- Home
- Key Information
- Safeguarding
Safeguarding
Cutteslowe Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share in this commitment.
Staff work hard to maintain an environment where children feel safe and secure. The curriculum is designed to ensure opportunities for children to develop the skills they need to recognise and stay safe from abuse. Children know that they can approach any of the adults in school if they are worried and that they will receive a consistent supportive response.
- In recognising our responsibilities for Safeguarding and Child Protection, as a school we:
- Have clear staff recruitment and selection procedures, ensuring that all staff (including volunteers) who have unsupervised access to children, have been appropriately checked for their suitability through the DBS procedure.
- Aim to raise awareness of child protection issues and equip children with the skills needed to keep them safe.
- Develop and implement procedures for identifying and reporting cases, or suspected cases of abuse.
- Support children who have been abused in accordance with his/her Child Protection Plan.
- Establish a safe and nurturing environment free from discrimination or bullying where children can learn and develop happily.
- If you would like to know more about our policy or procedures for Safeguarding, please speak to the headteacher or one of our Safeguarding deputies.
As part of our safeguarding duties, we also recognise that we have a duty to protect children from the risk of radicalisation in the line with the government Prevent duty. Radicalisation refers to the process by which a person comes to support terrorism and forms of extremism.
If you have any concerns about the welfare or safety of a child please speak to one of our designated leads for safeguarding (DSLs)
Our Designated Safeguarding Lead is: Gillian McDermott
Our Safeguarding Lead Deputies are:
- Lisa Savage
- Louise Greenway
- Gemma Spencer
- Olivia Irving
Operation Encompass - Working with Thames Valley Police
Cutteslowe Online Safety Policy
Further information
Additional information relating to safeguarding can be accessed by clicking on the links below.
Oxfordshire Children’s safeguarding board
Online Safety at Cutteslowe Primary School
Cutteslowe-Online-Safety-Policy-2024-25.pdf
Monitoring and Filtering at RLT schools
Our school monitors the use of school IT systems whether they are used in school or at home. Alerts of inappropriate searches or online activity will be identified by Securly and the DSL will be notified; they will then decide on an appropriate course of action. In addition they can login to Securly at https://www.securly.com/app/login and view historical online activity.
Inappropriate or harmful online behaviour includes reference to weapons, sexualised language, extremism and self harm. Monitoring also extends to student emails and documents which can be viewed in the “Aware”sections of Securly.
As well as the DSL (who has oversight of this) additional users have delegated monitoring rights to specific groups of students. At our school, Year Leaders/Pastoral teams are given access to the online activity of their year groups.
Regular meetings with the IT team will take place to identify any trends or concerns in order that this can be addressed in other areas of the school curriculum.
DSLs can meet with the relevant IT Support teams to modify filtering policy and membership of safeguarding groups on Securly. In addition, Central RLT IT support can create additional policies, produce scheduled reports on individuals or groups and edit notification settings and system sensitivity upon request.
If any inappropriate harmful behaviour is identified out of school hours whilst children are using school devices under the supervision of their parents and carers, the DSL will respond to any concerns on the next school day.
In order to assist parents and carers to protect their children from online harm, they are informed of what they are being asked to research as part of their learning and who they are being asked to talk to online.
School staff will receive training on Online Safety including filtering and monitoring as part of their Continuing Professional Development and through regular safeguarding briefings.
Governors will be updated on any issues via the Governor safeguarding Update presented by the Safeguarding Governor.
Cutteslowe Primary School's Statement on Harmful Sexual Behaviours
Harmful Sexual Behaviours
It is natural for children to be curious about their bodies and their sexuality. Most sexual behaviours are typical and developmentally appropriate.They can be described as: Spontaneous, curious, light-hearted, easily diverted, enjoyable, mutual and consensual, appropriate to the child’s age and development and include activities or play among equals in terms of age, size and ability levels.
These behaviours provide opportunities to talk, explain and provide support. Sexual behaviours can be concerning or harmful if they do not align with the description above. At our school we use the Brooks Traffic Light tool to make sure we respond appropriately to sexual behaviours and will always contact parents and carers if their child is involved.
Harmful Sexual Behaviours can occur between two children of any age and sex from primary through to secondary stage and into colleges. It can occur through a group of children sexually assaulting or sexually harassing a single child or group of children.
Sexual violence and sexual harassment exist on a continuum and may overlap; they can occur online and face to face (both physically and verbally) and are never acceptable. As set out in Part one of Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), all staff working with children are advised to maintain an attitude of ‘it could happen here’.
Sexual harassment creates an atmosphere that, if not challenged, can normalise inappropriate behaviours and provide an environment that may lead to sexual violence.
Identifying Child - on - Child abuse and sexual harassment
Child - on - Child abuse and sexual harassment can take a number of forms, it is unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, which can include:
-
Sexual comments about another's body
-
Unwanted physical contact
-
Interfering with clothing
-
Sexual "jokes" or taunting including innuendo
-
Rating someone's attractiveness
-
Sexual gestures
-
Online sexual harassment
-
Use of mobile phones to share images or take photos without permission
Responding to incidents of Child - on - Child abuse and sexual harassment
At our school we never pass an incident off as "banter", "part of growing up" or "having a laugh" even if the victim says that they don't mind. We recognise the gendered nature of peer-on-peer abuse (that girls are more likely to be victims and boys more likely to be perpetrators), but that all forms are unacceptable and will be taken seriously. We understand that child perpetrators of sexual harassment are likely to have experienced or witnessed harm or inappropriate behaviour themselves and may need support beyond the school's Behaviour and Relationship Policy.
-
All incidents of child on child sexual harassment are treated as a safeguarding concern and safeguarding procedures will be followed
-
Any incidents of unwanted touching under clothes (even if over underwear) will be reported to MASH and the police
-
All incidents of peer-on-peer abuse and sexual harassment, inline with our Behaviour Policy, Anti-bullying Policy and Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy are reported through CPOMS
-
All pupils are taught about consent in line with the National Curriculum
-
Staff receive additional training regarding Harmful Sexual behaviours through Brookes and are trained to use the Brookes Traffic Light Tool.
| Page Downloads |
|---|
| Safeguarding Policy |
