St Ambrose Barlow Catholic Primary School
St Ambrose Barlow Catholic Primary School

Safeguarding

Safeguarding Children at our School

Your child’s welfare is of paramount importance to us. It is our statutory duty of care to safeguard your child.

We will also seek external support if we have any concerns about your child and, in some instances, this may mean that we consult with other agencies even before we contact you.

The procedures we follow have been laid down by the Birmingham Safeguarding Children’s Partnership. If you want to know more about this procedure, please speak to the Headteacher, a member of SLT or a DSL.

At St Ambrose Barlow, we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and we expect all staff, governors, parents, volunteers and visitors to share in this commitment.

  • The Lead DSL is Mr Clinton.
  • The Deputy DSLs are Miss Traynor (SENDCo) and Mrs Bresnen (DHT).

You may approach our DSL staff members if you have a concern about any safeguarding issue. You can contact Mr Clinton via the school office by telephone or email.

Our Safeguarding Link Governor is Mrs Pickering, who is Chair of the Governing Body Safeguarding Committee. Members of that committee are as follows:

  • Mrs Pickering, Foundation (Chair)
  • Father Johnson, Foundation
  • Mr Clinton, Head Teacher
  • Mrs Fayaz, Staf
  • Mrs Jane Young, Foundation

For more information:

Early Help

Early Help means taking action to support a child, young person or their family early in the life of a problem, as soon as it emerges. It can be required at any stage in a child’s life from pre-birth to adulthood, and applies to any problem or need that the family cannot deal with or meet on their own. It also applies to all children and young people, with any form of need.

Early Help requires that agencies should work together as soon as a problem emerges or a need is identified to ensure the child gets the right response, and the right services, from the right people at the right time. Our aim is to meet need early and avoid a problem escalating or the need increasing.

Early Help is provided to prevent or reduce the need for specialist interventions unless they are absolutely the correct response to meet the need and resolve the problem.

Early Help can be provided in the most complex of circumstances as well as the simplest. Early help means responding promptly if a child is at immediate risk of harm (or has other significant or complex needs) as much as it means responding to a need which only requires advice or guidance.

The Early Help Handbook – Birmingham

The Early Help Practitioners Handbook aims to explain how early help works in Birmingham. It is a guide for any practitioner working with children, young people and families across every sector, including, health, voluntary community, education (from early years to post 16), SEND, social care and youth justice. The handbook is organised into a series of questions and answers, with links that signpost the reader to further information throughout.

Children’s Advice and Support Service (CASS)

The Children’s Advice and Support Service provides a single point of contact for professionals and members of the public who want to access support or raise concerns about a child.

We want to keep all children and young people in Birmingham safe from harm. If you are concerned about a child please contact CASS who will listen, assess your concerns and can take action if a child is at risk.

Contact Details
Monday to Thursday: 8.45am to 5.15pm
Friday: 8.45am to 4.15pm
Telephone: 0121 303 1888

Emergency Out-of-Hours
Telephone: 0121 675 4806

To report a concern about a child or to request support for a child or family visit the Birmingham Safeguarding Children: Safeguarding Concerns web page.

Operation Encompass

Operation Encompass is a partnership between police and schools.

One of the principles of Operation Encompass is that all incidents of domestic abuse are shared with schools, not just those where an offence can be identified.

Every school appoints a trained Key Adult  – the Key Adult is the person who receives information about police attended Domestic Abuse incidents.

The Key Adult will be notified prior to the start of the next school day that the police have attended an incident of domestic abuse. This timely information sharing  enables appropriate support to be provided for that child so that all interactions, from when the child first arrives at the school gates, are of a positive nature.

The Key Adult must be trained as a Designated or Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead and should attend a Key Adult Briefing. This briefing:

  • Creates an awareness of Operation Encompass throughout a school.
  • Informs the participant about key facts concerning Domestic Abuse.
  • Explains how Operation Encompass mitigates the effects of domestic abuse on children and explains its broader consequent benefits.
  • Explains to school staff how to communicate the school’s Operation Encompass participation to the broader school community and stakeholders, for example by placing information on the school’s website, in its prospectus, and by sending the joint police/school letter to parents.

Operation Encompass is an integral component in child safeguarding and protection policies. Participation in Operation Encompass mandates a secure record-keeping trail, which may be electronic or paper based. Within Operation Encompass all records are managed at Child Protection level with the highest level of security and confidentiality, and in full accordance with GDPR. These records are held by police and schools only.

Also read: Operation Encompass Letter to Parents – September 2022