Safeguarding Statement

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and here at Our Lady of Sorrows we expect all staff, governors and visitors to share in this. Safeguarding is the number one priority for the children's personal development, behaviour and welfare. We take a zero-tolerance approach and everyone works with the understanding that 'it could happen here'. As a result, we are meticulous in our approach to safeguarding and our procedures are exceptionally strong. 

Our prime responsibility as a school is to ensure that all of our children are safe both at home and at school. At Our Lady’s we have a culture where we make safeguarding everyone's responsibility from the Senior Leaders to office staff, from volunteers to parents / carers and the children themselves.  Safeguarding can be defined as:

‘The process of protecting children from abuse or neglect, preventing impairment of their health and development, and ensuring they are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care that enables children to have optimum life chances and enter adulthood successfully’. 

Our Lady of Sorrows School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children.  To achieve our commitment, we will ensure continuous development and improvement of robust safeguarding processes and procedures that promote a culture of safeguarding among our staff, governors and volunteers.

We are committed to inspiring, challenging and safeguarding our pupils, enabling them to become:

• Successful learners who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve their potential.
• Confident, well-rounded individuals who are able to live safe, healthy, happy and fulfilling lives.
• Responsible citizens who will make a positive contribution, both socially and economically, to society.

This is best achieved when we all work together to support the development of the whole child. We pride ourselves on knowing not just about our children’s learning, but about them and their families; as individuals and valued members of our school and community.

If you need specific help, please also see our 'Need Help?' section under the Parents tab.

We educate children about safeguarding in class through the curriculum, via assemblies, and by having good relationships where children trust the adults around them. We actively support the Government's Prevent agenda to counter radicalism and extremism. We teach about respect for oneself and others in a wide variety of contexts. We also promote awareness through a wide variety of other education to ensure safe and positive lifestyles which lead to making good choices, these include: online safety - including social media, water, rail, road and fire safety, drugs education and first aid. In our PSHE lessons we follow the TEN TEN programme.

The Designated Safeguarding Lead personnel for Our Lady of Sorrows Primary School are:

Mrs L. Saxton (Headteacher)

Mrs M. Sansom (Deputy Headteacher)

Miss A. Moss (Integrated resource Co-ordinator)

If you have any worries or concerns about any of our children or our families, including your own family - we are here to help and support in a non-judgmental manner. Please don't wait, contact a member of staff confidentially as soon as possible, the door is always open. Remember, safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Our school number again is: 01302 833941

If you would like to take your concern directly to Children's Social Work Services, you can call Duty and Advice:

Weekdays (9am-5pm) - 01302 737777.

Evenings, weekends and Bank Holidays, contact the emergency team: 01302 796000

Alternatively, if you feel that a child is in immediate danger, call 999.