Absenteeism can be a warning sign to a range of safeguarding issues, including neglect or exploitation. We monitor children’s attendance at school on a daily basis. Notable absences or patterns of absences are followed up by school and in more serious cases the Leeds Schools Attendance Service.

High standards of behaviour are expected in our school. Our Positive Relationships Policy sets out how we promote good behaviour and deal with any problems. Our children are often reminded about our school rules and they know that we have them in order for everyone to be happy and keep safe.

St James’ CE Primary School and other services for children and families all work together to support the needs of children. There are four designated officers for child protection in school: Natalie Beatson, Tracey Small, Jackie Freeman and Nicola Walshaw. There is also a named governor for child protection. Read our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy. This is based on the Leeds model policy but has been adapted to suit our particular context by school leaders and governing body. Our policy is reviewed annually in line with any changes that may have been made to the model policy by the safeguarding team, or to reflect other changes and best practice. This is to ensure the integration of current issues and good practice.

Lots of aspects of staying safe are taught to our pupils. In Living and Learning lessons, for example, we teach pupils about drugs, alcohol and tobacco, the importance of consent, and online safety.

Children are victims if they see, hear or experience the effects of violence and abuse.

St James’ CE Primary works closely with West Yorkshire Police to support children who are victims of domestic violence and abuse. Confidential information is shared with schools on incidents of domestic violence and abuse. A member of the school staff is trained to use the information, in confidence, so that the school is able to make provision for possible difficulties experienced by children or their families. We’re keen to offer the best possible support to our pupils and we believe this is beneficial for all those involved.

If you’d like further support or information about domestic violence and abuse, please go to www.leedsdomesticviolenceandabuse.co.uk. You can also use this list of support services.

If you need to speak to a member of staff about this, please contact Miss Beatson in the first instance.

Everyone at St James’ CE Primary knows they have a responsibility to ensure children and adults are able to work in a healthy and safe environment. We have several first-aiders amongst our staff – they deal with illnesses and accidents should they occur.

Teaching children about the importance of staying safe online is part of our safeguarding curriculum, which in turn forms part of the Living and Learning and Computing curriculums.

Another aspect of online safety is the systems we have in place to ensure children are safe in school when online. We have robust filtering in place, for example, and we carry out regular checks to ensure this is working as well as it needs to in a fast-changing world.

Our Online Safety Policy sets out best practice around e-safety and draws attention to existing national guidance on this subject so that we can maintain the safest possible learning and working environments for children and staff alike. There are important appendices, that set our clear expectations around acceptable use of online activity for children and adults in school.

We encourage parents/carers to read the acceptable use agreements, and to support their child at home to follow the same points to help them stay safe online. Our Learn More section provides lots of help and support for you to use at home.

Read our Meeting Digital and Technology Standards audit.

Tell us if you’ve any concerns about your child’s and others’ use of technology.

Schools have a statutory duty to pay ‘due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism’. It is important to remember that whilst the threat from so-called Islamic State has been a focus in the Counter Terrorism and Security Act, the Prevent Duty is clear that extremism of all kinds should be tackled, too. In England, far right groups such as Britain First and the English Defence League need to be tackled, too.

Read more about radicalisation in our guide, or visit the Leeds Prevent website, or check out the government website for guidance and help.

We’re committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare and wellbeing of all children, and we expect our staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Careful checks and processes are carried out throughout the recruitment process (and when considering new volunteers in school). For example, safeguarding is a central feature of interviews, online checks are carried out, and a DBS check and full references are acquired before the person takes up post. Governors routinely check to ensure recruitment processes have been thorough.

It’s a statutory requirement that all staff are involved in safeguarding and child protection training. The training needs to be regular and in line with advice from other safeguarding partners. All St James’ CE Primary staff, including office and site staff, receive relevant training to their role. Examples of training include termly professional development; weekly reminders and safeguarding questions to discuss; updated guidance distributed and discussed; short quizzes to test knowledge and knowledge of local issues.