At Cowling Community Primary School, we are committed to providing a safe and nurturing environment for all our pupils. We believe that every pupil has the right to feel safe and protected and we take this duty very seriously.
Safeguarding is about keeping children safe by protecting them from harm, supporting their development and making sure they grow up in a safe environment.
Our Child Protection policy and procedures will be reviewed at least annually to be alert for possible signs of abuse; ensuring staff are appropriately trained and, where appropriate, sharing information and working in partnership with other agencies.
Safeguarding procedure at Cowling Primary School:
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility
Report your concerns:
Should you have any concerns, no matter how small, please contact a member of our safeguarding team as soon as possible.
If you believe a child is in immediate danger, please call 999
Mrs Kate Dawson
Designated Safeguarding Lead and Headteacher
Mrs Emma Pease
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Mrs Victoria Wakeman
Safeguarding Governor
Should you have any concerns outside of school hours, then you should report them to the North Yorkshire Multi Agency Safeguarding Screening Team, please call 0300 131 2131. Additional information about making a referral can be found on their website by clicking here.
We follow the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (NYSCP) procedures and use CPOMS to record concerns and disclosures.
Parents and carers can also visit the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Partnership website for more advice and information: NYSCP (safeguardingchildren.co.uk).
Or call NSPCC on 0808 800 5000.
For pupils, the NSPCC Childline number is 0800 1111.
We aim to maintain a positive relationship with all parents. The school will, in most circumstances, endeavour to discuss all concerns with parents about their child/ren. However, there may be exceptional circumstances when the school will discuss concerns
with Social Care and/or the Police without parental knowledge (in accordance with Child Protection procedures)
The school’s child protection policy is available in the Policy section of the website, and a paper copy can be requested via the school office.
Prevent Duty
As part of Cowling Primary School’s ongoing safeguarding and child protection duties we are fully behind the government’s Prevent Strategy. From 1 July 2015 all schools are subject to a duty under section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, in the exercise of their functions, to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. This duty is known as the Prevent Duty for Schools.
At Cowling Primary School, we build pupils’ resilience to radicalisation by promoting fundamental British values and enabling our pupils to challenge extremist views. The statutory guidance refers to the importance of Prevent Awareness Training to equip staff to
identify children at risk of being drawn into terrorism and to challenge extremist ideas, and we constantly participate in training so our knowledge is up to date.
Our school is part of Operation Encompass.
Operation Encompass is a national police and education early intervention safeguarding partnership which supports children and young people who experience Domestic Violence and Abuse and which is in place in every police force in England and Wales.
Children were recognised as victims of domestic abuse in their own right in the 2021 Domestic Abuse Act.
Operation Encompass means that the police will share information with our school about all police attended Domestic Abuse incidents which involve any of our children PRIOR to the start of the next school day.
The Designated Safeguarding Lead and the Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads have completed the online Operation Encompass Key Adult training they will cascade the principles of Operation Encompass to all other school staff and governors.
Wellbeing at Cowling Primary School:
We believe that a whole school approach is essential in building a resilient community and we are passionate about supporting our children and staff with their own wellbeing. As a school, we take mental health and wellbeing very seriously. We are currently working towards achieving the Emotional Health and Wellbeing section of the North Yorkshire Healthy Schools Award which will demonstrate how wellbeing and mental health in our pupils, staff and parents are at the forefront of our school’s vision of leading a mentally healthy school. We know that everyone experiences life challenges that can make us vulnerable and at times, anyone may need additional emotional support. We take the view that positive mental health is everybody’s business and that we all have a role to play.
At our school we:
• help children to understand their emotions and feelings better
• help children feel comfortable sharing any concerns or worries
• help children socially to form and maintain relationships
• promote self-esteem and ensure children know that they count
• encourage children to be confident and ‘dare to be different’
• help children to develop emotional resilience and to manage setbacks
1. Universal Offer/Provision:
To meet the needs of all our pupils through our overall ethos and our wider curriculum. For instance, developing resilience for all.
