At Pickering Community Infant and Nursery School we know and understand that everyone has a responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children. All staff also have a responsibility to provide a safe environment in which children can learn. We make every effort to provide an environment underpinned by a culture of openness where both children and adults feel safe, able to talk and know that they are listened to.
Our school policies and procedures are rooted within our school motto ‘Learning, caring, sharing’ where we start with developing safe, trusting, respectful and supportive relationships.
Our school curriculum, particularly in PSED and through British values, provides children with well-planned and sequenced age-appropriate knowledge about the risks that they may face and ways to keep themselves safe, including how to assess age appropriate risks for themselves and asking for help.
All adults in school receive regular training in a broad range of safeguarding areas including child protection and Prevent. There is clear guidance for all staff and volunteers about how they behave and work with children. All adults are highly vigilant and report any concerns they have about a child’s well-being. We adopt an ethos where concerns are discussed with parents, and children know that they can talk about their worries to an adult they trust.
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks are carried out on all staff and volunteers and there is also a thorough induction.
We work closely with other agencies, as needed, including Children’s Social Care, police and Early Help, to provide a co-ordinated approach to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children. Further information about safeguarding can be found using the link below to the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (NYSCP), which includes links and advice about child exploitation, online safety and bullying.
North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Partnership Website
Our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) for child protection in school is our Head Teacher, Mrs Gillam
Our Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead is our Deputy Head, Mrs Smith.
Any concerns raised by staff, volunteers or visitors are logged on our CPOMS system and shared with the DSL who will follow up these concerns and keep records of the response and any actions taken. All concerns raised are dealt with in confidence and shared on a ‘need to know’ basis.
If parents or members of the public have concerns regarding any of our children, then these can be shared with our DSL through the school office. However, direct referrals should be made by contacting the Children and Families Service through the contact centre on 0300 1312131. Calls can be made anonymously. If you are concerned that any child is at immediate risk of harm then you should not hesitate to call 999 and report this to the police.
Childline can be contacted at 0800 1111
For further information please visit http://www.safeguardingchildren.co.uk/
For information on domestic abuse please visit the following websites
Women’s Aid http://www.womensaid.org.uk/ or IDAS www.idas.org.uk/
For online safety support please go to the E-safety page.
Operation Encompass 
Our school is part of Operation Encompass which is run jointly between all schools, academies and colleges in York and North Yorkshire. This project has been designed to provide early reporting to schools of any domestic abuse incidents that occur outside of normal school hours and that might have had an impact on a child attending our school. This information will be shared at the earliest opportunity between Monday and Friday and, when a incident occurs on a Friday, Saturday or a Sunday, the police will contact us the following Monday. No further information is shared by the police and this is treated in confidence by school, as with all other child protection information. By knowing that a child has had this experience, schools are in a better position to be supportive and understanding of the child’s needs and possible behaviours.
More information about Operation Encompass can be found on their website, which can be accessed through the link below.