Welwyn St Mary’s is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
We have a number of policies and procedures in place that contribute to our safeguarding commitment, including our Child Protection Policy which can be viewed in the policies section of the website.
Sometimes we may need to share information and work in partnership with other agencies, when there are concerns about a child’s welfare. We will ensure that our concerns about our pupils are discussed with parents/carers first, unless we have reason to believe that such a move would be contrary to the child’s welfare.
We actively support the Government’s Prevent Agenda to counter radicalism and extremism. Welwyn St Mary’s is also part of Operation Encompass, a project run jointly between schools and Hertfordshire Constabulary, which provides notification to schools of any incidents where a child or young person has experienced or been exposed to any domestic abuse.
Our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is Stuart Whiteland (Headteacher). Our Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads are Emma Phillips (Deputy Headteacher), Sam Branch (Assistant Headteacher and SENCo), Emma Harrison (Assistant Headteacher) and Richard Hawley (Teacher). The Governor for safeguarding in our school is Evelyne Welch.
For all safeguarding concerns out of school hours, please call 0300 123 4043.
Operation Encompass
Our school is part of Operation Encompass.
Operation Encompass is a national Police and education early intervention safeguarding partnership which supports children and young people who experience Domestic Violence and Abuse and which is in place in every Police force in England and Wales.
Children were recognised as victims of domestic abuse in their own right in the 2021 Domestic Abuse Act.
Operation Encompass means that the Police will share information with our school about all Police-attended Domestic Abuse incidents which involve any of our children PRIOR to the start of the next school day.
Our parents are fully aware that we are an Operation Encompass school, and we ensure that when a new child joins our school the parents/carers are informed about Operation Encompass.
The Operation Encompass information is stored in-line with all other confidential safeguarding and child protection information.
As a staff we have discussed how we can support our children who are experiencing Domestic Violence and Abuse on a day-to-day basis and particularly following the Operation Encompass notification. We have used the Operation Encompass Handbooks to inform our thinking.
We are aware that we must do nothing that puts the child/ren or the non-abusing adult at risk.
Asbestos
Our school follows best practice for asbestos safety as stated in Managing asbestos in your school or college – Guidance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
This includes our asbestos register, asbestos location map and a management plan that is reviewed annually.
- Safeguarding Policy 2024 (4.62MB)
- Child Protection Policy 2024 (1.40MB)