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Safeguarding and Child Protection
The Safeguarding team at Sacred Heart
Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School Commitment to Safeguarding and Child Protection
At Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School we are committed to safeguarding children and young people and we expect everyone who works in our school to share this commitment.
Adults in our school take all welfare concerns seriously and encourage children and young people to talk to us about anything that may worry them.
Communication with Parents
Our school will always discuss concerns with parents/carers and consent for any referrals should be sought unless to do so would:
- ​Place the child at risk of significant harm or further risk of significant harm
- Place a vulnerable adult at risk of harm
- Compromise any enquiries that need to be undertaken by children's social care or the police/and as such we as a school are asked not to inform parents/carers.
The school will endeavour to ensure that parents have an understanding of the responsibilities placed on the school and staff for safeguarding children.
In the best interests of safeguarding children there may be occasions when the school has to consult with other agencies without a parent or carer's prior knowledge. Our first concern and responsibility is the child's welfare and we have a duty to protect children first and always.
Such consultation may result in a formal referral which could prompt visits from social care and/or the police. We fully understand that this can be a very distressing set of circumstances. Our school will follow the procedures required by the Merton Children's Safeguarding Partnership.
Operation Encompass at Sacred Heart
Sacred Heart and many Merton schools are part of Operation Encompass which is a partnership between police and schools, a school can only join if the local police force has already joined Operation Encompass.
One of the principles of Operation Encompass is that all incidents of domestic abuse are shared with schools, not just those where an offence can be identified.
Please note that by informing school of any incidents of domestic abuse that have involved a child, pastoral support can be provided by the Safeguarding and DSL team. This information remains highly confidential.
Online Safety
School uses Google Classroom to enable teachers to interact with children and the Senior Leadership Team has oversight of these interactions. No email messages are sent from school staff to children's accounts.
Web filtering and monitoring
Schools are required to have appropriate filtering in place. As a LGfL school we use their Webscreen product. The Safer Internet Centre asks schoolsafe internet providers to submit certification forms to explain how they meet a range of criteria. You can read the LGfL response below.