Safeguarding
Safeguarding and Child Protection at Netherhall and The Oakes College
Under the Education Act 2002 (section 175/157), schools must
“make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children”.
We will endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued.
At Netherhall, we have a whole staff led by a Safeguarding team of dedicated professionals who ensure that school policies and procedures are used to make all pupils feel safe and valued at school. The school will therefore be alert to signs of abuse and neglect and will follow the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) procedures to ensure that children receive appropriate and effective support and protection.
Parents/carers should know that the law requires all school staff to pass on information that gives rise to a concern about a child’s welfare, including risk from neglect, and physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. The school should make parents/carers aware that records of welfare concerns may be kept about their child. They should be informed that school staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with them including referrals to other agencies. However, in situations where the child is suspected to be at risk of harm, the law says that schools may take advice from other agencies without informing parents/carers.
Where concerns are reported to the school, these will be logged, and triaged on our secure online reporting platform called “My concern”.
In accordance with local Information Sharing protocols, we will ensure that information is shared securely and sensitively. Information will only be shared with other services where it is deemed necessary and proportionate to ensure that children and young people are safe and receive the right service.
Schools will seek advice from Social Care when they have reasonable cause to suspect a child may be suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. Occasionally, concerns are passed on which are later shown to be unfounded. Parents/carers will appreciate that the member of staff in the school with responsibility for child protection (known as the Designated Safeguarding Leads) was carrying out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acting in the best interests of all children.
Under Section 3 (5) of the Children Act 1989, schools or any person who has care of a child “may….do what is reasonable in all the circumstances of the case to safeguard or promote the child’s welfare”. This means that on rare occasions, a school may need to “hold” a child in school whilst Social Care and the police investigate any concerns further.
What to do if you need to contact someone about a Child Protection concern
We are all responsible for Child Protection. If you think you or the child is in immediate danger and needs urgent help, please call the police on 999.
Members of the public should contact Cambridgeshire County Council Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub if you are:
- Concerned that a child may be suffering physical, sexual, or emotional abuse or is being neglected
- A child or young person is being abused or neglected
- As a parent or carer, you feel you are harming your child or are close to doing so
Contact numbers can be found on the Cambridgeshire County Council website
For professionals, including school staff, procedures are in place for concerns to be referred to a Designated Person for Child Protection. The full details can be found within our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy on our Policies page.
Parents, carers, or other members of the public can also pass on safeguarding concerns to the school by making contact with the Designated Safeguarding Lead.
Further information is also available on the Local Safeguarding Children Board website
Please note that The Netherhall School is not responsible for the content of external websites linked within this page.