Safeguarding
St Clere’s School is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for children, staff and visitors and promoting a climate where children and adults will feel confident about sharing any concerns they may have about their own safety or the well-being of others.
Our school is committed to the vital contribution of all governors, staff and support staff make to safeguarding children a priority. We aim to ensure that child protection concerns and referrals are handled sensitively, professionally and in ways that support the specific needs of the individual child.
Through providing a caring, safe and stimulating environment, which promotes the social, physical and moral development of all our students, we aim to foster an atmosphere of trust, respect and security.
Safeguarding Overview
All staff at St Clere’s School undertake annual safeguarding training. This training is at the start of the Academic year and then provided once per term so any new staff or those returning from leave receive it.
The Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and Deputy DSLs have completed DSL training.
A copy of our Safeguarding Policy can be found in the policies section of the website.
Our Safeguarding Governor is Mrs Philomena Cozens
How to Contact Our Safeguarding Team
Parents, contract workers and members of the local community can report safeguarding concerns directly to the DSL, Deputy DSLs and Safeguarding Team, via the school telephone number (01375) 641001 or by email on safeguarding.scs@osborne.coop
| Service type | Contact |
| St Clere’s Safeguarding | |
| Designated Safeguard Lead (DSL) | Mrs Cheryl Martin 07379 088906 |
| Deputy DSL and PREVENT | Mr Sean Perrotton |
| Deputy DSL and Looked After Children Lead | Miss Hayley Saywood |
| Safeguarding Officer | Mrs Serena Lewis |
Students can contact the Safeguarding Team by email on safeguarding.scs@osborne.coop or speak to a member of staff displayed on the poster below.
This poster is displayed in every classroom, office and in corridors around our school. This is to ensure that every member of the Academy community can report and discuss matters with trained staff.
Members of the public are also able to make direct referrals to Thurrock Social Care. Please find below details of
Thurrock MASH Team: 01375 652802 / 01375 372468 (out of hours)
Thurrock MASH: thurrockmash@thurrock.gov.uk
Staff use CPOMS to report safeguarding concerns. CPOMS is monitored daily by the DSL, Deputy DSLs and Safeguarding officer.
| If the allegations is about: | You must report to: |
| The Headteacher | The Chair of Govenors, Ms Dawn Gough |
| A staff member in St Clere’s School | St Clere’s Headteacher, Mr Jon Purkiss |
| A student in St Clere’s School | The DSL, Mrs Cheryl Martin |
Mental Health and Wellbeing
Life can be challenging for our young people. Therefore, we thought it would be useful to signpost additional support which is available for those who need it.
Useful Websites
NSPCC: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/
Childline: https://www.childline.org.uk/
Self harm: https://www.selfharm.co.uk/
Young minds: https://www.youngminds.org.uk/
Kooth: https://www.kooth.com/
Thurrock local safeguarding childcare partnership: https://www.thurrocklscp.org.uk/
Mental Health Support Team: https://www.nelft.nhs.uk/set-mhst-secondary-school-further-education-higher-education
Families can listen to these podcasts produced to help parents and carers understand mental health problems in young people
Operation Encompass
At St Clere’s School we are working in partnership with Essex Police to identify and provide appropriate support to pupils who have experienced domestic violence in their household, this scheme is called Operation Encompass.
The purpose of Operation Encompass is to safeguarding and support children and young people who have been involved in or witness to a domestic abuse incident. Domestic abuse impacts on children in a number of ways. Children are at increased risk of physical injury during an incident, either by accident or because they attempt to intervene. Even when not directly injured, children are greatly distressed by witnessing the physical and emotional suffering of a parent.
Encompass has been created to highlight this situation. It is the implementation of key partnership working between the Police and Schools. The aim of sharing information with local schools is to allow “Key Adults” (normally the Designated Safeguarding Lead), the opportunity of engaging with the child and to provide access to support that allows them to remain in a safe but secure familiar environment.
In order to achieve this, Essex Police will share information of domestic incidents where one of our pupils has been present, with the school DSL. On receipt of any information, the DSL will decide on the appropriate support the child requires. All information sharing and resulting actions will be undertaken in accordance with General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). We will record this information and store this in accordance with the record keeping procedures outlined in these regulations.
Further information can be found by click on the following link www.operationencompass.org
E-Safety
The online world is a wonderful place for young people to explore, with unprecedented opportunities for learning and creativity. But just like the real world there are risks and dangers they should be aware of, and which we can act to protect them from. Although St Clere’s school teaches students e-safety as part of the curriculum, it is vital that parents are aware of the risks too, and what they can do to develop a culture of e-safety in the home.
If you have any concerns about your child's e-safety, please contact our DSL, Mrs Martin or speak to any member of staff.
Monitoring Online Activity
We monitor students' use of the internet by using filters and monitoring systems (RM SafetyNet). RM SafetyNet is monitoring software that can monitor a wide range of devices. It monitors against an inbuilt library of keywords and phrases organised into categories with each one given a default severity rating.
The programme monitors both online and offline material and recognises inappropriate or harmful content, words and phrases.
A screen shot (known as a ‘capture’) plus other details is taken of every incident triggered, showing what was displayed at the time, who was involved and when the incident took place. This information is shared with the DSL, allowing Academy staff to implement further actions or interventions as required.
The Think You Know website Parents and carers | CEOP Education (thinkuknow.co.uk) is created by the police for parents of children at secondary school. It contains useful information about:
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what children are doing online
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how to talk to children about what they are doing online
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what risks your child might face
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what tools are there to help them stay safe.
Think You Know have also produced a Parents Guide to E-Safety A-parents-guide-to-e-safety.pdf (rackcdn.com)
Useful Support Links
SETCAMHS – Mental Health Support
https://www.nelft.nhs.uk/set-camhs/
Tel: 0800 9530222
KOOTH - Free, safe and anonymous online support for young people
https://www.kooth.com/
BEAT – Eating disorder help
https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/
Tel: 0808 8010677
ChildLine
https://www.childline.org.uk/
Tel: 0800 1111
Thurrock MIND
https://thurrockandbrentwoodmind.org.uk/
Tel: 01375 391411
St Luke’s Bereavement Service
https://stlukeshospice.com/lukes-counselling-and-support-for-children-and-young-people-lukes/
Tel: 01268 524973
Young Carers
http://www.youngcarerscentre.org.uk/
Tel: 0208 5934422
Royal Society for Blind Children
https://www.rsbc.org.uk/
Tel: 0203 1980225
National Deaf Children’s Society
https://www.ndcs.org.uk/
Tel: 0808 8008880
Family Fund
https://www.familyfund.org.uk/
Tel: 01904 550055
Women’s Aid and Refuge
https://www.womensaid.org.uk/about-us/contact/
Tel: 0808200 0247
SNAP Charity – Special Needs and Parents
https://www.snapcharity.org/
Helpline: 01277 211300
Food Bank
https://thurrock.foodbank.org.uk/
