Safeguarding
No child should suffer harm, either at home or at school. Everyone who works in our school has a responsibility to make sure that all our young people are safe.
If you are worried about the safety of any young person in our school, you must report this to the Designated Member of Staff in school.
Claire Pirrie Headteacher Designated Safeguarding Lead Prevent Lead Domestic Abuse Lead LAC Lead
Vicky McAuley-Eccles Deputy Headteacher/SENDCo Designated Person
Dominic Williams Pastoral Lead Designated Person Online Safety Lead
Godmanchester Bridge Academy
Butcher Drive
Godmanchester
PE29 2NL
Telephone: 01480 276599 Email: office@gba.acesmat.uk Website: www.godmanchesterbridgeacademy.com
If you are worried that a child may be at risk of harm outside of school hours or during school holidays, please follow the link below to report your concerns to Cambridgeshire Social Care:
Safeguarding Duty to Act
Introduction
Under the Education Act 2002 (section 175), schools must “make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children”.
We will endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued.
How we manage this in school
The school will therefore be alert to signs of abuse and neglect and will follow the Safeguarding Children Partnership Board’s procedures to ensure that children receive appropriate and effective support and protection.
Parents/carers should know that the law 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 school should make parents/carers aware that records of safeguarding concerns may be kept about their child. They should be informed that school staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with them including referrals to other agencies.
When and how we might share your child's information with Children's Social Care
Local procedures state that “Consent should always be sought from an adult with parental responsibility for the child/young person before passing information about them to Children’s Social Care, unless seeking consent would place the child at risk of significant harm or may lead to the loss of evidence for example destroying evidence of a crime or influencing a child about a disclosure made.” This includes allowing them to share information without consent, if it is not possible to gain consent, if it cannot be reasonably expected that a professional gains consent, or if to gain consent would place a child at risk.
Where there is a need to share special category personal data, the Data Protection Act 2018 contains ‘safeguarding of children and individuals at risk’ as a processing condition that allows professionals to share information.
In accordance with legislation and local Information Sharing protocols, we will ensure that information is shared securely and sensitively. Information will only be shared with other services where it is deemed necessary and proportionate to ensure that children and young people are safe and receive the right service. In all circumstances, the safety of the child will be the paramount concern.
Section 3 (5) of the Children Act 1989
Schools will contact Children’s 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 member of staff in the school with responsibility for child protection (known as the Designated Safeguarding Lead or Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead) was carrying out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acting in the best interests of all children.
Under Section 3 (5) of the Children Act 1989, any person who has care of a child “may….do what is reasonable in all the circumstances of the case for the purpose of safeguarding or promoting the child’s welfare”. This means that on rare occasions, a school may need to “hold” a child in school whilst Social Care and the Police investigate any concerns further.
Further information
If you have any questions or queries about the above information or safeguarding, please contact the school on office@gba.acesmat.uk or telephone 01480 276599.