The Pilgrim Pathways School will always consider the best interests of the student and take action to enable all students to achieve the best outcomes. Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone has a role to play in identifying concerns, sharing information and taking prompt action. There are unique challenges to safeguarding children in a hospital setting and take our safeguarding responsibilities and contributions very seriously.
Designated Safeguarding Lead
(DSL)
Nadine Gooding-Hebert
Headteacher
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (D/DSL)
Sonia Trickey
Deputy Headteacher
Nominated Child Protection/Safeguarding Governor
Grace Borgeat
Management Committee Governor
SAFEGUARDING AND CHILD PROTECTION STATEMENT
Under section 175 of the Education Act 2002 (as amended), *the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014, the Non-Maintained Special Schools (England) Regulations 2015, and the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 (as amended) to have arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
We will endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued.
The school will therefore be alert to signs of abuse, neglect and exploitation and will follow the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Safeguarding Children Partnership Board’s 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 which gives rise to a concern about a child’s welfare, including risk from neglect, physical, emotional or sexual abuse and exploitation. Parents/carers should know that records of safeguarding 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.
Local procedures state that “Consent should always be sought from an adult with parental responsibility for the child/young person before passing information about them to Children’s Social Care, unless seeking consent would place the child at risk of significant harm or may lead to the loss of evidence for example destroying evidence of a crime or influencing a child about a disclosure made.” This includes allowing them to share information without consent, if it is not possible to gain consent, if it cannot be reasonably expected that a professional gains consent, or if to gain consent would place a child at risk.
Where there is a need to share special category personal data, the Data Protection Act 2018 contains ‘safeguarding of children and individuals at risk’ as a processing condition that allows professionals to share information.
In accordance with legislation and 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. In all circumstances, the safety of the child will be the paramount concern.
Schools will contact Children’s 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 Lead or Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead) was carrying out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acting in the best interests of all children.
Holding power
Under Section 3 (5) of the Children Act 1989, any person who has care of a child “may….do what is reasonable in all the circumstances of the case for the purpose of safeguarding promoting 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.
Ensuring our pupils are kept safe and know how to keep themselves safe is a key priority. All staff, including peripatetic staff, have enhanced Disclosure and Barring Clearance and receive regular training to keep their knowledge of safeguarding up to date and relevant. This includes training in online safety, peer on peer abuse and how to prevent our pupils being sexually exploited or radicalised. In addition, all members of the Extended Leadership Team complete Safer Recruitment training.
All visitors are informed of our safeguarding procedures and are given a copy of our leaflet upon arrival.
Download a copy of our policy on Safeguarding and Child Protection for parents and carers:
At the Pilgrim Pathways School we teach students about e-safety in our PSHE Curriculum.
Helping your child to stay safe online is just an extension of parenting in the real world. You need to understand what your child is doing and what the risks are so you can help them navigate a safe path through the virtual world.
Below are some helpful links for parents to further information:
All school and pupil referral units have a duty to prevent children and young people from becoming radicalised. Children and young people with medical and mental health difficulties may be particularly at risk. Pilgrim Pathways staff are aware of these risks and have strategies in place to help minimise the risk.
Each year we complete the annual safeguarding report to Cambridgeshire County Council and action plan ongoing improvements highlighted as part of this self-evaluation. Our safeguarding action plan is also informed by an bi-annual visit from an independent safeguarding consultant.
