1. About Our School
  2. Why St Mary's?
  3. Keeping Ourselves Safe

Keeping Ourselves Safe

Safeguarding is everyone's business.

No organisation can flourish without sound discipline. There are very few school rules but those that exist are intended to ensure a safe and purposeful working environment in which everyone can make a positive contribution. Children are encouraged to be responsible, considerate and polite both to adults and each other. We believe any problems can be solved at an early stage if tackled by home and school together but, should persistent problems occur, corrective measures are in place. As a Rights Respecting School, we have class charters which outline the children's Rights and the respective Responsibilities that we all share. 

We have three school rules: Follow instructions; keep hands, feet and objects to yourself and respect everyone and everything.

A copy of the School Positive Relationships and Behaviour Policy can be obtained from the School Office; you can also find this on the 'downloads' and 'policies' section of the website.  However, we always try to overcome difficulties and give support to enable the child to become a co-operative member of the school community.

We are very proud of the fact that behaviour is outstanding at St Mary's. However, if you are worried your child is being bullied or experiencing unpleasantness, please report it to the class teacher or Headteacher as soon as possible. We have a robust policy for anti-bullying which was written in collaboration with the children, parents and Governors and take all reports seriously. For advice on bullying please visit this site: http://www.antibullying.net/  You can also find this on our website under 'Policies'.

The school takes its Child Protection responsibility seriously and aims to protect and safeguard the welfare of children and young people in its care. Our ethos fosters partnership between school and parents, listening to and valuing pupils, training staff and volunteers to be aware of signs and symptoms of abuse and carrying out the correct procedures, maintaining a safe school environment, and working in partnership with other agencies in this area. The Designated Senior Lead with regard to child protection is Miss E Grunnill so please speak to her should you wish to know more about these procedures or see a copy of the school’s Child Protection Policy. Our Deputy DSLs are  Miss Lauren Langdon and Mrs Helen Newton. Our first priority is your child’s welfare and therefore there may be occasions when our concern about your child means that we have to consult other agencies before we contact you. The Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole Area Child Protection Committee have determined the procedures we follow.

Equally, we are also committed to policies that promote equality of opportunity, positive attitudes to cultural diversity, the elimination of racial discrimination and safeguarding children. The policies for Equal Opportunity and Racial Equality and the plans for Disability Equality and Accessibility are available from the School Office.

Operation Encompass Safeguarding Statement

Our school is part of Operation Encompass. This is a police and education early intervention safeguarding partnership which supports children and young people who experience Domestic Abuse.

Operation Encompass means that the police will share information about Domestic Abuse incidents with our school soon after they have been called to a domestic incident.

All Key Adults (DSL/DDSL) have attended an Operation Encompass local briefing as well as national online training.

Our parents are fully aware that we are an Operation Encompass school.

The Operation Encompass information is stored in line with all other confidential safeguarding and child protection information.

The Key Adult has also led briefings for all school staff and Governors about Operation Encompass, the prevalence of Domestic Abuse and the impact of this abuse on children. We have also discussed how we can support our children following the Operation Encompass notification.

The Safeguarding Governor will report on Operation Encompass in the termly report to Governors. All information is anonymised for these reports.

The Key Adult has used the Operation Encompass Toolkit to ensure that all appropriate actions have been taken by the school.

Our Key Adults are Miss Grunnill, Miss Langdon and Mrs Newton.

You can find out more about this project here