St Thomas More is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all of its pupils. Our first priority is the welfare of our children. Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is of paramount importance and is everyone’s responsibility.
It is the responsibility of every member of staff, volunteer and regular visitor to our school to ensure that, at all times, they work in a way that will safeguard and promote the welfare of all of the pupils at this school. This includes the responsibility to provide a safe environment in which children can learn.
We recognise that staff at our school play a particularly important role as they are in a position to identify concerns early and provide help for children to prevent concerns from escalating. All staff are advised to maintain an attitude of ‘it could happen here’ where safeguarding is concerned. When concerned about the welfare of a child, staff members must always act in the best interests of the child.
Our school will establish and maintain an ethos where children feel secure, are encouraged to talk, are listened to and are safe. Children will be able to talk freely to any member of staff at our school if they are worried or concerned about something.
Throughout our curriculum we will provide activities and opportunities for children to develop the skills they need to identify risks and stay safe. This will also be extended to include material that will encourage our children to develop essential life skills.
At all times we will work in partnership and endeavour to establish effective working relationships with parents, carers and colleagues from other agencies in line with Working Together to Safeguard Children, Keeping Children Safe in Education and Local Safeguarding Partners’ Procedures.