Safeguarding
Safeguarding at the Bellbird
The Bellbird Primary School fully recognises the responsibility it has under section 175 of the Education Act 2002, the Education and Training (Welfare of Children) Act, 2021 to have arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
This responsibility is more fully explained in the statutory guidance for schools and colleges which can be found below.
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024
Our Safeguarding Team:
Mr Matthew Brough – Interim Headteacher
- Designated Safeguarding Lead
- Prevent Lead
- LAC Lead
- Online Safety Lead
Mrs Catharine Dix
- Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Mrs Frances Waddingham
- Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Safeguarding and Child Protection Statement – here
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Are you concerned about a child?
Click here – Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Safeguarding Board
Telephone Numbers:
Children’s Social Care Services: 0345 045 5203
Cambridgeshire Police: 01353 358966
NSPCC Helpline: 0808 800 5000
IN AN EMERGENCY DIAL 999
Prevent Strategy:
As part of The Bellbird’s commitment to safeguarding and child protection, we fully support the Government’s Prevent Strategy and take guidance from Teaching Approaches to help build resilience to extremism.
The Prevent strategy is a Government Strategy designed to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. It:
- responds to the ideological challenge we face from terrorism and aspects of extremism, and the threat we face from those who promote these views
- provides practical help to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensure they are given appropriate advice and support
- works with a wide range of sectors (including education, criminal justice, faith, charities, online, and health).
At The Bellbird, we ensure that we teach the children about the Prevent Aims. This is done through quality circle time and PSHE activities. In each year group, we teach our children to be safe and to recognise the possible dangers they may face. Teachers make sure that this is done in a sensitive and age-appropriate way.
All staff have been trained to recognise signs of extremism.
Operation Encompass:
At The Bellbird Primary School, we participate in a jointly run operation between Cambridge County Council, Peterborough City Council, Cambridgeshire Constabulary and our school, which is called ‘Operation Encompass’. ‘Encompass’ has been set up to help schools and colleges provide support to children who have been present at incidents of domestic abuse and violence. We know that children can be significantly physically or emotionally harmed when they are involved in, present at or are a witness to domestic abuse.
The school will receive a confidential, secure email from Cambridgeshire’s Education Safeguarding Team, now working across both Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, before 9 a.m. or as soon as possible on the morning of any domestic incident which Cambridgeshire Police have attended where a child at their school has been involved in, present at or witness to domestic abuse.
Our Designated Safeguarding Leads have received training from the Education Safeguarding Team to allow them to use the information that has been shared to ensure that the right support is available for children and their families who have been involved in or have witnessed such incidents.
We are keen to offer the best support possible to our pupils and we believe participation in Operation Encompass to be extremely beneficial for all those involved.
If you have any concerns or questions, then please contact the school office to request a conversation with a Designated Safeguarding Lead and we will be happy to discuss this further.
Want to volunteer at The Bellbird? – read this document on safeguarding for more information
Online Safety Information:
Safe online gaming tips for children – view PDF
A guide to online gaming for parents – view PDF
The good gaming guide – a parents guide to video games – view PDF
Online Gaming – view PDF
Stay safe on screen – How to chat on webcam with confidence – view PDF
Keeping your child safe online – A checklist for parents and carers – view PDF
Parents E-Safety and Online Issues – view PDF
Please look at the following website to help the parent and child stay safe on the internet:
Useful Links
School Calendar
Click her for dates for your diary