Safeguarding
Valuing and caring for one another, fostering belonging and enabling flourishing
Our commitment to safeguarding
Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility.
At Sheering CE Primary School, keeping children safe is our highest priority. We are committed to ensuring that every child in our care is protected, nurtured and supported to thrive in a safe, secure environment.
Our safeguarding commitment encompasses everything we do – from the quality of our teaching and the care we provide, to the way we listen to children and respond to their needs. We work tirelessly to ensure that children are safe:
✓ In school – through vigilant staff, secure premises and robust policies
✓ At home – by working in partnership with families and supporting parents
✓ Online – by teaching children how to stay safe in the digital world
✓ In the community – by helping children recognise and manage risks
"We are God's masterpiece" – Ephesians 2:10. Every child at Sheering matters, and every child deserves to feel safe, valued and protected.
What is safeguarding?
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children means:
- Protecting children from maltreatment, whether that is within or outside the home, including online
- Preventing the impairment of children's mental and physical health or development
- Ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
- Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes
Safeguarding is not just about protecting children from deliberate harm. It includes a wide range of issues including:
- Bullying, including cyberbullying
- Child-on-child abuse
- Domestic abuse
- Online safety
- Mental health and wellbeing
- Attendance and children missing education
- Substance misuse
- Radicalisation and extremism
Our safeguarding approach
A whole-school culture of safeguarding
Safeguarding is embedded in everything we do. We create a culture where:
- Children feel safe and know they can talk to trusted adults
- Staff are vigilant and know how to recognise and respond to concerns
- Parents work in partnership with us to keep children safe
- Everyone understands their role in keeping children safe
- We act quickly when concerns arise
Prevention and early help
We believe in preventing harm before it happens by:
- Teaching children how to keep themselves safe through our curriculum
- Building children's resilience and confidence
- Helping children understand healthy relationships
- Teaching online safety skills
- Identifying concerns early and providing support quickly
- Working with families to address difficulties before they escalate
Listening to children
Children's voices are at the heart of our safeguarding practice. We:
- Encourage children to speak to trusted adults about their worries
- Take children's concerns seriously and act on them
- Help children understand that they will be listened to and supported
- Ensure children know that reporting concerns is the right thing to do
Our Designated Safeguarding Leads
If you have any concern about a child's safety or wellbeing, please contact one of our Designated Safeguarding Leads immediately:
Miss Shaw - Head of School
Designated Safeguarding Lead
Telephone: 01279 734210
Email: head@sheering.essex.sch.uk
Mrs Ansell - Deputy Headteacher
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Telephone: 01279 734210
Email: louise.ansell@sheering.essex.sch.uk
Our Designated Safeguarding Leads are trained specialists who:
- Coordinate safeguarding across the school
- Provide advice and support to staff
- Work with children and families when concerns arise
- Liaise with external agencies including children's social care and the police
- Ensure all safeguarding concerns are properly recorded and followed up
If you cannot reach our DSLs and you have an urgent concern, please contact the school office immediately on 01279 734210.
What to do if you're worried about a child
If you're a parent or member of the public
If you have a concern that a child is being harmed, is at risk of harm, or you receive a disclosure (intentionally or unintentionally), please:
1. Contact our Designated Safeguarding Leads immediately (details above)
2. If you cannot reach the school and the concern is urgent:
Essex Children's Social Care
Telephone: 0345 603 7627 (Monday to Thursday 8:30am-5:00pm, Friday 8:30am-4:30pm)
Out of hours emergency duty team:
Telephone: 0345 606 1212
3. If a child is in immediate danger, call 999
If you're a member of staff
All staff know that if they have a safeguarding concern or an allegation is made about another member of staff, they should:
- Refer concerns to the Headteacher (Designated Safeguarding Lead)
- Where there is a concern about the Headteacher, refer to the Chair of the Strategic Intervention Board
Staff should never promise a child that they will not tell anyone about a report of abuse, as this may ultimately not be in the best interests of the child.
How we keep children safe
Safe recruitment and staff training
- All staff are carefully vetted before they start work, including enhanced DBS checks
- Every member of staff receives safeguarding training at induction and regularly throughout the year
- All staff receive safeguarding updates at least annually to continue to provide them with relevant skills and knowledge to safeguard children effectively
- All staff know how to recognise signs of abuse and what to do if they have concerns
- Safer recruitment practices ensure only suitable people work with our children
Robust policies and procedures
We have clear, comprehensive policies that set out how we keep children safe, including:
- Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy - our overarching safeguarding policy
- Staff Code of Conduct - setting out expectations for staff behaviour
- Online Safety Policy - keeping children safe in the digital world
- Behaviour Policy - including our approach to child-on-child abuse
- Anti-Bullying Policy - preventing and responding to bullying
- Attendance Policy - monitoring and responding to absence
All policies are reviewed annually by staff and the Strategic Intervention Board.
