Safeguarding
At St John’s Catholic Primary School, we hold safeguarding of our children at the heart of all that we do. We recognise that if children do not feel safe, they are unable to learn to the best of their abilities. The senior leadership, teaching staff and governors of St John’s are committed to the highest safeguarding principles and regularly review our practise to ensure we are following the latest guidance and advice.
Children have a right to be cared for and protected; protecting them is everyone’s responsibility. We have a duty of care to ensure that all users of the school are kept safe from harm. We are committed to provide a secure and supportive environment in which children can develop and grow into mature and responsible people. Safeguarding children is an essential part of our holistic approach to ensure that children are protected from abuse and neglect and that every child reaches their full potential.
The school’s staff, volunteers and service providers have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children as a shared responsibility with parents and other carers. To support this, the school may signpost to specialised services that promote opportunity, prevent escalations, act early and act effectively if concerns arise.
Parents/carers are normally our first point of contact, and if a suspicion of abuse is recorded, parents/carers will be informed at the same time that the record is made; we will support parents/carers and ensure we work in collaboration with them to protect children. Working with parents/carers to prevent abuse is our primary aim; if this fails, or if we consider a child to be at risk, a referral will be made to social care. When a referral is made to social care, parents/carers will be notified beforehand, except when guidance from social care or the police does not allow this.
We cannot safeguard children alone; all children’s services agencies work in partnership with each other. There are duties and rules about information sharing but if staff, parents or carers have any concerns about a child, other parent, provider, agency or any person, they have a responsibility to report those concerns and we must record and act on them. Our Safeguarding / Child Protection Policy is underpinned by the West Sussex Safeguarding Children Partnership (SCP), “Keeping Children Safe in Education” document and Safer Recruitment guidance. The policy applies to all children and young people regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality or religion. It is a requirement that all users are informed of these policies and practice guidance and what they should do if they have concerns. The safeguarding policy is available from the school office.
What you can do
Parents and carers play a role in safeguarding children in their community. If you have any concerns, no matter how small, you should report them to someone who you trust will listen. The school is required to have a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) for this purpose. Parents and children should speak to the safeguarding officer if they have any concerns about a child or staff member.
Designated Safeguarding Lead
The Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is the person appointed to take lead responsibility for child protection issues in the school. At St John’s, the DSL is our Headteacher, Mrs Finula Farr. You can contact her via the school phone number (01403 265447) or email (dsl@stjohnshorsham.school).
Deputy DSL
Our Deputy DSL is Mrs Rachel Clough, our Deputy Headteacher and SENCo. Her email address is senco@stjohnshorsham.school.
Safeguarding Governor
If you have safeguarding concerns regarding the Headteacher, you can contact the Governor responsible for Safeguarding, Mrs Lorraine Vinall can be contacted via chair@stjohnshorsham.school.
Useful/related links
If your concern does not relate to a school matter, you can contact West Sussex County Council via their Raise a concern about a child page.
You can contact the NSPCC if you are worried that any child is being abused, either via the NSPCC website or by telephone (0800 028 0285). The NSPCC also has a Keeping Children Safe page, which offers excellent advice for parents, including online safety.
•Childline is a service provided by the NSPCC, offering children and young people a private, confidential service to talk about anything bothering them. They have a range of tools available online, or can be called on 0800 1111 twenty four hours a day.
ThinkUKnow is an education programme from CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection), a UK organisation which protects online and offline. The site has information for parents and carers, and games for children of different ages, to help them learn about online safety.
The West Sussex Single Point of Access (SPoA) is a dedicated service which provides a simplified single route to access specialist emotional wellbeing and mental health support. The SPoA helps direct you to the right service, eliminating the need to refer to multiple services.
Related school policies

•Behaviour policy
•Anti-bullying policy
•Online Safety Policy
•Safeguarding policy
•Keeping_children_safe_in_education_2024_part_one

