Child Protection Policy:

At Willington Primary School we operate a whole school approach and ethos to safeguarding and protecting children. Where safeguarding is concerned, we maintain an attitude of “it could happen here”. We recognise that everyone in the school has a role to play to keep children safe; this includes identifying concerns, sharing information, and taking prompt action. Safeguarding and child protection is incorporated in all relevant aspects of processes and policy development. All systems, processes and policies operate with the best interests of a child at their centre.

We ensure that all children are safeguarded while on or off school premises and are proactive about anticipating and managing risks that children face in the wider community and online. To support this the school assesses the risks and issues in the wider community when considering the well-being and safety of its learners. Due to the context of our school, our children may be at greater risk of domestic abuse, emotional abuse and neglect.

At Willington, we are part of the Stopping Domestic Abuse Together (SDAT) initiative. We have a clear online safety and SRE curriculum alongside our safeguarding curriculum which permeates through the life of the school we protect our learners by providing them with a voice and always being open to listening to them. Every classroom has an 'Ask it' basket, which is monitored regularly, for pupils to ask questions or share worries.

Willington Primary School recognises we have an important role to play in multi-agency safeguarding arrangements and contributes to multi-agency working as set out in Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018). As a relevant agency, the school/college understands its role within local safeguarding arrangements and operates in accordance with the Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Children multi-agency procedures, including the local criteria for action (known as the Threshold document) and local protocols for assessment in Derby and Derbyshire (note: this is currently under review).  The school/college is also aware of and implements any local learning where appropriate, such as those as outlined in DDSCP Briefing note: safeguarding school age children and learning from case reviews and other DDSCP briefing notes located in the multi-agency safeguarding children procedures document library. 

Parents should be aware that the school is required to take any reasonable action to ensure the safety of its pupils. In cases where the school has reason to be concerned that a child may be subject to ill-treatment, neglect or other forms of abuse, the Headteacher is obliged to follow the Child Protection procedures established by the Derbyshire Safeguarding Children board and inform Children’s Social Care of the concern.