Safeguarding

Combe Martin Safeguarding Statement

Combe Martin is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. We recognise that all adults including temporary staff, volunteers, parents, and Local School Committee members have a full and active part to play in the protection of our pupils.

We believe that Combe Martin should provide a caring, positive, safe, and stimulating learning environment that promotes the fair and just principles of British values to support the social, emotional, physical, and moral development of each child.

We follow the Local Authority’s Safer Recruitment protocols and the Department for Education Guidance ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’, ‘What to do if you are worried that a child is being abused’, ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ – all of the Departmental guidance notes can be downloaded below.

We actively support the Government’s ‘Prevent’ agenda to counter radicalisation and extremism.

We have a Health & Safety Policy for the practical protection of children and adults on the school site; this can be viewed on the Policies page of our school website. Health & Safety is routinely monitored by the school’s staff and Governing Board.

All adults working in school have enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) clearance together with safeguarding checks in accordance with policy. All staff have regular safeguarding training.

If you are concerned about a child’s welfare please record your concern and any observations or conversations heard and report to a member of the school's safeguarding team as soon as possible. If you do find yourself needing to report a concern, we stress the need for absolute confidentiality to be observed and maintained at all times.

Our commitment to online safety is demonstrated through the deployment of the ‘Report an Issue’ button on our school website. This links to the South West Grid for Learning’s ‘Whisper’ reporting system and enables pupils, parents and members of the public to instantly report any online content giving cause for concern.

Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies when there are concerns about a child’s welfare. We will ensure that our concerns about our pupils are discussed with their parents/carers first unless we have reason to believe that this would be contrary to the child’s welfare.

Further information on Safeguarding children in Devon can be found here https://www.dcfp.org.uk/

Useful Links

"SelfieCop is a useful tool that can help parents safeguard their children's online activities."
A.Jackson, Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC, Ireland)

You can read more about SelfieCop and download it HERE

NSPCC 'Underwear Guide' for Parents to talk with their children about

Safeguarding reminder for Devon

Child abuse. If you think it, report it.

We all have a responsibility to report any concerns of abuse or neglect and get help to vulnerable children and young people quickly.

Whether you’re the neighbour, the teacher, or the concerned relative, everyone has a role to play in tackling child abuse and neglect. You don’t have to be absolutely certain either, information is usually gathered from many sources, and yours could be the missing piece needed, so it is very important.

The advice to anyone in Devon who may have suspicions of child abuse or neglect is to contact Devon’s Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) on 0345 155 1071, or email mashsecure@devon.gov.uk and give as much information as you can.