Internet Safety
Today’s pupils are often more technically savvy than their parents or carers. This represents severe challenges and risks due to their inexperience in recognising and protecting themselves against online (and offline) dangers. St John’s has a proactive approach to teaching online safety, and in line with our ethos of working parents, carers and the community, provide this page with a selection of links and documents to help you enhance your own knowledge and understanding of online safety.
We also run parent information workshops throughout the year; if you would more information on attending one of these please check the school newsletter for upcoming events.
If you have any questions about the arrangements in place at St John’s, please contact the Computing subject co-ordinator Jamie McCurrach or the school office.
Online Safety Policy 2023-24
St John’s Online Safety Policy
St John’s Computing Curriculum
The Computing curriculum, which describes why and how we teach online safety in our school
How we promote and teach online safety in schools? – The Education Hub (blog.gov.uk)
Government webpage detailing why and how online safety should be taught in schools
Keeping children safe in education (Government website)
Review the section on Online Safety, and the various links throughout the KCSiE guidance.
Internet Matters
Do you want to be able to keep up with your kids online?
Purple Mash
Parenting in a digital world

Child Exploitation & Online Protection Centre
For concerns about online sexual abuse or the way someone has been communicating online ceop.police.uk/CEOP- Reporting/

NSPCC Net Aware
A guide to social networks that children use
net-aware.org.uk

Childline 0800 1111
24 hour free helpline service for children and young people

Introduction

At St John’s Catholic Primary school, we strive to educate the whole child. We know that if a child is unhappy, scared, confused or feeling lost, they are unable to learn and will struggle.

At school we ensure that children always have a trusted adult they can speak to, a worry monster in each class and Year 6 Buddy squad to act as mentors and friends. All members of staff take ownership of the health and well-being of children within the school and we are very fortunate to have a health and wellbeing mentor who is also a qualified ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support); she is trained to support children with a range of difficult situations. We have a nurture room where children can engage with Lego therapy and other therapies, all tools that will help support a child in need. We have a health and wellbeing policy to ensure all staff, children and parents know how best to support our children and the steps that we can take to provide support. The Headteacher is undergoing training as a Senior Mental Health lead. All of this reflects the importance St John’s places on mental health and well-being within school.

Below you will find some information around mental health and wellbeing, if you require any further information or support, please email listening@stjohnshorsham.school

What’s mental health?

We all have mental health. Your mental health affects how you feel, think and act. It refers to your emotional, psychological and social wellbeing. Your mental health can change on a daily basis and over time, and can be affected by a range of factors.

It’s important to look after your mental health, as you would look after your physical health. Your state of wellbeing affects how you cope with stress, relate to others and make choices. It also plays a part in your relationships with your family, community, colleagues and friends.

Good mental health among children and young people

When children and young people have good levels of wellbeing it helps them to:

• learn and explore the world
• feel, express and manage positive and negative emotions
• form and maintain good relationships with others
• cope with, and manage, change, setbacks and uncertainty
• develop and thrive.

When children and young people look after their mental health and develop their coping skills it can help them to boost their resilience, self-esteem and confidence. It can also help them learn to manage their emotions, feel calm, and engage positively with their education – which can, in turn, improve their academic attainment.

Percentage of children with a mental health condition, by age
Age 5 to 10:	14.4%
Age 11 to 16:	17.6%
Age 17 to 22:	20%
NHS Digital, Mental Health of Children and Young People in England 2020, p.13

It’s not always easy to identify a child whose mental health is deteriorating –but early identification and action is the best thing schools can do to help give young people the a strong start in life. One of the joys of St John’s is that we are a small school. This means we know our children and families very well.  We are well placed to support any mental health difficulties early on and will work with you as a family to support your child.

How St John’s supports the mental health of children and young people

School is the ideal environment to promote and support pupils’ mental health and wellbeing.

Children and young people spend a significant amount of time in school and with their teachers, which means that school staff are in a good position to identify a child who may be struggling, and our school SENCO will help refer them to get the support needed.

School can also help children develop social and emotional skills, providing them with the coping skills and tools they need to understand and manage their thoughts, feelings, behaviour, goals and relationships. This starts in Reception and continues throughout the school.

We support mental health for children by teaching health and wellbeing education through a curriculum that has been developed for St John’s specifically; we call this our RESPECT curriculum. We base our lessons around the PSHE association recommendations and other well-placed sources as well as following the diocesan guidance. At the heart of what we teach is the Gospel values of love and tolerance for each other, this underpins all our work around health and wellbeing. We weave health and wellbeing topics and skills throughout the broader curriculum and school life. We believe health and wellbeing should not be taught in isolation, but reinforced throughout the curriculum.

Useful Links

I’m Bored!

Some activities that may be helpful when your children tell you they’re bored!

Activities for children up to 7

Activities for children up to 11