Safeguarding
SAFEGUARDING IS EVERYONE'S RESPONSIBILITY. IF YOU HAVE IMMEDIATE CONCERNS FOR A CHILD, YOU MUST CONTACT THE POLICE ON 999 OR 101 AND REPORT ANY WELFARE CONCERNS TO CHILDRENS SOCIAL CARE ON 0300 123 6720
At St. Mary’s Catholic Primary School the safety and well-being of young people in our care will always be our main priority. It is recognised that all staff and adults in school play a key role in safeguarding pupils and in the prevention of harm, early identification, intervention and support for pupils at risk of significant harm. We aim to create an environment where children are safe, valued and know that their concerns will be taken seriously. The vision, aims and ethos of St Mary's all support the intention that children are safe and secure in our care and they also feel this safety and security.
We follow policies and procedures outlined by Lancashire Safeguarding Children Board to ensure all children are safeguarded. We work closely with our multi-agency partners seeking support and guidance as required to ensure the safeguarding of young people is prioritised. Our staff are professionally inquisitive and vigilant and the school will always adopt this approach.
Our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy is updated annually and all staff receive regular safeguarding training.
The Designated Safeguarding Leads are:
Mrs E Wolff (Headteacher) - head@st-marys-morecambe.lancs.sch.uk
Mrs Kathryn Charnley (EYFS) - kcharnley@st-marys-morecambe.lancs.sch.uk
Miss Helen Woodward (Y4) - hwoodward@st-marys-morecambe.lancs.sch.uk
Mrs Zoey Rogers (SBM) - bursar@st-marys-morecambe.lancs.sch.uk
Our Nominated Governor for Safeguarding is:
Mrs Theresa Moore
If you have any concerns regarding the safety of children at St. Mary’s please do not hesitate to contact the Designated Safeguarding Leads on the above email addresses. All of our DSL's can also be reached by phoning the school office on 01524 489020.
PREVENT
At St Mary's, we recognise that safeguarding vulnerable people from radicalisation is no different from safeguarding them from other forms of harm.
All staff and visitors to the school are expected to uphold and promote the fundamental principles of British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect, and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.
Prevent is about safeguarding people and communities from the threat of terrorism. Prevent is one the key elements of the Government’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST. It aims to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. The strategy 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; and
- Works with a wide range of sectors (including education, criminal justice, faith, charities, online and health) where there are risks of radicalisation that we need to deal with.
From July 2015, all schools (as well as other organisations) have a duty to safeguard children from radicalisation and extremism. This means that we have a responsibility to protect children from extremist and violent views, in the same way we would seek to protect them from other potential dangers and influences.
Operation Encompass
As part of St Mary's Catholic Primary School’s commitment to keeping children safe, we are proud to be part of
Operation Encompass is a national initiative which links the Police and educational establishments in an early intervention safeguarding partnership. Its function is to support children and young people who have been involved in, heard or witnessed a domestic abuse incident. Being part of Encompass means our school will receive a notification from Lancashire Police before the start of the next school day. Following an incident, children will often arrive at school distressed, upset, worried and unprepared. Operation Encompass aims to ensure that appropriate school staff are made aware early enough to help and support children and young people in a way that means they feel safe and included.
This is a valuable initiative that means we can help and support children and their families within our school when they need us the most. Our nominated adults are Mrs Elizabeth Wolff and Mrs Kathryn Charnley.
Key Contacts
You can contact Childrens Social Care on 0300 123 6720 or out of hours 0300 123 6722.
If you wish to report online sexual abuse, or concerns about online communcation, you can do so via https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/ which is part of the National Crime Agency
You can contact the Lancaster branch of Child and Family Wellbeing on 01524 581280
You can contact childline on 0800 1111 or visit their website to talk to an advisor online, get support or request counselling https://www.childline.org.uk/
Keeping Children Safe
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025-2026
NSPCC Resources