● The Mental Health Lead is Kate Dawson (Headteacher) and she is supported by Emma Pease (Deputy Headteacher). Both members of the SLT have undertaken training:- Mrs Dawson has completed the DFE Mental Health Lead training and Mrs Pease has attended and qualified as a Mental Health first aider. A dedicated Mental
Health and wellbeing section on the school’s website
● PSHE – mental health is addressed as part of the curriculum in each year group with a focus on wellbeing themes such as being different, resilience, perseverance,
loneliness and growth mindset. Use of books in PSHE lessons to introduce key
topics relevant to Mental Health and Wellbeing.
● Proactive and timely support for parents with concerns about the mental health of their child – we have an open door policy
● Wellbeing Ambassadors have been appointed to represent the whole school student committee. They will ‘champion’ mental health/wellbeing and run a wellbeing club on a Friday. Mrs Pease has attended Peer Mentoring training through the Brathay Trust.
● Training is provided for staff on how to identify and support students with mental health issues, including provision of relevant support resources. We have two staff who are Compass Phoenix trained.
● We are currently in the process of devising a child check-in questionnaire to take whole school ‘mental health temperature’, ensuring the school can respond accordingly.
● All children will be able to access the worry box in their classroom to encourage children to request initial support, promoted in an age-appropriate manner to all students.
● An ethos is established and maintained where the profile of Mental Health awareness is high, emphasising the message that ‘it’s good to talk’ and engaging in interrelated events such as World Mental Health Day, Anti-bullying Week, Children’s Mental Health Week, Safer Internet Day and Hello Yellow through the Young Minds Charity
● The school has a restorative practice approach to addressing behaviour issues so that wherever possible children can take responsibility for their actions and repair relationships, thereby easing reintegration with their peers
● Regular assemblies celebrate success and reinforce the characteristics of effective learning through our 4 R’s.
2. Targeted Offer/ Provision:
● Attendance support is provided for those struggling due to Mental Health issues
● Early Help referrals are available for those needing additional support
● We liaise with SELFA for any services they can provide and we have had several
children attend SELFA sessions and we are currently using the service of a SELFA counsellor for 3 of our children.
● Occasional use of small group or one to one learning sessions ▪ Close liaison with a range of external agencies who can offer in-school support
● Signposting parents to relevant external agencies and apps for out of school hour support eg Kooth, Calm Harm app, Young Minds, Mind, Childline, Young Carers etc.
● Personal daily check ins and discussion opportunities if needed, with a key member of staff
● “Time out” arrangements for those who need space to calm or reflect during the
school day
● Use of the house resource to identify with children: What is going well, what is
difficult at the moment and what could be done to improve their feelings.
● Age-appropriate resources are available for students to support their own wellbeing journey including books, therapeutic colouring resources etc.
● Opportunities to engage with mindfulness colouring activities – Target children do this
● Opportunities to develop their own toolkit of strategies to help lower anxiety levels and address their own identified needs – Target children who are receiving support from other agencies
● Close liaison between the school’s SENDCO, Welfare team and the class teacher, mental health lead or with a parent directly to identify any significant SEND or Social, Emotional or Mental Health Needs.
3. Specialised Offer/Provision:
● We are currently devising a Specialised staff training programme with a focus on
meeting current need in the school such as suicide prevention training, supporting children with eating disorders, addressing self-harm, etc
● Liaison with specific GPs /consultants/ nurses – to share concerns and agree multi- agency support approaches
● Referrals to external agencies to support the mental health of specific students and their families, as necessary. Schools will liaise with any number of professional agencies as appropriate.
Useful website links for parents and carers:
https://www.compass-uk.org/services/compass-phoenix/
https://www.wacalliance.co.uk/our-projects/waca-mental-health-service/gr8-minds.html
https://www.annafreud.org/https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/parents-helpline-and-webchat/
https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/parents-guide-to-looking-after-yourself/
https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/parents-a-z-mental-health-guide/anxiety/
https://www.elsa-support.co.uk/elsachat-separation-anxiety/