Nova Primary School is deeply committed to ensuring the welfare and safety of all the children who attend. We believe that safeguarding is everybody’s business and that all children have the right to be happy and safe in all aspects of their lives. This includes the right to protection from all types of abuse, and our team are well-trained and highly vigilant. We consistently ensure we are looking out for signs of distress, or unusual changes in a child, and we follow our safeguarding procedures robustly, so that concerns can be managed swiftly, compassionately and professionally. When children feel safe from harm, they thrive, they learn and they build healthy relationships and that is why safeguarding is our highest priority as a school.
If a member of staff is concerned about a child’s welfare, they will record this using our online tool, ‘CPOMs’ and also report it to either our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) or one of the four Deputy Safeguarding Leads.
This may result in us contacting an outside agency for further advice on the child’s welfare, but we always aim to talk the child’s family about this, unless there is risk of harm to the child by doing so.
Should a member of staff have a concern about the actions or behaviour of a colleague (which could suggest that they are unsuitable to work with children) this will be reported as soon as possible to the Headteacher, (or the Chair of Governors, if the concern relates to the Headteacher), who will contact the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) for further guidance.
Nova Primary School is committed to supporting all children by:
- Promoting a caring, safe and positive environment in which to learn and play;
- Working together with outside agencies and support services and those agencies involved in the safeguarding of children;
- Referring to First Response or Children and Young People’s Services (CYPS) as soon as there is a concern that warrants sharing;
- Passing on thorough and insightful safeguarding information to subsequent settings to provide continuity of care.
For more information on safeguarding, please also see the following school policies:
If you have a concern about a child at our school concerned about the safety or well-being of a child at our school, please talk to one of our DSLs (see poster below). The Governor in charge of Safeguarding is Ian Thomas, whom you can contact through the school office.
You can also make a referral yourself to First Response:
If you think a child is in immediate danger, then call:
Other numbers you can call:
NSPCC 24 hour Helpline: 0800 800 5000 (free from a landline)
NSPCC Asian Languages Helpline: 0808 800 5000 (free from a landline)
NSPCC Text helpline: 88858 (service is free and anonymous)
Police: 101 (non-emergency calls)
Children can call:
You can talk to Childline anonymously online or on the phone – no worry is too big or too small.
Resources for Families
Keeping Bristol Safe Partnership is an organisation that has responsibility to deliver statutory duties to safeguard children; protect adults at risk of neglect or abuse and protect local communities from crime and to help people feel safe. There is a wealth of information about keeping children and adults safe on their website:
The NSPCC Website is a great source of advice, support and resources for parents to help keep childhood safe from abuse, so children go grow up healthy and thrive.
At Nova Primary School we use NSPCC PANTS Pantosaurus’ five rules for staying safe and understanding the underwear rule with our children.
Click click here for the Pantosaurus song- it is a fun way to help your children understand the underwear rule!
The Prevent Duty
The Prevent Duty places a duty on schools to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into extremism and terrorism. PREVENT is part of our safeguarding. As a school we aim to support and protect children who are vulnerable and at risk of being radicalised. The headteacher, Anna Morris, is our PREVENT lead. You can also call the national police Prevent advice line 0800 011 3764, in confidence, to share your concerns with our specially trained officers. If it’s an emergency, please call 999. If you see online material promoting terrorism or extremism, you can report it online .
Online Bullying and Abuse
Ceop Safety Centre is an organisation that is devoted to keeping children and young people safe online. You can report anything that makes you feel unsafe by clicking the link below.
