. Protective Behaviours work teaches children to recognise early warning signs when they are feeling unsafe and to identify the people in their support networks.