Secure premises
- Controlled access to the school site with secure gates and entry systems
- Visitor protocols - all visitors must sign in and wear identification
- Risk assessments for all activities, trips and areas of the school
- Regular health and safety checks to ensure the site is safe
Teaching children to keep themselves safe
Our curriculum includes age-appropriate teaching about:
- Healthy relationships and recognising unhealthy behaviour
- Online safety - how to stay safe on the internet and social media
- Personal safety - including stranger danger and road safety
- Mental health and wellbeing - recognising feelings and asking for help
- Consent and body autonomy - understanding personal boundaries
- Recognising and reporting concerns - knowing when and how to get help
Partnership with parents
We work closely with parents and carers to keep children safe by:
- Sharing information about safeguarding
- Providing guidance on online safety and other risks
- Working together when concerns arise
- Being open and transparent about our safeguarding practices
- Listening to parents' concerns and acting on them
Online safety
In today's digital world, online safety is a critical part of safeguarding. We teach children how to:
- Use the internet safely and responsibly
- Recognise online risks including inappropriate content, contact with strangers, and cyberbullying
- Protect their personal information
- Report concerns about what they see or experience online
- Develop healthy relationships with technology
Resources for parents:
We recommend these trusted resources to help you keep your child safe online:
- NSPCC Online Safety - advice for parents
- Internet Matters - age-specific guidance and parental controls
- Childnet - resources for families
- ThinkuKnow - advice from the National Crime Agency
Child-on-child abuse
We recognise that children can abuse other children, and we take this extremely seriously. Child-on-child abuse can take many forms including bullying, cyberbullying, sexual violence and harassment, physical abuse, and sharing of indecent images.
Our approach:
- Zero tolerance - we will not tolerate any form of child-on-child abuse
- Clear reporting - children know how to report concerns and that they will be taken seriously
- Swift action - we respond quickly and appropriately to all reports
- Support for all - both victims and perpetrators receive appropriate support
- Education - we teach children about healthy relationships and respectful behaviour
If your child reports child-on-child abuse, please contact our Designated Safeguarding Leads immediately.
Mental health and wellbeing
We recognise that mental health is a safeguarding issue. Children's emotional wellbeing is just as important as their physical safety.
We support children's mental health by:
- Creating a nurturing, supportive environment where children feel valued
- Teaching children about emotions and mental health through our curriculum
- Identifying children who may need additional support
- Providing early help through pastoral support and interventions
- Working with specialist services when needed
- Supporting parents to understand and respond to their child's emotional needs
If you're worried about your child's mental health, please speak to your child's class teacher or our Designated Safeguarding Leads.
Attendance and children missing education
Regular school attendance is vital for children's safety and wellbeing. We monitor attendance carefully and follow up quickly when children are absent, particularly on repeat occasions or for prolonged periods.
If a child is missing from education, they may be at risk of harm. We work closely with Essex County Council and other agencies to locate children who are missing and ensure they are safe.
Please inform the school immediately if your child will be absent, and let us know the reason.
Allegations against staff
We take any allegation against a member of staff extremely seriously. If you have a concern about a member of staff's behaviour towards a child, you should:
- Contact the Headteacher (Mrs Lorna Brittaine) immediately
- If the concern is about the Headteacher, contact the Chair of the Strategic Intervention Board via the Clerk (Christine Kitchin) on 01279 734210
We will work closely with the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) to ensure any allegations are investigated thoroughly and appropriately.
Useful contacts and support services
If you need help or advice:
NSPCC Helpline
0808 800 5000
help@nspcc.org.uk
Free, confidential advice for adults concerned about a child
Childline (for children and young people)
0800 1111
www.childline.org.uk
Free, confidential support 24/7
Essex Children's Social Care
0345 603 7627
www.essex.gov.uk/social-care-and-health
Police - Emergency
999 (if a child is in immediate danger)
Police - Non-emergency
101
Samaritans (mental health support)
116 123 (24/7)
Young Minds (mental health support for young people)
Text YM to 85258 (crisis support)
www.youngminds.org.uk
Key safeguarding documents
Download our Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy
Download our Online Safety Policy
Download our Staff Code of Conduct
Download our Behaviour Policy (including child-on-child abuse)
Download Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025 - Part One (for parents)
All policies are reviewed annually and are available on request from the school office.
Safeguarding training and updates
Our staff receive regular safeguarding training including:
- Induction training for all new staff
- Annual safeguarding updates for all staff
- Specialist training for Designated Safeguarding Leads
- Training on specific safeguarding issues including online safety, child-on-child abuse, and mental health
Our Strategic Intervention Board receives regular safeguarding reports and ensures that safeguarding remains our highest priority.
Our safeguarding promise to you
At Sheering CE Primary School, we promise that:
✓ We will always put children's safety first
✓ We will listen to children and take their concerns seriously
✓ We will act quickly when we have concerns
✓ We will work in partnership with parents and families
✓ We will be open and transparent about our safeguarding practices
✓ We will continuously improve our safeguarding arrangements
✓ Every member of staff will be vigilant and know how to keep children safe
Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility. If you have any concerns about a child's safety or wellbeing, please contact us immediately.
Contact us
Designated Safeguarding Leads:
Mrs Lorna Brittaine (Headteacher)
Mrs Louise Ansell (Deputy Headteacher)
School Office:
Telephone: 01279 734210
Email: admin@sheering.essex.sch.uk
In an emergency, always call 999
At Sheering School, where Everyone Matters, we work together to be joyful, to flourish and succeed. We celebrate the uniqueness of every child in our school community because "we are God's masterpiece." Every child deserves to be safe, valued and protected.