Safeguarding

Four Elms Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all members of the school community to share this commitment by adhering to all safeguarding policies.

Our school fully recognises its responsibilities for child protection. It aims to ensure that children are effectively safeguarded from the potential risk of harm and that the safety and wellbeing of all children is of the highest priority in all aspects of the School’s work. In addition, it aims to maintain an ethos whereby staff, pupils, parents and governors feel able to articulate concerns comfortably, safe in the knowledge that effective action will be taken as appropriate.

Parents and carers expect the school to provide a safe, secure and caring environment in which their children can flourish. To meet this expectation, the school implements a wide range of measures and policies; including safeguarding, child protection and health and safety. Details of these can be found in the 'Policies' section of this website

Our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy applies to all adults, including volunteers, working in or on behalf of the School and it is expected that everyone working in or for our School shares the responsibility to keep children safe from harm and abuse and reports any concerns to the Head of School.

Our Safeguarding Team – who to contact

If you have any concerns about the safety of welfare of a child or family, please talk to the school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead or Deputy - either in person, on 01732 700274 or email.

Designated Safeguarding Leads:

Miss Fermor, Mrs Cheddie, Head of School  fourelmsheadofschool@inspiream.org.uk

Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leaders:

Mrs Ryder-Clarke Assistant Headteacher  gryder-clarke@inspiream.org.uk

Mrs Solomides Inclusion Manager  asolomides@inspiream.org.uk

If you believe that a child is in imminent danger, please contact Kent’s Social Care,  Report abuse - Kent County Council) or the Police. 
 

Please see our Child Protection Policy here. 

Out of office hours and during school holidays, if you have any immediate safeguarding concerns, please contact the Kent Front Door on 03000 41 91 91.  

If you think someone is in immediate danger, the best thing to do is call 999 for the emergency services. 

If you are a professional and need to contact a Designated Safeguarding Lead outside of school hours or in the school holidays please email jfermor@inspiream.org.uk  and acheddie@inspiream.org.uk 

We have a number of policies and procedures in place that contribute to our safeguarding commitment, including our Safeguarding Policy which can be viewed in the Policies section of our 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 his/her 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 

Four Elms Primary School is an Operation Encompass school.

Our school is part of Operation Encompass, a national initiative that collaborates with schools and police forces.

Operation Encompass ensures that schools are informed before the start of the next school day if a child or young person has experienced domestic abuse. We have a designated staff member, known as the Key Adult (Designated Safeguarding Lead, Miss Fermor), who is trained in Operation Encompass procedures. This allows us to confidentially use the information provided to support the children in our care.

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 recognises children who experience domestic abuse as victims in their own right. On 24 May 2024, the Victims and Prisoners Act received Royal Assent, making Operation Encompass a legal requirement. This means police forces must share Operation Encompass notifications with schools.

We are committed to offering the best support to all our students, and through Operation Encompass, we can provide them with the necessary support. 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.

For further details please visit the Operation Encompass website https://www.operationencompass.org/

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