Safeguarding

 The safeguarding mission of UAT is to:

  • Establish and maintain an ethos and culture where children feel secure, are encouraged to talk, and are listened and responded to when they have a worry or concern.

  • Establish and maintain an ethos and culture where school staff and volunteers feel safe, are encouraged to talk and are listened and responded to when they have concerns about the safety and well-being of a child.

  • Ensure children know that there are adults in the school whom they can approach if they are worried.

  • Ensure that children, who have additional/unmet needs are supported appropriately. This could include referrals to Early Help Services or Child Protection Contacts to specialist services if they are a child in need or have been / are at risk of being abused and neglected.

  • Promote equality, diversity and inclusion at all times and understand that the welfare of all children is paramount and that they have a right to be protected regardless of background, circumstance or protected characteristic .

  • Consider how children may be taught about safeguarding, including online, through teaching and learning opportunities, as part of providing a broad and balanced curriculum. Refer to KCSiE (DfE 2021), pg. 31-33 .

  • Staff members working with children are advised to maintain an attitude of ‘it could happen here’ and ‘it could be happening to this child’, where safeguarding is concerned. When concerned about the welfare of a child, staff members should always act in the best interests of the child.

Categories of Abuse

Neglect

Neglect is defined in Working Together to Safeguard Children as "the persistent failure to meet a child's basic physical, emotional and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child's health or development”.

Physical abuse

“A form of abuse which may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child.”

Emotional abuse

“The persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and adverse effects on the child’s emotional development.”

Sexual abuse

“Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening.”

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

"A mandatory reporting duty for FGM requires regulated health and social care professionals and teachers in England and Wales to report known cases of FGM in under 18-year-olds to the police. The FGM duty came into force on 31 October 2015. If you have concerns please contact police or the local Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub urgently".


Links to Safeguarding Resources

Local Multi Agency Safeguarding Hubs

Devon - Report a child safety concern - Devon Childrens' and Families Partnership (dcfp.org.uk)

Somerset - Report a Child at Risk

Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) Contacts

If you have concerns about any adult working with children or young people, please contact

Devon LADO contact:

For any requests for advice, please either:

Complete the notification form
Telephone 01392 384964
email childsc.localauthoritydesignatedofficersecure-mailbox@devon.gov.uk for a notification form.

Somerset LADO contact:

On being advised of an allegation which meets the criteria, the designated senior manager/case manager should contact the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) within 1 working day.

To notify the LADO of an allegation, an Allegations Reporting Form (ARF) will need to be completed and forwarded to Somerset Direct: sdinputters@somerset.gov.uk

Alternatively you can phone Somerset Direct on 0300 123 2224 and request an ARF.