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OFSTED OUTSTANDING

Safeguarding

At All Hallows Catholic High School, we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. We expect everyone to share this commitment.

Please click to view our Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy

Mrs Cooper: Headteacher

Mrs Kitto: Safeguarding Governor


We have 4 Designated Safeguarding Leads at All Hallows, who receive specialist training to provide tailored interventions to pupils and families who may need that support. The DSLs are:

Mrs Washington: Assistant Headteacher: Designated Safeguarding Lead: jwa@allhallows.lancs.sch.uk

Miss R Taylor: Pastoral Support Assistant and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead: rta@allhallows.lancs.sch.uk

Mr Finch: Head of PE and Backup Designated Safeguarding Lead: dfi@allhallows.lancs.sch.uk

Mrs Cooper: Headteacher and Backup Designated Safeguarding Lead: aco@allhallows.lancs.sch.uk

Our DSLs are familiar with not only the pastoral issues that can affect young people and families, but also local, contextual issues that may currently be affecting our community. We work closely with outside agencies to put in the appropriate level of support for families who may need it. If you are concerned about a child, please contact the school on 01772 746121 or contact one of our DSLs by email. If it is outside of school hours, or holiday time, please contact Lancashire Childrens’ Social Care on 0300 1236720.

Allegations

  • Any allegation should be reported immediately to the Headteacher/DSL.
  • If the concerns are about the Headteacher, please inform the Chair of Governors or any other nominated safeguarding teacher / governor.
  • If the concerns are about a professional, please contact the LADO on 01772 536694 or go to lado.admin@lancshire.gov.uk
  • If you are concerned about a child out of school hours, please contact Lancashire Childrens’ Services on 0300 123 6720

Child on Child Abuse

You may have seen recent news reports on “Child on Child abuse” and “harmful sexual behaviour in schools”. Whilst this may seem alarming, at All Hallows we adopt an “it could happen here” attitude to safeguarding our young people. HSB and Child on Child abuse can be a sensitive topic to talk to young people about, but as a school we do our best to be pro-active in asking our young people to talk about this and ask them to report any concerns to their teachers or a trusted adult. There is a link below to some useful parent information about talking to your child about this issue.

https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/report/talking-to-your-child-about-online-sexual-harassment-a-guide-for-parents/

Operation Encompass

All Hallows participates in the Operation Encompass partnership scheme, between local school, academies, colleges, community health agencies, and Lancashire Police.

Operation Encompass was  set up to provide early reporting to schools about any domestic abuse, Missing from Home or other incidents that occur outside of school hours to which a young person attending our school has been exposed, and which might then have an impact on their schooling the following day. This information will be shared throughout the year, including school holidays and the weekends.

Information will only be shared with the school by the police where it is identified that a young person was present, witnessed or was involved in an incident to which the police were called.

A nominated member of college staff, known as an Encompass Key Adult, has been trained to liaise with the police. They will usually be school Designated Safeguarding Leads  (DSLs) and/ or deputy DSLs.  They will be able to use information that has been shared with them, in confidence, to ensure that the school is able to make provision for possible difficulties experienced by children or their families. The Key Adults will keep this information confidential, and will only share it on a need to know basis, for instance, to teaching staff for the child or young person. It will not be shared with other school students.

We are keen to offer the best support possible for our pupils and a recent review of Operation Encompass showed that it is beneficial and supportive for all those involved.  The Operation Encompass link for All Hallows is Mrs J Washington, Assistant Headteacher.

Prevent Duty

What is the Prevent strategy?

Prevent is a government strategy designed to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorist or extremist causes. The Prevent strategy covers all types of terrorism and extremism, including the extreme right wing, violent Islamist groups and other causes. Guidance on the Prevent Duty can be found here.
How does the Prevent strategy apply to schools?

From July 2015 all schools (as well as other organisations) have a duty to safeguard children from radicalisation and extremism. This means we have a responsibility to protect children from extremist and violent views the same way we protect them from drugs or gang violence. Importantly, we can provide a safe place for pupils to discuss these issues so they better understand how to protect themselves.

What does this mean in practice?

Many of the things we already do in school to help children become positive, happy members of society also contribute to the Prevent strategy. These include:

  • Exploring other cultures and religions and promoting diversity
  • Challenging prejudices and racist comments
  • Developing thinking skills and a strong, positive self-identity
  • Promoting the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils, as well as British values such as democracy

We will also protect children from the risk of radicalisation, for example by using filters on the internet to make sure they can’t access extremist and terrorist material, or by vetting visitors who come into school to work with pupils. Different schools will carry out the Prevent duty in different ways, depending on the age of the children and the needs of the community.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Prevent relate to British values? Schools have been required to promote British values since 2014, and this will continue to be part of our response to the Prevent strategy. British values include:

  • The rule of law
  • Individual liberty and mutual respect
  • Tolerance of different faiths and beliefs

Is extremism really a risk in our area? Extremism can take many forms, including political, religious and misogynistic extremism. Some of these may be a bigger threat in our area than others. We will give children the skills to protect them from any extremist views they may encounter, now or later in their lives.

KEY TERMS

Extremism – vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values such as democracy, the rule of law and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs Ideology – a set of beliefs
Terrorism – a violent action against people or property, designed to create fear and advance a political, religious or ideological cause
Radicalisation – the process by which a person comes to support and be involved with extremist causes

For more information on Prevent at All Hallows, Please contact Mrs Washington, Assistant Headteacher jwa@allhallows.lancs.sch.uk