Safeguarding | Albany Village Primary School

Safeguarding - Albany Village Primary School

At Albany Village Primary School the most important aspect of our role is the safeguarding of the children in our care. We take this duty very seriously and believe that it is the responsibility of everyone who comes into contact with our children and their families. At all times we

must consider what is in the best interest of the child.

Our Designated Safeguarding Leads in school are:

Mr S E Jones - Head Teacher

Miss J Mitcheson - Deputy Head Teacher

Mr R Dutton - Senior Leader

Mrs K Holmes - Admin

We define safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children as: protecting children from maltreatment; preventing impairment of

children's health or development; ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and

effective care; and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

Staff undergo regular training to support them in their roles and rigorous vetting procedures are followed when seeking to employ

new members of our team. In order to uphold our principles we also ensure that all staff, and visitors where appropriate,

understand and follow the policies below, which set out what we do in practice.

Safeguarding Policy

(DfE guidance "Keeping Children Safe in Education" September 2023)

Sunderland Safeguarding Children Partnership

The Sunderland Safeguarding Children Partnership (SSCP) is a multi-agency partnership which brings together agencies who work to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people across Sunderland. The aim of the partnership is to coordinate what is done by each body represented on the board, and ensuring the effectiveness of that work. Ultimately in doing our job at the SSCP we want to make a positive difference to children, young people, their families and their communities through our work in partnership.

Within the Partnership there are three statutory safeguarding partners:

Sunderland City Council
Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group
Northumbria Police.

These three agencies are responsible for developing the multi-agency safeguarding arrangements (MASA) for the city that will guide how they will work together, and with other relevant agencies, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people. You can read more about the SSCP MASA here.

Follow the link below to their website:- www.safeguardingchildrensunderland.com

Operation Encompass

Operation Encompass is an innovative project in which schools in Sunderland are participating and which is run in partnership with Sunderland City Council and Northumbria Police. The project, which commenced in Spring 2017, aims to support children who are affected by domestic

abuse. Witnessing domestic abuse is really distressing for a child or young person, who often see the abuse, hear it from another room,

see a parent’s injuries or distress afterwards or can be physically hurt trying to stop the abuse.

As a result, following any domestic abuse incident being reported to the police, the Police will make contact with the Council’s Initial Contact

and Referral Team who will then communicate relevant and necessary information to nominated school staff. This will ensure that the school

is made aware at the earliest possible opportunity and can subsequently provide support to children in a way that means they feel safe and

listened to.

Each school has members of staff (key adults) who have been fully trained in liaising with police and Children’s Social Care when required,

and will ensure that the necessary support is made available to the child following the disclosure of a domestic abuse incident.

I believe that this project demonstrates our school’s commitment to working in partnership to safeguard and protect children, and to providing

the best possible care and support for our pupils.

In the meantime, if you would like to speak to someone further about the project or require further information please contact our key adults

in school who are Mr S E Jones, Head Teacher and Miss J Mitcheson, Deputy Head Teacher.

You can also find out more information here: http://www.operationencompass.org

e-Safety - advice for pupils

You can use your computer, mobile phone or tablet for lots of fun things and to make lots of new friends from all over the world.

This section of our website will provide you with links to really useful advice on how to be careful when you use the internet and

some great tips to keep safe. If you are worried about anything you see online or people are asking you questions about where

you live or saying nasty things to you please speak to your parents or teacher or follow any of the links below for help and advice.

Think U Know website

I bet you probably like to use the computer for fun. The Think U Know website will help you go on the internet in a safe way and

tell who to talk to if you are worried. You can also find out about Jessie, Tia & Mo learning to use computers safely! If you want

to talk to someone else you can call ‘Childline’, which is a place where people who are nice can help you. They won’t tell anyone

that you have called and it’s free. You can phone them on: 0800 1111.

Top Tips

Always ask a grown up before you use the internet. They can help you find the best thing to do.
Don’t tell strangers where you live, your phone number or where you go to school. Only your friends and family need to know that.

Don’t send pictures to people you don’t know. You don’t want strangers looking at photos of you, your friends or your family.
Tell a grown up if you feel scared or unhappy about anything.

Kid SMART website

Be Smart be cool – Be smart online.

What’s your favourite thing to do online. Visit the KidSMART website and learn more about the internet and being a SMART surfer.

Learn the SMART Rules with Kara Winston and the SMART Crew. If anything goes wrong online or upsets you make sure you tell

someone about it. Download a poster of the SMART Rules by clicking the link below.

Kid’s Smart Poster

If you find something on the internet or someone has made you sad or scared you should tell your mum, dad or the person who

looks after you at home or a teacher at school. If you would like to talk to someone else we have added some links to the Advice

Help and Report Centreon the CEOPS website. You can contact people who are friendly and helpful by following the link for your

age group.

Parents - Help and Advice

What's out there .... Social Media

Instagram- an online mobile photo sharing, video sharing and social networking service which enables its users to take pictures

and videos and share them on a variety of social networking platforms, it allows pupils to create direct messaging groups of up to

15 people at one time. You are required to be at least 13 years old before you can create an account.

Skype- a video and messaging app. You are required to be at least 13 years old before you can create an account.
Facebook- a social networking site. You are required to be at least 13 years old before you can create an account.
Whats App– An instant messaging app for smartphones. The user agreement requires users to be age 16 or older.
YouTube – a video sharing platform. The account holders are required to be 18, but a 13-year-old can sign up with a

parent's permission’

Omegle – online chat, voice chat and video chat - this medium contains offensive material which is only partially monitored and
may contain harmful content including nudity or sexual content. It is advised that children should never access this online chat

website as it is totally inappropriate.

Children are often creating ‘groups’ to which others are joining. This means that information can be shared with anyone

who is in the group so privacy could be lost and may mean strangers could be added to the groups.