Safeguarding

Create Safeguarding Statement

At Create Partnership Trust we put the safeguarding and wellbeing of the children first and expect all visitors and volunteers to do the same.

In our schools children are taught how to keep themselves safe, form positive relationships, and know who to speak to if they need help.

We work with our families and sometimes outside agencies to safeguard our pupils. Our staff have a duty of care to report any concerns, and always act in the best interests of the child.

For more information please see our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy.

Lead DSL: b.orourke@brookfields.create.org.uk

• You should report concerns to a member of the Designated Safeguarding Team (DST) immediately who will deal with the concerns and inform the Designated Senior Lead (DSL).
• Overall responsibility for Safeguarding within our MAT lies with the CEO- Mr Mark Unwin.
• Our designated Trustee for Safeguarding is Mary Higgins.

If anything worries you or concerns you, report it straight away.

Prevent Duty

Should you have any concerns regarding a child or family being at risk of radicalisation or being drawn into terrorism through exposure or engagement with extremist viewpoints, beliefs or language  (irrespective of race, gender, or cultural background) then please speak with Miss O'Rourke who is the Single Point of Contact (SPOC).

Operation Encompass 

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.

Our safeguarding team have undertaken the relevant training to ensure they can support our pupils and their families.

Safeguarding out-of-hours

If you have a safeguarding concern regarding a child from Brookfields Primary School, then please contact Miss O'Rourke or Mrs Kacem on 0121 675 1897.

Alternatively, email

b.orourke@brookfields.create.org.uk 

If you have an urgent concern about a child's safety and consider them to be in imminent danger, then please contact the Police on 999

Alternate services and support are listed below:

NSPCC Helpline  - if you are worried about a child and for anonymous referrals - telephone 0808 800 5000

Birmingham & Solihull Women's Aid - supporting victims of domestic abuse - telephone 0808 800 0028

Police non-emergencies - telephone 101

Keeping Children Safe in Education

All Staff at our school have read the Keeping Children Safe in Education (Information for Schools and Colleges) document.

This document explains;

• What School and College Staff should know and do
• Types of abuse and neglect
• Specific Safeguarding Issues
• Further Information on a Child Missing from Education
• Further Information on Child Sexual Exploitation
• Further Information on Female Genital Mutilation
• Further Information on Preventing Radicalisation

Please see below for links to the documents.

Right Help, Right Time

In line with Birmingham Safeguarding Children’s Board, Brookfields follows the refreshed threshold guidance “Right Help, Right Time” (RHRT). This framework has provided everyone at Brookfields with clear advice about what to do and how to respond if a child and their family need extra help. Our DSLs, have attended the required training suggested by the RHRT Multi-Agency so have embedded the RHRT guidance within the day to day practice of the school. Our staff regularly receive training so they know that the voice of the child is at the centre of their planning, decision making and service delivery.

For further information on the materials provided by RHRT, read the following documents:

Sexual Harassment 

Please find below a useful leaflet with advice and strategies to support conversations with your child about Sexual Harassment. With the every grown use of technology, this is becoming an increasing concern faced by our young people. As a school, we will have ensured our curriculum incorporates e-safety and educates our pupils about what to do when they feel unsafe. The guidance below will support you as a parent to speak to your child also.

If you have any concerns linked with sexual harassment please speak to Miss O'Rourke or Mrs Kacem.

Keeping you child safe online

Online Safety Tip: With over 1.5 billion users, WhatsApp has become one of the most used messaging apps. Find out what feature you can use to help keep your child’s personal information private.

https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/ whatsapp-safety-a-how-to-guide-for-parents/

When it comes to the internet, our children are exposed to so many different things.

Together we want to work in partnership with you to help keep our children safe online.

Below is some information about two very common online platforms children access.

At first glance they may seem harmless, but we would like to make you aware of some of the risks these platforms could pose to your child.

Remember to check your child’s devices and talk to them about the apps and platforms they should and should not be using.

NSPCC

The NSPCC website has lots of information on it around how to keep your children safe. One of the leaflets helps you decide when are children ready to be left home alone.

This guide provides practical tips and advice to help parents and carers decide what is best for their child when it comes to staying home alone or going out alone.

It covers some of the risks parents should consider before making a decision, such as how their child feels about the idea and who they should contact in an emergency.

There is also a checklist for parents and children to work through together to help them prepare for different types of scenarios. This includes questions about what to do if there is an accident at home or they are approached by a stranger outside.

See the website for more information

https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/media/2614/home-or-out-alone-guide.pdf