Safeguarding Statement
At St Elizabeth's Catholic Primary School the health, safety and well-being of every child is our top priority. We expect all staff, governors and volunteers to share this commitment to safeguarding our pupils.
We are extremely proud to be a Unicef accredited Gold Rights Respecting school. We believe embedding children's rights into school life not only ensures a thorough understanding of child rights, and rights respecting attitudes but this also has a profound impact on our children's ability to keep themselves safe positively impacting their wellbeing.
As a Rights Respecting school we listen to our pupils and take seriously what they tell us. All school staff are trained in Child Protection, and children are made aware of the adults they can talk to if they have any concerns. Staff are trained to look out for signs of physical/emotional harm or neglect and are required to report these to the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL).
The procedures which we follow have been laid down by the Manchester City Council and the school has adopted a Child Protection Policy in line with this, for the safety of all. On rare occasions our concern about a child may mean that we have to consult other agencies. We will ensure that all concerns are discussed with parent/carers first, before any referrals are made, unless we believe that such a move may be contrary to a child’s welfare.
Click here to view our Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy
Our Designated Safeguarding Leads:
Miss Elisabeth Simmons Headteacher/ Designated Safeguarding Lead
Mr C Knight Assistant Headteacher/ Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Miss J Dwan Assistant Headteacher & SENDCO/ Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Mrs Angeline Sands, Safeguarding Caseworker and Pastoral Support/ Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Worried or concerned about a child or young person?
If you are worried that a child has suffered harm, neglect or abuse or, you are worried that a child may be at risk of suffering harm should contact the schools designated safeguarding leads
Alternatively, you can report your concerns to:
Manchester Contact Centre
Telephone: 0161 234 5001 (open 24 hours a day, seven days a week)
Email: mcsreply@manchester.gov.uk
If an adult or child is in immediate danger you should ring the emergency services or contact the police on 999
Operation Encompass
We are part of a project that will run in partnership with Manchester Safeguarding Board and Greater Manchester Police.
Operation Encompass is a Police and Education early intervention safeguarding partnership which supports children and young people exposed to domestic abuse.
Operation Encompass is the reporting to schools before the start of the next school day when a child or young person has been involved or exposed to a domestic abuse incident the previous evening.
The information is given in strict confidence to our school’s Children and Families Team to enable support to be given, dependent on the needs and wishes of the child.
Operation Encompass is a Trauma Informed and Trauma Sensitive charity, acknowledging and understanding the impact of domestic abuse as an adverse childhood experience.
Operation Encompass mitigates against the damaged caused by exposure to domestic abuse and other adverse childhood experiences.
You can find out more about Operation Encompass by clicking here.