Safeguarding:

At St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, we take the safety and wellbeing of the children in our school very seriously and we expect all staff, volunteers, governors and parents to do the same.

We have a Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy which is available on this website, a paper copy is available by request.

Other policies which affect the wellbeing of children are: Attendance; Behaviour; Anti-Bullying; Computer and Internet Use (E-safety), Late Collection and Managing pupils with Medical conditions.

We follow the Safer Recruitment Policy and the Department of Education guidance: ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’.

We are also part of Operation Encompass, a police and education early intervention safeguarding partnership that supports children exposed to domestic abuse.
We follow data protection and confidentiality policies.

We have a Health & Safety Policy for the practical protection of children and staff and regular walk rounds to inspect the site are conducted by the Site Manager, Governors and Leadership teams.

All staff receive extensive Child Protection (CP) training and Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) clearance appropriate to their position in school.

To make initial contact through the school office, please email: office@st-marys.sandwell.sch.uk or call Tel: 0121 505 3595 .

OPERATION ENCOMPASS is a project that will run jointly between schools and childcare providers and West Midlands Police.

Operation Encompass is the reporting to schools and childcare providers, prior to the start of the next school day, of when a child or young person has been exposed to, or involved in, any domestic incident.

Operation Encompass will ensure that the Designated Safeguarding Lead, Mrs. Pritchard at St. Mary's, is aware and trained to liaise with the local authority to use the information that has been shared, in confidence. The Designated Safeguarding Lead will be able to make provision for possible difficulties experienced by children, or their families, who have been involved in, or exposed to, a domestic abuse incident.

We are keen to offer the best support possible to all our children and we believe this will be extremely beneficial for all those involved.