Keeping children safe in our schools

The safety and wellbeing of all our children is of utmost importance to Church Hill and Low Hall Nursery Schools.

All staff, governors, parents, carers, contractors, volunteers and visitors have an active role to play in protecting our pupils from harm.

What we do to keep children safe

Recruitment and training

We only employ staff or recruit volunteers once we have made thorough checks that they are suitable to work with children.
Regular safeguarding training makes sure that staff know how to recognise and how to raise any concerns about children, other staff members, students or volunteers, or about working practices.
We display photos of the staff who have lead responsibility for safeguarding and child protection.
All staff have regular first aid training, and some have extended training.

Sharing what we do

All visitors are given a Safeguarding leaflet when they sign in to the building. This explains what we do and what they can do to keep children safe in our schools. If staff are arranging for someone to visit, they invite the visitor or contractor to read these leaflets on our website. New parents are asked to read it here as part of their induction. We ask people to tell us if they find that our practice does not match what we say we do.
All students and volunteers have an induction which explains our safeguarding procedure, code of conduct and health and safety procedures. They are observed and mentored by experienced staff.

Our practice

Our approach to behaviour management, which encourages children to speak up and expect to be heard, is a major part of our safeguarding activity. Children are encouraged always to ‘tell’ if someone hurts or is mean to them.
There is an under-reporting of Child Protection (CP) for children with disabilities - we are aware that these children may not be able to tell us.
If children tell us information that needs to be shared to keep them safe, we tell them this.
When a child on the CP register moves school, their records are sent by the DSL to the child’s new school under confidential cover.
We use ‘egress switch’ to send digital information securely outside the London Grid for Learning.

The children

We keep a record of any accidents or injuries sustained in the schools. Any injuries noticed by staff or volunteers when the children arrive or during the course of the session which have not occurred in session, will be recorded and discussed with the child’s parent/carer by a staff member, as will any change in a child’s behaviour.
Nappy changing is monitored closely, children are never changed in totally enclosed private areas. Nappies and clothes are only changed by members of staff.
Children always have access to drinking water.
In hot weather we ask daycare families to send in sunscreen which we help the children to apply. This sunscreen must be labelled. Please tell a staff member and the sunscreen will be kept safe, away from other children. We text part-time families, asking them to apply sunscreen before children come in.

The premises

All visitors sign in and sign out so that we know exactly who is on the premises and why. Visitors without a DBS or whose DBS we have not seen wear a red lanyard.
A daily check of the premises helps keep everyone safe from clear hazards; regular thorough checks of equipment including electrical equipment tell us when we need to fix things that aren’t obviously broken.
We test our Fire Alarms regularly, and we hold fire drills at least termly.

e-safety

Staff, students and volunteers may only use mobile phones in the staff room when they are on a break.
We use CCTV to record our reception areas.
We take children’s photos for assessment. We only display or share these with the written consent of their parents or carers.
Children and adults only go online in school occasionally, and when they do, it is together with a grown-up, to follow up on particular questions or subjects that link to their learning, and through a filter that blocks unsafe sites.

How all visitors can help

All visitors are given a leaflet when they sign in which we ask them to read. This leaflet sets out:

what to do on arrival, while in school and when they leave
what they should do if they have a concern
how to keep safe and comfortable while in school
what to do in emergency

There are different leaflets for each school, and you can read them here.

What we do if we have a concern about a child

We believe that a concern is not an accusation. If we have a concern about a child, this is what we do (child protection):

Talk to you (if the child is yours).
In some cases we will ask for advice from the MASH team (Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub).
We record the concern.
We follow up concerns later on to ensure that any support that has been given has had the hoped-for effect.

We only share this information with staff who work directly with the child.

What to do if you have a concern about a child

If the concern is about your child:

talk to your child's key person.

If it is about another child, discuss the matter:

with Designated Safeguarding Lead, Helen Currie (Executive Headteacher), or

at Church Hill:

with a Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leader: Lindsay Read (in term time), Pat English (in term time), Rockena Muirhead (2-year-olds) or Sarah Davies (in Playscheme)

at Low Hall:

with a Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leader: Lindsay Read (in term time), Nalinee Sabaroche (in term time), Uzma Hanif (After School Club), or Sarah Davies (during Playscheme)

If your concern is about a member of staff, a student or a volunteer:

talk to Helen Currie or Lindsay Read (Assistant Headteacher)

If your concern is about the Assistant Headteacher:

talk to Helen Currie

If your concern is about the Executive Headteacher:

talk to Abrar Malik, Chair of Governors or Mark Brown, Safeguarding Link Governor

If your concern is about the Chair of Governors:

call 020 8496 3206 to talk to the Divisional Director of Children and Families at LBWF.

If you can't find who you are looking for:

There are photos of all staff at the entrance to Low Hall and in the garden at Church Hill. If you can't find the right person, call and make an appointment: 020 8520 4919 (Church Hill), 020 8520 1689 (Low Hall).

If it is outside of nursery hours:

If school is closed and you feel that a child or young person is at immediate risk of harm, call the Police on 999 and ask for immediate assistance. You can also call 101 at any time.
If the risk is less immediate and school is closed, call the MASH team on 020 8496 2317.

If you have a concern about an adult working with children in Waltham Forest you could alternatively:

call the Waltham Forest Local Authority Designated Safeguarding Lead (LADO) on 020 8496 3646 or email LADO@walthamforest.gov.uk
call the NSPCC Whistleblowing Line on 0800 028 0285 or email help@nspcc.org.ukdo if you have a concern about a child